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.

The post Contamination Control Strategies for Planned Oil Cleanliness appeared first on Tesibis.

Oil contamination may be defined as any foreign material found in the lubricant which is not added by design. Usually, contaminants are not beneficial, and may be detrimental, to the performance of the oil and/or the operating machinery. Contamination is a significant root cause of machine and lubricant degradation and failure. Often overlooked as a source of failure because its impact is usually slow and imperceptible, contamination is both a significant threat to reliability and quality efforts, and an opportunity because improvements are very attainable1. Research on an array of fluid dependent machinery such as bearings and rotating equipment, hydraulic systems, gearboxes, and diesel engines, clearly supports that often machine reliability is a function of contamination control.

The post An Introduction to Fluid Contamination Analysis appeared first on Tesibis.

The best maintenance techniques for mechanical machinery are condition-based techniques. Condition-based maintenance is maintenance prescribed by the real-time needs of the machine according to changes in specific operation conditions. These conditions fall into two categories.

The first set of conditions are those that present a risk to a machine’s health if allowed to persist. These are operating and environmental conditions that precede failure, i.e., root causes of failure. They are not failure symptoms, which is after the fact. Examples of root cause conditions are misalignment, lubricant contamination, and overheating. The activity of detecting and correcting root cause conditions is referred to as proactive maintenance. Its singular purpose is to extend a machine’s operating life.

The post Lubricant-Based Techniques for the Condition Monitoring of Non-Circulating Gear and Bearing Systems appeared first on Tesibis.

The monitoring of particle contamination in lubricating fluids is a critical indicator of incipient and impending failures. Recent research, under both laboratory and field conditions of the contaminant sensitivity of bearings, reveals a well defined cause and effect relationship between contaminant levels and relative machine life.

This paper discusses the contaminant sensitivity of bearings as well as turbines, diesel engines, gear systems, and hydraulic systems. Also discussed is the benefit of applying contaminant monitoring to both proactive and predictive maintenance programs. Proactive maintenance is the process of monitoring root causes (pre-degradation conditions) as opposed to predictive maintenance which focuses on impending failure conditions.

The post Particle Contamination — Both a Cause and a Result of Mechanical Failure appeared first on Tesibis.

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.

The post Proactive Maintenance – The New Technology for Cost-Efficient Contamination Controlof Mechanical Machinery appeared first on Tesibis.

Costly particulate contamination slowly degrades and jams machine components causing product defects, shorter machine life., increased production downtime and decreased energy efficiency. Even the smallest amount of water, or the most microscopic particles, can ·eventually grind a machine to a halt. Yet, maintenance has historically been a ·reactive type activity .. When a machine breaks down, maintenance personnel give the failed components the “4R Treatment”- that is remove, repair, rebuild and/or replace. When evidence suggests that material degradation and/or deterioration is taking place at an accelerated rate, the cause has been determined and. action taken to correct the problem. In today’s world when there are increasingly complex- systems., maintenance personnel must supplement such traditional reactive maintenance Practices with proactive methods that can identify aberrant root causes of failure long before materials or component performance degradation occurs. No maintenance discipline has previously taken the micro view on machine damage concentrating on the· causes instead of the symptoms of wear. Proactive maintenance is that discipline, and it is quickly being recognized worldwide as the most important means of extending machine life.

The post A New Approach to Maintaining Industrial Equipment appeared first on Tesibis.

A proactive maintenance approach has been particularly successful in reducing or eliminating one of the most serious equipment maintenance problems: contamination of lubricant or hydraulic fluid systems. According to the bearings division of 1RW, “contamination is the number one cause of bearing damage that leads to premature removal.” Caterpillar states that “dirt and contamination are by far the number one cause of hydraulic system failures.” Similarly, J.I. Case states that “systems must be kept clean, spotlessly clean, in order to achieve the productivity they are capable of.” Finally, Oklahoma State University reports that when fluid is maintained 10 times cleaner, hydraulic pump life can be extended by 50 times (Fig. 1 ).

The most common types of contaminant induced failures in machinery are wear, sticking, seizure, erosion and corrosion. Contaminants can include solid particles, moisture, air, chemicals and other foreign materials. Figure 1 – Cleaner hydraulic fluid extends pump life.

The rate at which contamination enters a system is typically underestimated, and the effectiveness of filters in removing this contamination is often overstated. According to a study of hydraulic equipment at Oklahoma State University, “it has been demonstrated that apparent ingression rates of 10-100 million particles greater than 10 microns (per minute) characterize field systems (Figure 2).” Filters often have great difficulty removing these high contamination levels since they are subject to frequent changes in temperature, fluid viscosity, pressure, and flow; plus the effects of shock, vibration and fatigue. Other common problems are filter bypass valves that are stuck open, damaged or missing filter gaskets, and filters that are installed crooked or backwards.

The post Contaminant Monitoring Targets Root Causes of Machinery Problems appeared first on Tesibis.

Oil contamination can be defined as any foreign material found in the lubricant which is not added by design. Usually, contaminants are not beneficial and may even be detrimental to the performance of the oil and/or operating machinery. Contamination is the root cause of a high proportion of machine and lubricant degradation and failure. Often overlooked as a source of failure because its impact is usually slow and imperceptible, contamination is both a significant threat to reliability and quality efforts but at the same time also an opportunity, because improvements are very attainable. Research on an array of fluid dependent machinery, such as bearings and rotating equipment, hydraulic systems, gearboxes, diesel engines, turbines, clearly supports the idea that very often machine reliability is a function of contamination control.

Particles, moisture, heat, air, glycol and fuel are all contaminants found in industrial lubricants. Particles and moisture are especially common and typically present the greatest risk to machine reliability and lubricant performance. Particles and moisture, either acting alone or in unison, lead to fluid oxidation, additive depletion, viscosity failure and loss of lubricity, especially where heat is present. Once the fluid’s lubricating qualities are degraded they no longer provide the ‘cushion’ between moving machine surfaces. Because the fluid can no longer perform as it was designed, wear and ultimate failure ensue.

The post Fluid Contamination Analysis as a Maintenance Tool appeared first on Tesibis.

Condition monitoring can be easily performed by following a few simple principles. Among these principles include monitoring two sets of conditions:

1. The operating and environmental conditions that precede failure, and
2. Early-stage failure symptoms

Several models are presented that show the benefits of monitoring machine conditions, as well as the consequences of ignoring them. Also discussed is the integration of both proactive and predictive maintenance techniques to extend machine life.

The post Interpreting Contaminant Analysis Trends into a Proactive and Predictive Maintenance Strategy appeared first on Tesibis.

It can take just one breakdown of a critical machine to spin an entire plant into an immediate production halt. At this point, it is too late for the plant manager to do anything but call a service technician, then gasp for air while counting the lost production.

Each time a breakdown occurs, a manager vows to begin a rigid maintenance program as soon as time and money permits. But that never happens. Sound familiar?

With all of the attention maintenance advances have received in recent years in the trade press and through technical shows and conferences, it is hard to imagine that any lant would not have implemented an improved maintenance program. Yet advanced maintenance techniques commonly are neglected. Selecting a program that fits the needs of a particular plant environment can be a difficult task.

The post Proactive Maintenance is a Blueprint for Success appeared first on Tesibis.

With the widespread use of plant-level particle counters, maintenance organizations are becoming more sophisticated and skilled in the management and control of oil cleanliness. This has led to the discovery of a host of new tactics and practices that involve combining the particle counter with other important onsite oil analysis tools and methods.

Contamination can be defined as any unwanted substance or energy that enters or contacts the oil. Contaminants can appear in many forms, and can be highly destructive to the oil, its additives and machine surfaces. It is often overlooked as a source of failure because its impact is usually slow and imperceptible yet, given time, the damage is analogous to eating up the machine from the inside out. While it is not practical to attempt to eradicate contamination from in-service lubricants, control of contaminant levels within acceptable limits can be accomplished and is vitally important.

Contaminants such as particles, moisture, soot, heat, air, glycol, fuel, detergents and process fluids are commonly found in industrial lubricants and hydraulic fluids. However, particle contamination is typically recognized as the most destructive to the oil and machine, which explains why the particle counter is the most widely used instrument in oil analysis today. Additionally, the central strategy to its success in reducing maintenance costs and increasing machine reliability is proactive maintenance.

The post Why Onsite Particle Counting Makes Sense appeared first on Tesibis.

Equipment maintenance costs represent an unclaimed gold mine of savings opportunities. Yet deep maintenance cost reductions have evaded the efforts of even the most diligent and sophisticated operations. Why? Because there has been a general lack of emphasis on maintenance that corrects root causes, as opposed to responding to the symptoms or results of failure.

A shift in maintenance philosophy is needed, one that targets life extension and avoids the onset of component degradation.

The philosophy must not be reactive but proactive. A true proactive maintenance program must stabilize healthy, non-degrading, non-decaying, operating conditions by always being ahead of the first indication of failure.

The post Proactive maintenance targets extending machine life appeared first on Tesibis.