COST COMPARISON OF TRANSFORMER OIL REGENERATION
Made with help of ABB Power of St. Louis, USA
- Classic Method ( Fuller’s earth – Heating –Vacuuming – Centrifuging type) of oil regeneration machines.
- ELKO – Molecular Adsorption Method type machines.
|
Cost of processing US$: |
Fuller's earth | ELKO |
| 10 MVA Transformers - 100 processes | $3,212,600 | $54,100 |
| Equipment purchase cost | $ 200,000-300,000 | $70,000-80,000 |
Required parameters and costs:
A: Required unit – 2000 gallons per hour, ELKO machine with 9 tanks.
B: Comparison done based on regenerating oil in 10 MVA transformer
*Cost of Fuler’s earth $230.00 per ton
*Cost of Oil $5.00 per gallon
*Cost of Fuler’s Earth disposal $0.50 per lb.
*Cost of electrical energy (consumers from distribution network) $0.13 per kWh (If from generator estimated $0.30 per kWh)
* Cost of operation (truck, labor, equipment maintenance cost etc.) calculated assuming equipment has a life time of 10 years
Required quantities:
10 MVA transformer (1-3 gallons of oil per KVA – average 2) 20.000 gallons (75.700 liters)
Required electrical source for heating and pumps (distribution network or generator) 300 KVA
Required quantities of Fullers earth (20% of oil quantities) 15 tons
Number of passes through Fuller’s earth required (4-8-10-12-14) 8 taken as average
Remained oil in Fuller’s Earth wasted with Fullers earth disposal (20%) 3 tons
Calculations:
1. Cost of oil regeneration using classic method:
One pass requires 10 hours - 80 hours (for 8 passes)
Cost of electrical energy from distribution network (300 KVA x 80 hours = 24.000 kWh
(p.f. assumed to be 1) 24.000 kWh x $0.13 = $3,120 (from network)
Cost of electrical energy from generator will be $0.30 per kWh = $7200; $5.500 average
Cost of 15 tons of Fuller’s Earth $3.450.00
Cost of 3 tons of oil wasted with Fuller’s earth disposal $3625.00
Disposal of Fuller’s Earth ($0.50 per lb. x 33.070 lb) $16.535.00
Cost of operation – labor (two man 4 days = 8 days) $1920.00
Wear and tear of the equipment for this operation $1096.00
Total cost of one regeneration cycle using classic method $32.126 US
Total cost of 100 regenerations using classic method $3.212.600 US
Total cost is based on the assumption that the user owns equipment – which require initial investment of $200.000 - $300.000.00 US.
2. Cost of the same regeneration using molecular adsorption type ELKO unit
Cost of electrical energy (2kW x 40 hours = 80 kWh) $0.13 per kWh $10.00
Wear and Tear of the unit (for one regeneration) $28.00
Cost of operation (labor). (One man two days) $231.00
Loss of oil during adsorbent regeneration (13 gallons x $5 = $65) $65.00
Total cost of one oil regeneration cycle using ELKO molecular adsorption method $334 US
Cost of 100 oil regeneration processes: $33.400
Eventual replacement of the adsorbent after 100+ regeneration’s $2.300 per tank (9 tanks)
Total Cost of 100 oil regenerations using ELKO molecular adsorption method $54.100 US
Total cost is calculated assuming that user owns the ELKO oil regeneration machine. This requires initial investment of $70-80.000 US.
Molecular adsorption regeneration method does not require any harmful material disposal and is ecologically clean and safe.
This cost comparison is done based on standard requirements for classical type of oil regeneration (Fullers Earth – vacuuming –heating - centrifuging type of regeneration) using 2000 gallons/hour unit
and
Standard requirements for new – molecular adsorption type of oil regeneration method using 2000 gallons/hour ELKO machine.
