Not new, but near perfection

HAVING worked in the oil industry for almost two decades Clive Avery has led a well-tuned team to create one of the most powerful mobile transformer oil recycling plants in the world.
The mobile unit is built inside an 11-metre covered trailer, complete with office and sleeping unit to some it may look like a horse float.
The unit can be easily operated at 400,000 volts of electric current, which while running completely regenerates transformer oil back to new or better quality.
Clive's company Energy Services International (ESI) based in Rawhitiroa is completing last minute tests before international managers from sister companies in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines come to view it next month.
It took the team six months to build the unit at an approximate cost of $400,000.
Clive is very proud of the finished product, especially since every part was created or sourced locally.
This unit is the most modern and up-to-date technological speaking of its kind.
Clive said he has taken previous systems and modified them to meet their special requirements.
"The whole thing has been a challenge, but everyone has come to the party and helped master this amazing machine."
He said the company's type of machinery is 'live', which has a huge overseas market as it produces better quality oil and cost cheaper to create.
"Live work is very dangerous, but it produces an extremely clean oil because the electrical vibrations created by the copper core loosen up the acids and moisture and that's what we take out, with no waste products, at only a third of the price of putting in new oil."
Clive went on to say that the contaminants are taken out by forcing the oil through heated absorbent silica clay Fuller's Earth, which leaves no waste as the clay can be reused hundreds of times.
He said that oil doesn't conduct electricity; it is used to cool and insulate power transformers. Over a period of time, with moisture and acid, the effectiveness of the operations is reduced.
Over the past 16 years ESI has become the preferred oil recycling contractor for the thousands of transformers scattered across the country because Clive said they work hard, give good customer service and are honest with their prices.
Annually, Clive said the company recycles around two million plus litres of oil. One of their units can currently process 6000 litres of oil an hour.
Clive entered the industry when he was an electrician working for the Taranaki Power Board. He was then transferred to the Egmont Power Board and when the Egmont site came up for purchase Clive took a risk an bought it.
Over the years Clive has transformed the business into what it is today a power transformer recycling business, with international clients and continuous growth in a multi-million dollar industry.
At 67-years-old Clive has only recently decided to take a small step back to enjoy a bit more freedom by appointing his son-in-law Nigel Wallace as the managing-director in October 2008.