Bridging the Gaps with Used Oil Analysis and NDT Technologies

Maintaining a turbine oil with low varnish potential has many financial benefits for a power plant. In addition to increased availability and reliability, one may avoid having to do a “varnish flush” in between oil changes. Flushes are both energy and volume intensive, which accumulates to a sizeable carbon footprint. Read More »

In this episode of Gear Talk, Wes is joined by Daniel Rader, Reliability Engineer at L3Harris Technologies, to discuss the proactive side of reliability and how we design reliability into our systems and into our machines.

Solving the liquid sandpaper problem starts with preventing contamination from getting into the oil in the first place. Exclusion is far cheaper than removal, by a factor of at least ten. Exclusion means addressing the problem at the source. Take inventory of contaminant ingression sources. For many machines, the inhaling of airborne contaminants into the headspace of drums, totes, and reservoirs is the primary source. Read More »

One crucial aspect of oil analysis is particle counting. Particles can originate from several sources, including normal wear and tear, external contamination, and the breakdown of additives within the lubricating oil. Regardless of their origin, particles present in machinery lubrication can have severe consequences. Read More »

Considering that the lubrication process and systems are in fact “systems,” and perhaps the most important systems of all, wouldn’t it make sense that the leadership use this instruction to calculate the health and performance of the lubrication and its systems? Read More »

Many great leaders over the past decades have proclaimed, “If you think that education is expensive, try ignorance.” Indeed, ignorance is dangerous and can even turn a good program, which should be beneficial to a company, into a great source of annoyance and declining productivity. Read More »

Timely detection of potentially harmful contamination allows maintenance personnel to identify potential sources, take corrective actions, prevent adverse effects on performance and reliability, and improve the overall equipment lifetime. Read More »

Historical particle counting techniques do not differentiate between hard and soft particles or particles that are either microscopic water droplets or air bubbles. This lack of detail requires statistical assumptions to be made concerning the level and type of damage that a group of particles may cause. Read More »