Mineraloil Systems

Cleaning Diesel During the Harvest

OTC 2 extends the service life of engines
Diesel is not always diesel. Particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia, diesel fuel is frequently contaminated by condensation water and dirt particles mainly during transportation and storage. This is a particular problem specifically for the modern common rail diesel engines of Western imported cars. This problem is particularly serious in the agricultural sector, where the major agriculture operations are increasingly using tractors and agricultural machinery from Western Europe.

minimaXx separators ensure trouble-free operation of high-tech diesel engines.

Mineraloil Systems

33 Separators Digest 2 | 2004

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The new minimaXx generation can be used as a stationary or mobile installation.

Tractor manufacturers have repeatedly found that the high tech engines are not able to cope with the inferior diesel quality. The purity of the diesel to be used is prescribed in the operating instructions and the warranty terms. However, what use is that if customers become dissatisfied as a result of engine failures that they have caused themselves and if they then attribute these failures to the supplier? Well-known tractor manufacturers have therefore started to offer minimaXx separators in places where diesel oil is not used in accordance with western standards. This has led to a drastic reduction in the number of claims while significantly increasing customer

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Purified diesel oil in the tank

In consequence, several powerful tractors and pieces of agricultural machinery are required on one farm in the large operations. In general, the farms purchase large volumes of diesel for this purpose, store it in tanks and fill the machines themselves. It is possible for the diesel oil to be passed through an OTC 2 minimaXx separator directly when it is delivered from the tankers and for the purified diesel to be stored in a tank. Or the contaminated diesel can be stored initially and subsequently pumped to a new tank via the separator. The separator is equipped with a disc-type bowl for clarifying liquids or separating liquid mixtures. The product flows through the product feed into the rotating bowl and is clarified or separated in the disc stack. The separated heavy liquid phase (water) flows over the external periphery of the separating disc and is discharged under gravity from the bowl. The purified diesel oil is

agricultural assets had to be privatised, companies and operations focusing on the requirements of a market economy had to be established and the institutional conditions for successful economic development of agriculture had to be created or still have to be created. In Russia, the major operations in various legal forms still farm over 80 % of the agricultural land. However, the average size of farm has declined. Land has been transferred to the farms, and in general the workers and other authorised village inhabitants have acquired shares in the land and assets. In particular, the traditional collectivist

satisfaction at the same time. thinking and behaviour of Russian peasants, as well as a lack of capital backing, of a has meant number that of there smaller has so far not been the development Following the collapse of the socialist system in Eastern Europe and Russia, the consequence for agriculture was higher farms, which is really the political intention.
34 Separators Digest 2 | 2004 Mineraloil Systems

Russia: mainly large agricultural operations

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discharged via the centripetal pump under pressure. The separated solids collect in the solids holding space and are removed manually.

Ralf Kleinhaus
Product Manager Westfalia Separator Mineraloil Systems, Oelde Tel. +49 25 22/77-15 93 kleinhaus.ralf@gea-westfalia.de

Mobile installations
The smallest minimaXx separator, the type OTC 2, achieves a capacity range of up to 1,150 l/h. This is sufficient for cleaning diesel in agricultural operations. However, the role of separators for processing small product streams has undergone dramatic change in recent years. The need is for complete system solutions and not for individual units to meet the rising pressure of capacity and costs. The new minimaXx generation has been developed as a compact unit for these requirements. It is based on a separator type OTC with a non-self-cleaning bowl. This is assembled on a mobile skid together with all necessary control facilities. It is of course also possible for

lubricating oil to be treated with the same machine. The capacity is then around 420 l/h. Since the start of this programme at the beginning of 2003, around 30 minimaXx separators have already been ordered for this particular application. In Russia, they ensure that the availability of tractors has been increased, the service life of engines has been extended and that lower maintenance and filter accessory costs are incurred. This is worthwhile.
Optimised vehicle fleet utilisation as a result of purified diesel oil increases the productivity of the operations.

Mineraloil Systems

35 Separators Digest 2 | 2004