Oil Analysis III

Level III Course Outline

Base Oil Fundamentals

• How mineral base oil groups compare on 9 criteria
• How synthetic oils compare to mineral oils
• Advantages and disadvantages of common synthetic lubricants
• How wear and friction control additives work
• The role of fatty acids, AW and EP lubrication films

Understanding and Analyzing Machine Wear

• 16 factors that cause changes in wear debris concentrations
• Effects of water on bearings
• 31 factors leading to abnormal engine wear
• How to enhance the detection of abnormal wear particle trends
• One simple technique to help you detect faults earlier
• Review of technologies used to analyze wear debris
• Particle size sensitivities of wear particle technologies
• Comparison of laboratory emission spectrometers
• How wear particle size influences spectrometric analysis
• How to determine the severity of a wear problem
• How to evaluate lock-step trends
• How to normalize for makeup oil
• Potential sources of metals in oil
• Best applications for elemental analysis of wear metals
• Advantages and disadvantages of analytical ferrography
• How filtergrams compare to ferrograms
• How to characterize particle composition by visual inspection
• Shape features of common wear particles
• Common machine wear mechanisms and how to identify them
• 11 sources of spherical wear particles and how to identify them
• How to recognize wear zones in gearing

Integrating Oil Analysis with Vibration Analysis

• Failure detection zones of oil versus vibration analysis
• Where oil and vibration analysis overlap
• Strengths and weaknesses of oil and vibration analysis on detecting 13 machine problems
• Combining vibration with wear debris analysis for bearing failure analysis

Fluid Properties Analysis

• How viscosity index impacts an oils ability to lubricate
• Best practices for onsite viscosity analysis
• 4 root causes of oxidation and why they are important
• The role of antioxidants and how they work
• 5 indicators of oil oxidation
• How to measure oxidation stability
• How acid numbers trend with different types of oils
• Machine diagnostics using neutralization numbers
• Detecting base oil oxidation with FTIR
• Strengths and weaknesses of FTIR
• How sludge and varnish are formed and how to detect
• Recommendations for a new lubricant testing plan

Additive Depletion

• 14 ways additives are depleted from oil
• How to detect depletion of 10 common additives
• How to find additive date on an oil analysis report

Contamination Analysis

• 5 ways to count and size particles
• Monitoring dust and dirt contamination by elemental analysis
• Tests for high soot load and fuel contamination

• How defoamants work and how they are depleted
• 16 water ingression sources
• 6 additives that are attacked by water contamination and results of each
• Machine effects of water-related problems
• Review of water detection technologies
• How to detect glycol in crankcase oil

Grease Analysis

• Methods for sampling grease
• Common used grease tests and what they measure
• 7 grease performance concerns and how to test
• How grease properties change due to incompatible mixtures

Onsite Oil Analysis Options

• How to integrate onsite with offsite oil analysis
• How to prepare a filter patch for particle contamination assessment
• Review of onsite viscometry, FTIR and particle counter options
• Small, medium and large budgets for an onsite lab: what to buy
• Tips for designing an onsite lab space

Designing an Oil Analysis Program

• How to select candidate machines for oil analysis
• 4 steps to optimizing interval-based oil changes
• Considerations for condition-based oil changes
• Factors influencing oil sampling frequencies
• Tips on working with an offsite lab
• 5 applications for goal-based limits
• How aging limits signal the approaching end of useful oil life
• 4 applications for rate-of-change limits
• Interpreting elemental trends using level limits

Cost Benefit Analysis

• 7 cost-saving areas for quantifying benefits
• Estimating the value of a predictive maintenance “save”
• Estimating annual savings per machine
• 3 project evaluation decision tools
• How to track your program: lubrication KPI’s

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