Lubricant Health Monitoring Programs - A Proactive Approach to Increase Equipment Availability

With the increase of operating temperatures and equipment availability, the need is emerging for hydraulic and lubricating equipment manufacturing companies to include new proactive parameters in their maintenance specifications. Not only will these parameters result in a better balance between equipment and oil health monitoring, but also increase the availability of the equipment. The first part of this paper will present principles of working for this innovative technique, (off-line as well on-line oil analysis information) to monitor the antioxidant concentration or oxidative health of the oil, as a complementary parameter to contamination analysis. The second part of the paper will highlight the capability of the RULER™, as a portable field technique for different case studies. By monitoring the antioxidant depletion end-users will avoid excessive base-oil degradation and/or varnish and lacquer formation as well abnormally operating systems. Once the antioxidant information is generated on-site, it will quickly enable end-users to efficiently integrate condition-based maintenance strategies (such as re-additizing strategies) so that costly oil change-outs are performed based on condition rather than time resulting in increased equipment availability and decreased repair/maintenance costs..