Oil purity & sensors
As already mentioned in various articles, oil cleanliness is very important for the service life of the system-relevant components and has a direct impact on the availability of the system/machine.
Do you know how your oil is doing?
Do you know the machine manufacturer’s requirements and how do you comply with the required cleanliness class?
A common way is to take an oil sample from time to time to have it analyzed in an external laboratory. The only question here is what is the right interval? How quickly does the wear and contamination of the oil progress? Are there perhaps seasonal influences that should be taken into account? What impact do capacity increases have on the production process? The person responsible must ask themselves these and many other questions in order to ensure that the machine operates as safely and trouble-free as possible.
The use of mobile particle counters is also suitable for obtaining quick results. These are usually equipped with temperature and humidity sensors. This enables a quick on-site examination, but does not replace the laboratory in an emergency.
Another way is to continuously monitor the oil condition using sensors.
The advantage is obvious: “continuous monitoring”. Monitoring is therefore no longer dependent on the sample interval and it can be ensured that a change in oil quality does not go unnoticed. Using various interfaces, the data can be output via a display or fed directly into the existing IT network.
With the oil quality sensor we use, the oil quality index is considered as a function of temperature and time. If the index changes within certain intervention limits in combination with a duration “X” and a temperature change “Y”, the sensor reports this change via a traffic light system.
In contrast to conventional sensors, the energy loss component of the permittivity is measured. All impurities such as metallic particles, soot, water, oxidation, glycol and especially combustion residues increase this measured value. Using the software supplied, the oil type and the associated warning messages can be selected from over 2000 different oils and transmitted to the sensor. The oil database is constantly updated by our experts to ensure that you always have the latest information on the individual oils and that the sensor can detect and report any wear at an early stage.
If a deterioration in the oil quality index is detected, this should be actively monitored so that an oil sample can be submitted to the laboratory immediately if it continues to deteriorate. This is the only way to draw conclusions about the cause and protect the machine from an unplanned shutdown.
Of course, there are also other sensors that monitor the oil quality and report changes, but the last and all-important step is (currently) still left to the specialist personnel: what do I do if the sensor measures and reports a deviation? What steps are being taken and with what consistency are these steps being implemented? Even the best technology is useless if no further measures are derived from it and implemented.
In the near future, it may be possible to use AI (artificial intelligence) to completely network sensors and machines to stop a machine in a controlled manner before the hydraulic components fail and consequential damage occurs.
It remains to be seen when this technology can be used in practice at acceptable costs and requirements for IT & Co.
The fact is, the quality of the oil has a direct effect on the service life and availability of the machine and… it is better to take an oil sample from time to time to assess the condition of the oil than to do nothing at all.
Contact details:
LARS BENK
+49 7424/9495-663
Lars Benk: Profile of a field-tested expert
Basic training: Tool mechanic, specializing in stamping and forming technology.
Further training: State-certified technician with a focus on mechanical engineering.
Additional qualification: Degree in technical business administration, combining technical know-how with business expertise.
Professional experience: More than a decade of active work in the field of hydraulics.
Specialization: Certified specialist in oil analysis (MLA II – Machine Lubrication Specialist), with a specific focus on the maintenance and optimization of machines through professional lubricant analysis. Certified specialist for hydraulic fluids – specialist knowledge for optimal hydraulic systems.
