Despite the good intentions of many organizations, real improvements in contamination control often remain an elusive concept. They know that invisible particles are one of the largest single contributors to progressive wear of machinery. Yet with each passing year, no significant enhancements in maintenance practices resulting in greater fluid cleanliness are implemented. With today’s selection of IoT fluid monitoring systems and free, practical advice for contamination control practices, no plant should let contamination run rampant any longer.

After all, being “generally clean” does not result in incremental reliability improvements. Only higher levels of cleanliness accomplish this. No improvement in contamination control means no reduction in particle-induced machine wear and failure. Unlike invisible particles, a failed machine in need of repair is a tangible task with an immediate tangible result; that is, the machine returns to operation. Yet, most of us have been taught that problem solving (reactive maintenance) should always be subordinate to problem prevention (proactive maintenance). It’s amazing how knowing is often not doing.

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With few exceptions, the chemical and physical stability of lubricants are threatened by even the slightest amount of suspended water. Water can promote a host of chemical reactions (hydrolysis) with compounds and atomic species including oil additives, base stock and suspended contaminants. In combination with oxygen, heat, and metal catalysts, water is known to promote the oxidation and the formation of free radicals and peroxide compounds. Oxidation inhibitors are sacrificed by both neutralizing peroxides and breaking oxidation chain reactions to form stable compounds.

Other oxidation inhibitors are known to form hydrogen sulfide and sulfonic acids when reacting with water. Experiments have shown the protection provided by zinc dialkyldithio phosphate (ZDDP), a common antiwear additive and antioxidant, to be destroyed by as little as one drop of water in a gallon of oil, with oil temperature above l 80°F.

Water is also known to attack rust inhibitors, viscosity improvers, and the oil’s base stock. The effects are undesirable by-products such as varnish, sludge, organic and inorganic acids, surface deposits and lubricant thickening (polymerization). Large amounts of emulsified water can lower viscosity, thereby reducing a lubricant’s load carrying ability. When water is combined with metal catalysts such as iron or copper, accelerated stressing of the oil can occur. This results in base stock oxidation and the forming of free radicals (which continue the oxidation process), hydroperoxides, and acids (see figure 2).

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Plainly stated, the burgeoning cost of maintenance is a serious business problem. According to DuPont, “maintenance is the largest single controllable expenditure in a plant: in many companies it often exceeds annual net profit.” One major U.S. automotive manufacturer has a maintenance staff of between 15,000 and 18,000, all plants combined. They say “85% to 90% is crisis work” (breakdown).

While preventive maintenance, when well implemented, has been shown to produce savings in excess of 25 percent, beyond that its benefit quickly approaches a point of diminishing return. According to a Forbes Magazine study, one out of every three dollars spent on preventive maintenance is wasted. A major overhaul facility reports that “60 percent of hydraulic pumps sent in for rebuild had nothing wrong with them.” These inefficiencies are the result of maintenance performed in accordance with a schedule (guess work) as opposed to the machine’s true condition and need.

Most recently, predictive maintenance (also known as condition monitoring) has been leading the way to additional savings over preventive maintenance. The use of real time or portable instruments such as vibration monitors, thermography, ferrography, etc. has been effective at recognizing the symptoms of impending machine failure. The major benefit is the availability of an earlier warning, from a few hours to a few days, which reduces the number of breakdown “catastrophic” failures. Predictive maintenance is usually implemented concurrently with preventive maintenance and targets both the warning signs of impending failure and the recognition of small failures that begin the chain reaction that leads to big failures (i.e., damage control).

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It has been extensively documented and widely stated that particle contamination is the number one cause of wear and failure of hydraulic components. The problem is generally more pronounced than in other types of machinery incorporating circulating systems that use sirnjlar types of oils. This heightened contaminant sensitivity is due to the high pressures and tight tolerances which are characteristic of modern hydraulic machines. Pressure is known to have a disproportionate effect on contaminant sensitivity.

Much has been learned in the past three decades about contamination control at both a laboratory research level as well as the real-world deployment of this knowledge in machinery-intensive industries. Case studies have flourished on the practical and economic benefits of maintaining hydraulic systems and fluids at extreme levels of cleanliness. Hence, the speculation is gone relating to the business case and strategies that produce savings and benefits to user organizations. For many owners of hydraulic systems the opportunities of planned cleanleness are like low-hanging fruit that is ripe for picking. This chapter summarizes this body of knowledge and the value-producing strategies needed to control particle contamination in hydraulic fluids.

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Introducing glycol into lubricating oils exposes your machines to a powerful and poisonous mixture of chemicals. Unlike other harmful contaminants such as water and dirt, the destructive potential of glycol can progress to massive failure of machine components in a narrow window of time.

There could hardly be a more important role for the oil analyst than the routine screening of lubricating oils for the presence of glycol. One large oil analysis laboratory that specializes in heavy-duty fleet equipment deployed in mining and construction reported that glycol was found in 8.6 percent of motor oil samples over a period of years – about one in 12 samples.

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For years Noria has been saying, “The cost of excluding a gram of dirt is probably only about 10 percent of what it will cost you once it gets into your oil.” Recently, a Noria training client asked us to document proof of this statement.

It reminds me of a widely used quote from Benjamin Franklin: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Or another familiar one: “Pay me now or a whole lot more later.” Proactively investing in reliability and machine wellness is very often challenged by the need to justify. Management is always asking for financial analysis and to “make the business case.”

Conversely, a financial study rarely is produced to obtain funds to repair a failed machine, especially when plant production has stalled. Sadly, I’ve heard maintenance folks say that they’ve quit trying to propose proactive measures to management. They claim it’s easier to just let the machines fail.

This is like saying it’s easier to just wait until you have a heart attack than to proactively make the lifestyle changes needed to avoid heart disease (diet, fitness, quit smoking, etc.). These differences are often deeply ingrained in management and business culture. Does your organization have the “here and now” folks or those who “plan and prepare?”

On the bright side, an increasing number of companies are led by managers who do “get it.” Much of this has been driven by the growing base of documented success stories from organizations and program leaders who have championed change and happily reported their results. They didn’t need to be beaten over the head but rather took the initiative and captured the benefit.

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It has been proven that almost all mechanical failures are caused by contamination; hard particle contamination to be ·specific. Once the root cause of machine failure has been defined, a program to correct these failures, extend machine life, and reduce maintenance costs must be developed. Such a program has been developed; it is called Proactive Maintenance.

Proactive maintenance is a three-step program that begins with the individual mechanical equipment and setting target cleanliness levels (benchmarks). The second phase deals with the system design, adequate filtration, and contamination exclusion techniques. The final step involves system monitoring. This process of continual monitoring is to ensure fluid and system cleanliness.

This paper is directed toward companies and manufacturers that have an interest in an efficient, cost effective maintenance program. To achieve total maintenance excellence, one must start at the beginning by taking an aggressive approach to maintenance technology.

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Users of hydraulic equipment need to know how clean their fluid should be. The information and procedure for determining this has not been readily available in the past. This has been largely due to the many factors· that impinge on the decision. This paper introduces a new· system called the Contaminant Life Index (figure 1) which deals with this question head on. The Contaminant Life Index addresses each of the many issues involved in determining required system cleanliness. These factors are presented in a simple, easy to follow format. The CLI delineates only the most salient criteria with the objective to span the numerous diverse types of hydraulic equipment in use.

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Contamination control encompasses the subject of machine life and maintenance costs. This paper discusses the Life Extension Method (LEM), a program to extend the meantime between failures based on improved fluid cleanliness levels. The LEM provides a fluid cleanliness target as the first of three steps to implement a contamination control program. The complete implementation strategy is presented and discussed.

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To some contamination control might seem a little like an old tune. After all, hasn’t filtration been around nearly as long as lubrication? And, what’s new that hasn’t already been thoroughly explored and widely applied? For one, when it comes to cleanliness, knowing is definitely not doing. Many maintenance professionals know oil should be clean but the use of filtration and contamination control lacks rigor and discipline. Why? Hidden behind steel plates, within the dark interior of our machine, the particles of dirt move about like a microscopic wrecking crew–invisible to the outside world. Even within a sample bottle they are too small to see. The dirt effectively is “out of sight” and therefore, usually also, “out of mind.” People don’t respond to what they don’t see. As in most cases, embedded in the problem one finds the solution, or rather, opportunity. Simply stated, how do we turn the unseen into the seen?

For many world class organizations, when it comes to battling invisible particles, the preferred weapon is the invisible filter- a.k.a., the particle counter. Why is a particle counter called an invisible filter? Because it has the remarkable ability to change behavior. The old saying, “what gets measured gets done” says it well. Everything else left the same, the frequent use of a particle counter, with conspicuous reporting of results, often leads to an amazing downward trend in contamination.

Why? Because people are reacting to the feedback, by slowly altering past practices. When combined with education, little things and big things alike are done differently. For instance, greater care and attention is given to lubricant storage, cleanliness of oil cans and top-up containers is controlled, transfer systems are fitted with filters, tank hatches are sealed tightly, and breathers and filters are serviced regularly. In sum, the best filter is the unneeded filter, the invisible filter, the particle counter. So, take the time to learn from the experience of others and develop a plan to emulate proven successes. To the astute, opportunity-seeking student of machine reliability, there are very few lessons so important. Class dismissed.

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Process plants and manufacturing companies have machinery lubricated by mineral-based or synthetic fluids and other machinery powered by lower viscosity hydraulic fluids. We define equipment of this type as fluid-dependent systems. Examples of this include gear boxes, process pumps, gas compressors, speed reducers, blowers, hydraulic metal working machines and machine tools.

When machines have wear, corrosion and associated problems that eventually lead to corrective action, we categorize these problems as internal state failures. Often, equipment operates infrequently, under very low loads, and away from the main production processes. In such cases, it may be perfectly acceptable to operate this equipment with scheduled maintenance activities or simply on a breakdown basis.

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By now, most lubrication professionals are keenly aware of the reliability gains associated with contamination control. Those who have traveled down this road know that clean and dry lubricants often come at a price.

However, best practice may have nothing to do with removing contaminants or changing the oil. Actually, it may have nothing to do with the oil at all. Instead, it’s a practice of stabilizing the cleanliness and dryness in the headspace environment – the air above the oil in tanks, reservoirs and lubrication compartments.

Why is this important? First, a high percentage of the particles and moisture that ingress into lubricating oils and hydraulic fluids must pass through the headspace. Therefore, the practice of excluding contaminants from entering the headspace, by default, excludes contaminants from entering the oil. This can be accomplished by channeling incoming ambient air through desiccant breathers that remove water and dirt.

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We’ve all seen them. Perhaps some of us daily. Many take on a certain beauty, almost like a natural cave formation or a work of art. Most have organic characteristics like mosses or algae.

Dust cakes need airborne dust and oil to feed their growth. Some get their oil from escaping headspace mist, while others extract oil themselves from adjacent grease by a slow, sucking action (capillary forces) within the cake. Leaking oil from machine case joints and seams can lead to enveloping dust cakes too. The available supply of oil and dust determines the growth rate and the wrath they can impart.

No one enjoys removing and cleaning this muck, which is often why dust cakes continue to grow. We see them but we don’t see them, like a dirty smudge on a carpet. After a while, they get subconsciously blocked from our view and concern. Of course, such blindness feeds a lethargic and dismissive culture that is contrary to any serious reliability effort.

If dust cakes are a common sight in your plant, that may indicate that a more robust lubrication program is needed. A good place to start to turn things around is to understand the real danger of doing nothing or deferring corrective actions. After all, there is a devil within these dust cakes.

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Imagine the filter inside your machine is made of fibers the size of telephone poles, stacked randomly in all directions, many layers thick. Each juncture where poles touch is a drop of super glue for support. To emulate actual operating conditions, the stack of poles is placed on a large moving and vibrating table.

Now, imagine that the contaminants inside your oil are lumps of gelatin, clumps of tar, ping-pong balls, marbles, tree branches, powdery sand, beanbags, strips of sheet metal, streams of honey, wet rags and beach balls. To begin our example, suppose that you had large containers of these different contaminants beside you as you perch on top of scaffolding hovering above the stack of telephone poles.

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This was one of those defining moments. It was some surprising insight on where maintenance and reliability professionals are in the journey to lubrication excellence.

I received a phone call from a stranger who introduced himself as a maintenance manager of a large steel mill. He told me he was preparing to teach a group of lube techs about how and when to perform an oil change on mill machinery. However, he first wanted my advice.

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Have you ever considered how we might be rewarded if we improved something by 10 times? For instance, what if we were 10 times richer; would we be 10 times happier? How about if we were 10 times smarter; would we be 10 times more successful? What if we worked 10 times harder? How might it apply to being more physically fit, taking initiatives, having more drive, being kind and more empathetic, having more friends/connections, etc.?

One might think that if you make a 10-times improvement, you should expect a 10-times gain. In such cases, your gain or benefit would be incremental or proportional. In maintenance, we have control over many factors that can lead to gain. We’ve all heard of the gains that are the most important to us: better quality, lower production costs, lower repair costs, higher asset utilization, improved safety; the list goes on.

Invariably, we are looking for factors within our realm of control, factors that we can affect with relative ease and sustainability.

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I realize that this statement – No Contamination, No Wear, No Kidding –  may not sit well with some readers, such as a few purists within the tribology community. But before anyone gets too excited, let me start by listing my assumptions:

1. The machine is well designed, manufactured and installed.
2. It is used in the target application within rated operating parameters (loads, speeds, etc.).
3. The lubricant is properly selected and produces an oil film (EHL or HDL).
4. Lubricant levels and change intervals are properly maintained.
5. Oil analysis and other condition monitoring practices are performed to best practice.

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