Course Outlines

Level I

World-class Maintenance Philosophies
 Five prevailing features of world-class maintenance programs
• The 80:20 rule for maintenance
• Three successful elements of a CBM program

Introduction to Machinery Lubrication
• Oil formulation and its importance in effective machinery lubrication
• Six key functions of lubricating oils
• Three primary lubrication regimes
• Introduction to base oils and additives
• Choosing the correct base-stock
• Conditions that dictate use of synthetic oils
• Antioxidant additives and their role in oil life
• Dispersants and detergents - the key to controlling soot
• Controlling wear with additive chemistry

Oil Analysis Fundamentals
• Interpreting the language your oil is speaking
• Prevailing myths about oil analysis
• Common applications for sampling and analysis
• Three categories of oil analysis

Oil Sampling – The Very Best Practices
• 11 elements of a successful oil analysis program
• How clean should sample bottles be?
• How to find the best sampling locations
• Sampling valves and hardware recommendations
• A quick method for optimizing sampling intervals
• The importance of primary and secondary sampling points
• How to properly sample circulating systems
• Safe, effective high-pressure sampling from hydraulic systems
• Best practices for sampling splash-, collar-, and ring-lubricated systems

Fluid Properties Analysis
• Four common root causes of oil degradation
• Recognizing and controlling oil oxidation
• Monitoring lubricant degradation using acid number
• Monitoring lubricant health using FTIR
• Determining oil life using RPVOT
• Recognizing and controlling thermal failure
• How to recognize additive depletion or degradation
• Using paper chromatography (blotter spot test) to detect additive and base oil degradation
• Four ways to detect the addition of wrong oil

Contamination Control and Proactive Maintenance
• Seven common contaminants
• Oil cleanliness and oil life extension benefits
• Using the ISO Solid Contamination Code
• Proactive maintenance in three easy steps
• Case studies for proactive maintenance
• Oil filter and breather recommendations
• Portable filtration carts - three ways to use them
• Setting targets for oil cleanliness
• Detecting and controlling moisture contamination
• Selecting moisture removal/filtration methods
• The effects of heat on lubricants
• Controlling air entrainment and foam
• Glycol contamination
• Dealing with soot
• Understanding fuel contamination

Fault Detection and Wear Particle Analysis
• How wear metals are measured using RDE and ICP spectrometers
• Measuring larger particles with Rotrode Filter spectroscopy
• Using ferrous density to determine the severity of a wear problem
• Using analytical ferrography for advanced fault detection
• Using ferrography for root cause analysis
• Four primary sources of friction in lubricated machinery
• The 10 wear mechanisms that reduce machine life
• The most common wear modes in plain, rolling element, and thrust bearings
• Understanding gear wear
• Understanding wear in hydraulic systems

Instrument Free On-site Tests
• How to inspect vents and breathers
• Tips for effective sight glass inspection
• Getting valuable information from used filters
• Inspecting reservoirs for clues about lube trouble
• Scenting lubricants to find problems
• Getting visual clues from the oil sample before mailing it out
• Getting into particle analysis for under $100
• Turn your kitchen blender into a test for demulsibility and foam tendency
• Screening for water with a simple hot plate
• How an unwanted business card can reveal oil degradation

Interactive Case Studies Workshop
• Individual and group participation in problem-solving exercises
• Exercises in how to read an oil analysis report
• ICML MLA Level I flashcard review session

Level II

Lubrication Fundamentals
• Understanding full film, elastohydrodynamic, and boundary lubrication
• Comparing solvent-refined, hydro-treated and hydro-cracked mineral base oils
• Advantages and disadvantages of the five most common synthetic base oil types
• Understanding API’s five base oil categories
• Other base oil classification systems
• Overview of the 14 key additives that enhance lubricant performance
• Antioxidant additives and their role in oil life
• Controlling wear with additive chemistry

Detecting and Troubleshooting Machine Wear
• Four primary sources of friction in lubricated machinery
• 10 wear mechanisms that reduce machine life
• The secret to fault detection and analysis
• Why clean oil helps you detect faults earlier
• The importance of controlling water in your lubricants
• Understanding the progression of mechanical wear
• Using analytical ferrography for advanced root cause failure analysis
• Tips for chemical microscopy – oil analysis forensics
• The advantages and disadvantages of XRF spectrometers for large particle detection
• Using SEM-EDX for root cause failure analysis
• Characterizing particle composition by visual inspection
• LaserNetTM; automating ferrographic analysis

Fluid Properties Analysis
• Differentiating between oxidation and other base oil degradation pathways
• 20 causes and characteristics of lubricant change
• Troubleshooting additive depletion with some common and not-so-common oil analysis tools
• Using FTIR for advanced lubricant chemical analysis
• Determining oil life using RPVOT and remaining useful life tests
• How antioxidants alter oil life
• Troubleshooting air release and foaming problems
• 6 ways to test for varnish in your oil
• Identifying the addition of wrong oil using oil analysis
• What you need to know about thermal stability
• How oil color plays a role in oil life

Using Oil Analysis to Define Lubricant Standards
• Setting up a basic QA program for incoming lubricants
• Defining minimum performance standards for new lubricants using oil analysis
• Conducting lubricant cross compatibility testing
• Using oil analysis viscometric properties to guide and troubleshoot lubricant selection grease analysis
• Obtaining samples for in-service grease analysis
• Identifying possible grease compatibility issues using grease analysis
• Determining oxidation and the remaining useful life of a grease
• Troubleshooting wear problems in grease-lubricated bearings

Designing an Oil Analysis Program
• Using RCM and FMECA to guide your analysis program design
• Designing an oil analysis program to ensure proactive and predictive maintenance success
• Integrating oil analysis with other condition-monitoring technologies
• Ensuring oil analysis quality on-site and off-site
• Selecting machine-specific oil analysis test slates
• Creating effective oil analysis procedures
• How to scope training for the rest of the oil analysis lubrication team
• Best practices for setting up a successful on-site lab

Managing an Oil Analysis Program
• Selling oil analysis to management – how to write an effective oil analysis proposal
• Using financial data to justify lubrication and oil analysis program costs
• Using statistics to set level limits
• Modifying limits to account for operational changes
• Calculating and using rate-of-change limits
• How to set condition-based oil change limits
• Learning multi-parameter diagnostic techniques
• How to effectively manage oil analysis data
• Using oil analysis to develop lubrication Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Interactive Case Studies Workshop
• Individual and group participation in advanced problem-solving exercises, including designing and implementing an oil analysis program, analyzing data and making decision on continuous improvements

Excellent learning forum. Provided substantial information that will be immediately useful in improving existing oil analysis program. -- Steve Fox, Maintenance Engineer, Aera Energy