Bacteria growing in longwall hydraulic fluid can do major damage.
Systems Come Clean with QUINTOLUBRIC^®

In the right environment, micro-organisms can be very valuable and even essential.  Various bacteria and fungi give us such things as sauerkraut and blue cheese.  Yeast, in the presence of sugar gives us wine and spirits.  Certain bacteria are even required for us to digest food and stay healthy.  However, these same micro-organisms, if mismanaged or ignored, can have a disastrous impact on longwall hydraulic fluids.

Bacteria are found everywhere, and have been on earth millions of years prior to human beings and will be around long after we are gone.  Living bacteria have been found in human intestines, both poles of the world as well as the ocean floors where steaming hot water spews from volcanic vents.  These micro-organisms cannot be seen by the naked eye, as they are typically less than 2.0 microns in size, however, their impact can be seen and smelled.  Bacteria can live in longwall hydraulic fluid and consume portions of the fluid in their growth.  Consumption of specific alkanolamines can convert the amines to alcohol, water and ammonia.  When the ammonia is emitted from the fluid, you will smell it right away.  The human nose can detect levels of ammonia far lower than the TLV (threshold limit value) of 50 PPM.  Bacteria can also feed on the emulsifiers found in soluble oil and semi-synthetic type longwall fluids.  As the bacteria consume the emulsifiers in the fluid, oil will separate from the fluid and float to the top of the reservoir.  This oil layer can cause further problems as it encourages the growth of anaerobic bacteria – bacteria that grow in environments where there is no oxygen.  Anaerobic bacteria produce highly acidic waste products that have bad odors and can cause severe corrosion on steel.  Bacteria, if left unchecked, can severely damage a longwall system.

There are many simple things that can be done to minimize microbiological growth in the fluids.

Maintain proper concentration
Concentration control is perhaps the number one concern when maintaining longwall fluids.  The concentration dictates just about all of the positive attributes of the fluid.  Also, keeping the concentration at the right level guarantees the correct level of microbiological protection.

Maintain proper pH control
This starts with the proper concentration as described in the above paragraph.  The proper concentration should be sufficient to maintain the proper pH.  However, if the pH continues to be a problem, there are pH-enhancing additives that will provide help.  The pH of the longwall fluid needs to be at least 8.0 to inhibit corrosion on ferrous materials.

Minimize contamination
Contamination can be deliberate or accidental.  The deliberate contamination is a matter of education.  Deliberate contamination can come from food, drinks, spit, chewing tobacco, shop towels, and just about anything else that gets tossed into the fluid without thought.  This can also include dirty mop buckets and other spent process fluids.

Accidental contamination is mostly related to tramp oil situations.  Any non-water-soluble fluid or maintenance lube that gets into the longwall fluid is called tramp oil.  These sources are other hydraulic fluids, way lubricants, greases, gear oils, spindle and other lubricants.  Devices designed to remove tramp oil go a long way to help reduce their impact.

Sustain good maintenance practices
Good maintenance of a longwall fluid can be very simple.  Quaker offers this service to its customers.  Our laboratory checks concentration, pH and microbiological populations and reports them directly to the customer.  Outside laboratories also have these capabilities but may not be experts in water based technologies.  Having a good maintenance program in place goes a long way in keeping your longwall system running.  Regular sampling of the longwall fluid is one of the best preventive maintenance practices you can implement. 

Speak with your Quaker Chemical representative to set up a program that will meet your needs.

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