POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Portable vibrating-reed tachometer from Kurnell Caltex refinery

Object No. 2013/7/6

The Frahm tachometer contains tuned steel reeds that differ in length and thus in natural vibration frequency. When it is held against the casing of a machine, the reed that resonates with it, and thus vibrates most strongly, will indicate the vibration frequency of the machine. The user reads the frequency, in hundreds of revolutions per minute, from the scale. The instrument was patented by German physicist Hermann Frahm in 1904, made in the USA between 1960 and 1990, and used to check machinery at Caltex's refinery in the Sydney suburb of Kurnell. This object is part of a larger group that represents the complex chemical engineering operations and daily work performed at Sydney's Caltex Lubricating Oil Refinery for nearly fifty years. Built in the southern coastal suburb of Kurnell, beside one of Sydney's two mainstream oil refineries, this plant was originally named the Australian Lubricating Oil Refinery. The refinery was erected on 60 hectares of reclaimed peat swamp and levelled sand hills, and the project began in 1961. It was a joint venture 50% owned by US company Caltex, 25% by Australian company Ampol, and 25% by Australian company H C Sleigh, which sold petroleum products under the brand name Golden Fleece. Despite being half foreign-owned, it was touted as important to Australia's economic self-sufficiency. The photographs in the group document the official opening of the refinery in 1964, the launch of its refined wax plant in 1975, and the closure of the refinery in 2011. The refinery was the only one in Australia to produce lubricating oil, which is essential to the running of industrial and transport machinery, but it closed because it had become too difficult to source appropriate feedstock (crude oil) from the Middle East. This small-scale Sydney operation could not compete with much larger refineries overseas for supplies of good quality feedstock. Since 1975, the refinery had also been the only plant in Australia to supply both oils suitable for pest control in orchards and edible waxes, which are used to coat food-grade paper and cardboard and as ingredients in cosmetics and other products. Thus the closure of the plant has forced the agricultural, manufacturing and food-processing industries to source more products, of higher value, from overseas. Although the main reason for the closure of the refinery is very specific, it is part of the current structural adjustment of the Australian economy. As Australia's last primary (as opposed to recycling) lubricating oil refinery, its closure represents a risk to the national economy and to national self-sufficiency. The plant was very complex, and working there was potentially dangerous. Plant operators were trained in all aspects of the refinery's chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, system control, chemical testing, and safety issues, all of which are represented in this group of objects. By walking around the plant following one run of pipes at a time, new workers gradually learned the layout of the various product treatment units, pumps, motors, compressors and controllers. The operators generally took great pride in their work and in the plant's excellent safety record. The Frahm tachometer embodies the same principle of natural vibration frequency that is important in musical instruments. The vibrating elements in the tachometer are reeds that are akin to the reeds in woodwind instruments. The tachometer is a rugged portable device that is useful for testing items of plant in situ, saving time and money by helping operators address equipment problems quickly. Debbie Rudder, Curator, 2012