Hanford contractor comes up with way to save $2.5 million

A new system at Hanford to purify used transformer oil is expected to save $2.5 million at the nuclear reservation over the next five years.

The site has 700 electrical transformers, each containing 300 to 12,000 gallons of oil.

Mission Support Alliance, a Department of Energy contractor, has purchased an oil processing cart to recondition the transformer oil for continued use, according to DOE.

It expects to recondition oil for the lifespan of each transformer, not only saving money but reducing environmental waste.

The wheeled processing cart, which is about 8-feet long, can be hauled to each transformer and then filters and heats the oil to remove impurities.

The service is commercially available, but performing it with contractor employees assigned to the electrical utilities program provides flexibility in scheduling and is less costly, according to DOE.

Money saved can be used for environmental cleanup work.

This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 12:02 PM.