Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/793941
26 | March - April 2017 | www.machinerylubrication.com OIL ANALYSIS ISO cleanliness code was 22/20/18. Six months after adding desiccant air breathers and an offline filtration cart program, your moisture levels are 0.03 percent and the ISO cleanliness code is 20/18/16. You should inform your laboratory that you want to establish new alarm limits on these gearboxes. Set the ISO cleanliness abnormal alarm at 22/20/18 (two codes above the new average), and the critical alarm at 23/21/19 (three codes above the new target). For moisture, set the abnormal alarm at 0.05 percent and the critical alarm at 0.10 percent. Now when you receive abnormal or critical sample reports based on the water or particulate level, you will know what corrective action to take — change the desiccant air breather and/or run the offline filter cart for several days and resample. If you implemented oil identification procedures and invested in appropriate dispensing equipment, you should no longer see signifi- cant additive changes (more than plus or minus 25 percent) or viscosity changes (more than plus or minus 10 percent) unless the oil condition is also suspect. When you see a dramatic change, ensure any new maintenance personnel are educated about preventing oil mixing and have been trained regarding the use of dispensing equip - ment. If training is not the issue, you may have an improperly identified oil delivery and should take samples from the suspected totes or barrels. Gauging Success If you have been using oil analysis data to track oil-related issues in your plant, subsequent management reports should show a decreasing trend in the water, particulate and incorrect oil usage statistics. If you have reduced the moisture and particulate levels, then you have increased the mean time between failures (MTBF) for those machines. In the previous example, the gearbox should see an increase of approximately 1.25 times, based on the moisture reduc- tion, and 1.25 times for the particulate reduction, which means more than a 50-percent increase in MTBF. That is significant. Regarding lubricant mixing, not all incorrect oil top-ups result in lubrication issues. However, in several instances, serious damage can occur. Adding less than 1 percent of an emulsifying oil, which is designed to hold water in suspension, will destroy the demulsibility of an oil formulated to separate from water, i.e., bearing circulating oil, turbine oil, etc. Machines with bronze components should not use common extreme-pressure (EP) additives. Topping up such a machine with an EP gear oil will not only increase the viscosity but also lead to corrosion of any bronze components long after the problem has been detected and the oil has been changed. An investment in fluid identification, proper dispensing equip- ment, and most importantly in training and education will drastically reduce the incidence of incorrect oil top-ups. It is more difficult to put numbers on the savings, but any averted catastrophe warrants the improvement. Next Steps With these upgrades, you no doubt will have dramatically improved your lubrication program. Typical internal rates of return and net present value over five years are about 150 percent and $500,000 for a program in a medium-sized plant. The next steps will require putting in a plan for capital expendi- ture. Invest in a world-class lube room complete with an advanced oil storage system, cabinets and lubrication handling carts. Replace the offline filter cart program with permanently mounted filtration systems on critical equipment. Augment your stawndard oil analysis program with an advanced oil monitoring program for critical machines and those with large oil sumps (in excess of 250 gallons). As you continue to improve the condition of your lubricants, revisit your wear, oil condition and contamination alarm levels and adjust them accordingly. Your initial investment in lubrication management has likely eliminated 80 percent of your oil-related problems. The next 20 percent will take more continuous efforts. The subsequent steps involve looking for incremental improve - ment throughout the plant. It will be essential that you continue to educate yourself on lubrication best practices and seek opportunities to enhance your lubrication program. Remember, world class is a moving target, so my advice is to get started now.