Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1289708
COVER STORY 10 | September - October 2020 | www . machinerylubrication.com duplicates of everything that if we can't see the heartbeat of it, the health of it or how well it's doing, there's no way we could get ahead of it." By working with reliability consultants and obtaining certifications through the Inter- national Council for Machinery Lubrication (ICML) and the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), ES3 was set up for success when approaching management with this pioneer idea of onsite oil analysis. Sanderson said that it wasn't always easy getting that support, but his certifications and learning how to convey his ideas in a way that related to management goals really helped. "We had to make sure our leaders bought into what we were doing and understood the value behind it," he said. "Having my certifica- tions helped me be a player in that discussion." Soon after, Sanderson began building their lab space, sourcing lab equipment and developing a program for managing their critical assets. At that point, Chris Orr, supervisor of automation reliability, came onboard and started managing the lab process. Knowledge is Power: Establishing an Oil Analysis Program Orr's background in engineering led him into the position, but he admitted that his knowledge about lubrication was lacking prior to his ICML Level I Machinery Lubrication Technician (MLT I) certification. "Most of my education about the lab and lubrication was completely outside anything related to college. It's all stuff that you can learn by going and taking a class for a week and passing a test," said Orr, who now holds MLT I and Level II Laboratory Lubricant Analyst (LLA II) certifications through the ICML. As the lubrication program started to gain more traction at ES3, Orr was tasked with selecting the right lab tests to run on the machines, setting the alarm limits and deciding when there was a problem with the equipment that needed to be addressed. A tall order, but possible when equipped with the right tools and knowledge. ES3 was one of the early adopters of the TruVu 360 Fluid Intelligence Software used in conjunction with the MiniLab 53 system. e TruVu 360 software is designed with 31 different component types already programmed into the software with recommended parameters, alarm limits and diagnostic statements. Pairing his oil "We had to make sure our leaders bought into what we were doing and understood the value behind it." – Travis Sanderson, ACP Automation Manager, ES3 analysis knowledge with TruVu 360, Orr was able to create rules and alarm sets specifically for their gearboxes by monitoring particle count, wear particles, oxidation levels and total acid number (TAN). Managing oil changes was one of the biggest challenges, but with the right strategy (and data), ES3 was able to manage it fairly smoothly. ES3 has 38 gearboxes across their cranes, each containing 30-35 gallons of oil. Using the proper oil analysis data, Orr has been able to optimize exactly when they need to change the oil in those gearboxes. "On our larger gearboxes, the particle count from the LNF is particularly helpful because it helps us determine whether we can just filter the oil and get more life out of it, rather than changing the oil entirely," said Orr. "We also look at the wear particle analysis. at's been really helpful for us because we aren't able to do some of the other wear analysis techniques, but that gives us a quick, easy way of seeing whether there is a potential problem inside that gearbox. Since we send out our gearboxes for rebuild, this is especially helpful to understand if we need to schedule downtime to get the gearbox rebuilt."