Oil analysis

[Cardoso]

Hello,

I'm currently working as a maintenance supervisor and manager. I have a MD in Electrotechnical Engineering and because of this there are things such as oils and so on that I am not familiar with.

The company isn't very big, but there are some equipments where we change the oils yearly and after looking at it I would like to know what type of analysis is it normal to perform on oils?
Contents of water and metal particles are just about the ones that come to my mind but are there any more??

And the I would like to know the procedures for this to be done in house... Laboratories are quite expensive and we are a chemical industry!

Thank you for your patience for reading this far,
Carlos Cardoso

 

[electricpete]

viscosity would be one. Spectrographic analysis of small particles for example ICP. Direct reading ferrography. Acid number. Possibly particle count to monitor oil cleanliness.

If I understand correctly you have a small organization, not a lot of knowledge on oil monitoring within your organization, looking to start up a monitoring program...I would recommend using an oil lab.

Most (but not all) large industrial plants find that more economical approach than doing analysis in house. I would think the argument would be even stronger for a small facilities that doesn't have economies of scale to support a lab and trained personnel.

Some big advantages of a lab:
1 - Most of them will keep your results and builde you an instantly accessible on-line database of your results (for example Herguth does this). Very user friendly. Can look by equipment, can sort by equipment with bad results, can track sample status until results completed, etc.
2 - They provide expert assistance when you have questions interpretting the results.
3 - If I need a specialized test such as analytical ferrography for investigation of an unusual result, it is available.

Even if you could do the job cheaper yourself, do you think you could do it better? (make better decisions?). If not, the savings in oil analysis may be more than outweighed by extra cost associated with missed calls and bad decisions/recommendations for equipment maintenance.





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[25362]

Electricpete is right. The frequency of oil changes depends on the particular use. Sometimes oils can be filtered and re-used. Some Google sites can be helpful in this respect.
One example:

www.practicingoilanalysis.com/article_detail.asp?articleid=453​

 

[dgallagher]

Agree with Pete that a lab may be cost effective for you, especially if you concentrate on critical equipment in the beginning. One instrument that is relatively low cost and very simple to use, the OilCheck, can assist in extending oil drain intervals and also be used as a screening tool for your oil samples. By screening samples, you will only send those to the lab that are known to have a problem - improving your program cost effectiveness, and allowing you to incorporate additional equipment into the analysis program.
Link to OilCheck information and manual:

http://www.reliabilitydirectstore.com/SKF-TMEH-1-OilCheck-Oil-Condition-Meter-p/skf-tmeh 1.htm

Dave G.

http://www.ReliabilityDirect.com

 

[romke]

i think you would best be served by sending the samples for analysis to a knowledgable laboratory. since the number of samples would be small, there is no point in buying expensive equipment or have people trained to carry out the analyses and the interpretation of the results.

be aware though that no analysis can be meaningful as long as the taking of samples and the correct labeling is not up to scratch. it would be wise to communicate with your preferred laboratory about the best way of taking the samples and what further info they require to be able to come up with meaningful and practical results.

another point to bear in mind is that sample analysis usually delivers two kinds of information: how good is the oil and how far has it degraded in comparison with a fresh sample - which means that you need two sets of data for a reliable judgement, and on the other hand: what happens internally in the machine (amount of various wear debris, locations of parts of various metals in the machine and what the normal wear rate would be in that specific machine etc. that part of the equation is far more difficult to resolve, because usually no standard wear data are available unless you are using equipment that is used on a large scale. this implies that you need a number of samples to establish a baseline before results can be interpreted in a reliable way.

 

[davidtb]

What's the equipment?
What's the useage?
What's the environment?
How many fingers in the pie?
Are your samples anygood?
What will you do with the answers you get?