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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Moisture is generally referred to as a chemical contaminant when suspended in lubricating oils. Its destructive effects in bearings can reach or exceed that of particle contamination, depending on conditions. Like particles, control must be exercised to minimize water accumulation and damage to bearing surfaces. Once water enters a machine with bearings (i.e., an engine, turbine, or gear box) it may move through several chemical and physical states. Water will often enter an oil in one of the five following ways.

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Optical particle counters (OPC’s) have a long history of use in industrial hydraulic applications. Traditionally, their success has been limited to scientific laboratories and other highly controlled environments. However, in recent years, attempts have been made to apply the use of OPC’s to the particle counting of used hydraulic fluids and industrial lubricants. As a result, serious concerns have been raised regarding the accuracy and reliability of OPC’s in such applications. The objective of this bulletin is to present important facts from reliable and documented sources for the general benefit of existing or prospective users of OPC’s. As particle counting moves into the mainstream of machine condition monitoring, users must have reliable information to identify and select appropriate technologies.

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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.

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You don’t have to remove what you don’t allow to enter. Indeed, it’s hard to challenge the logic and value of controlling water ingression, but because moisture is everywhere, achieving bone-dry oil through exclusion alone may not be practical or even necessary.

Lubricating oils have different degrees of hygroscopicity (water-loving tendencies), making the control of all dissolved water an almost futile exercise. However, for many applications, it’s the free and emulsified water that is the most destructive and, hence, the central target for control and inspection.

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Most of us are well aware of the enormous damage water can exact on a machine and its lubricants. However, the magnitude of this potential destruction seems to depend directly on five enabling factors. These factors are listed below and are further diagramed in Figure 1.

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Water in a hydraulic system constitutes a serious form of oil contamination. However, water contamination is rarely recognized as such, hardly understood, and, until recently, considered difficult to combat. The damage caused by water is usually attributed to other causes. Water often interacts with other types of contamination. It causes both degradation of the hydraulic oil and damage to the hydraulic components, which reinforce each other. In the past, the filtration of hydraulic oil was solely aimed at removing solid particles. The hydraulic industry has therefore made great progress over the last twenty years in applying and maintaining well-designed filtration of solid particles from hydraulic oil. However, the recent introduction of water-removing filters seems destined to shift the focus in the management of hydraulic oil contamination.

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Here is the latest component for hydraulic system filtration and contamination control Water is a very serious contaminant in oil hydraulic systems. Yet, water contamination is rarely identified, poorly understood, and, until recently, considered very difficult to remove. In most cases, the damage done by water is blamed on other factors. Water often works together with other contaminants to produce a combined synergistic degradation of fluid and components.

In the past, hydraulic filtration processes were designed to separate solid contaminants from the hydraulic fluid and, over the last 20 years, the hydraulics industry has made great progress in implementing and maintaining well-conceived solid-contaminant filtration on hydraulic equipment. However, the recent introduction of water-removing filters appears destined to change the focus of fluid power contamination control.

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Water, once in an oil, is in constant search of a stable existence. Unlike oil, the water molecule is polar, which greatly limits its ability to dissolve; and many additives have polar extremities which can markedly increase water solubility. Water may cling to hydrophilic metal surfaces or form a thin film around polar solid contaminants such as silica particles. If a dry air boundary exists, water molecules may simply choose to migrate out of the oil to the far more absorbent air interface. This migration can be accelerated if air and oil mix, Such as in splash lubricated and oil mist systems or any system where a stable fluid foam may exist.

If water molecules are unable to find polar compounds on which to attach, the oil is said to be saturated. Any additional water will create a supersaturated condition causing free water to be suspended or settle at the bottom of the sump. This supersaturation can also occur as a result of lower oil temperature.

The post Moisture… the Second Most Destructive Lubricant Contaminant, and its Effects on Bearing Life appeared first on Tesibis.

Water, once in an oil, is in constant search of a stable existence. _Unlike oil, the water molecule is polar, which greatly limits its ability to dissolve; and many additives have polar extremities which can markedly increase water solubility. Water may cling to hydrophilic metal surfaces or form a thin film around polar solid contaminants such as silica particles. If a dry air boundary exists, water molecules may simply choose to migrate out of the oil to the far more absorbent air interface. This migration can be accelerated if air and oil mix, Such as in splash lubricated and oil mist systems or any system where a stable fluid foam may exist.

If water molecules are unable to find polar compounds on which to attach, the oil is said to be saturated. Any additional water will create a supersaturated condition causing free water to be suspended or settle at the bottom of the sump. This supersaturation can also occur as a result of lower oil temperature.

The post Moisture… the Second Most Destructive Lubricant Contaminant, and its Effects on Bearing Life appeared first on Tesibis.

Water in a hydraulic system constitutes a very serious form of oil contamination. Technically, water contamination is rarely recognized as such, poorly understood, and, until recently, considered difficult to combat. The damage caused by water is usually attributed to other causes. Water often interacts with other types of contamination. It causes both degradation of the hydraulic oil and damage to the hydraulic components, which reinforce each other. In the past, the filtration of hydraulic oil was solely aimed at removing solid particles. The hydraulic industry has therefore made great progress over the last twenty years in the application and maintenance of well-designed filtration systems for solid particles in hydraulic oil. However, the recent introduction of water-removing filters seems destined to shift the focus in the management of hydraulic oil contamination.

The post Filters can remove the water from hydraulic oil appeared first on Tesibis.

Water in a hydraulic system constitutes a very serious contaminant of the oil. Nevertheless, water contamination itself is rarely recognized, poorly understood, and until recently, considered difficult to combat. Sometimes, the damage caused by water is attributed to other types of contamination. Water often interacts with other contaminants, causing both degradation of the hydraulic oil and damage to the hydraulic components, with these effects reinforcing each other. Until now, hydraulic oil filtration has primarily focused on removing solid particles. The hydraulics industry has made significant progress in the application and maintenance of well-designed solid particle filtration systems over the past twenty years. However, the recent introduction of water-separating filters appears poised to shift the focus of oil contamination control.

The post Filters kunnen het water uit hydraulische olie verwijderen (Filters can remove the water from hydraulic oil) appeared first on Tesibis.