The Situation

An oilfield services company in the south-central United States operates and maintains equipment critical to the fracking industry. Their fleet includes:

  • Fracking trucks
  • Chemical blending vehicles
  • Iron trucks
  • Other essential oil and gas wellsite machinery

Operating within a 1,000-mile radius of their headquarters, the company provides well logging, completion, stimulation, testing, and maintenance capabilities. The cost of downtime in the oil and gas industry is extreme.

Rebuilding or refurbishing components, investing heavily in premium products and consumables designed to optimize performance, increase service intervals, and extend equipment life are essential factors in the reduction of downtime.

The Challenge

In 2023, the company's maintenance team noticed a serious issue:

  • Premature failures of pump power ends were happening at just 2,000 hours — far below the expected 6,000 hours.
  • Each failure cost the company over $160,000 in replacement costs and downtime.

Despite thorough inspections, the root cause remained unclear.

The Solution

In search of a reliable solution, the company turned to Donaldson® for help.

  • A Donaldson team travelled to the site to audit fluid and filtration systems.
  • The advanced monitoring system, Donaldson Connect® technology, was installed on critical points of the fracking trucks.

The data captured by Donaldson Connect indicated that the existing filter configuration was undersized and consistently above 25 psid during standard operating conditions. Meaning the filters were constantly in bypass allowing dirty fluid to reach critical downstream components.

This data revealed the problem:

  • Existing filters are undersized, with high differential pressure during normal operations.
  • High pressure resulted in filters being in bypass, allowing unfiltered, dirty fluid to reach critical parts of the pump.

Using these real-time insights from Donaldson Connect, the team collaborated with the customer's engineering and maintenance crews to design a solution:

  • Multiple Donaldson Duramax™ filters were installed in a manifold configuration.
  • This new setup reduced pressure drop, improved flow, and eliminated premature system bypass.

The Result

The custom-engineered solution delivered powerful results:

  • Improved contaminant retention
  • Cleaner hydraulic fluid
  • Extended equipment life and improved reliability.
  • Reduced risk of wear, damage, and costly unplanned downtime.

By partnering with Donaldson, the company was able to keep its operations running smoother and longer, ensuring it continues delivering critical services to the oil and gas sector without interruption.

Improving hydraulic fluid cleanliness levels by two ISO codes can result in fluid that is up to 4x cleaner and can extend component life by 60%. (According to the Equipment Life Extension Table by Noria Corporation, the industry-accepted authority on fluid cleanliness.)

Ready to extend your equipment life and improve reliability?

Talk to your local Donaldson specialist today.