A lubrication malfunction caused a catastrophic failure in a gearbox on one of the offshore gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, owned by one of the world's largest petrochemical companies. The gearbox, a legacy Philadelphia Gear design, was used for high-speed pumping applications and required an externally "forced" lubrication system, as opposed to internally designed "splash" lubrication system. Always important when there is metal-to-metal contact, effective lubrication is extremely critical to high-speed gearboxes. This is particularly true of applications that are located miles from shore.
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