Oil diagnosis with Portable Oil Lab:

Why mobile oil diagnosis

Knowing the current condition of the fluid is very important for operators of production plants and units, as a machine failure is associated with long downtimes and high downtime costs. In order to detect changes in the hydraulic oil and contamination at an early stage, the operators take a sample at set intervals and send it to an oil laboratory. This process has become established across the board in recent years and continues to be a very good solution for detecting damage at an early stage.

However, this process also harbors some risks. Often the wrong or dirty containers are used for sampling, which means that the analysis cannot be carried out or the laboratory result is incorrect. Just as important as a suitable container is the cleanliness of the environment in which the sample is taken. If the sample is taken in humid or dusty ambient air, this can already have an effect on the water content of the oil or on particle contamination.

Another disadvantage of classic oil analysis is time. It can take several days from the time the oil is extracted until the report is analyzed. As a result, a low-cost error can quickly develop into massive and cost-intensive damage.

ARGO-HYTOS GmbH has recognized this problem and developed a portable oil laboratory especially for such service operations.

Figure 1: ARGO-HYTOS Portable Oil Lab

Portable Oil Lab

The Portable Oil Lab was specially developed for service and maintenance staff who have to service several systems every day and its compact and robust design makes it the perfect companion for everyday work.

In order to survive the daily work routine, a rechargeable battery is installed inside the device, which supplies the device with energy for approx. 8 hours in pump mode. If the device is installed directly in the high-pressure line (max. 320 bar), the battery can supply the device with energy for more than 24 hours.

The user has two options for oil removal:

1. Suction of the oil using the integrated pump. The built-in pump can pump viscosities of up to approx. 400 cSt. This means that gear oil is also no problem for the Portable Oil Lab.
2. The device can also be integrated directly into the high-pressure line (max. 320 bar) using the integrated high-pressure adapter. To avoid confusion between the low-pressure and high-pressure connections, ARGO-HYTOS has deliberately opted for two different connections.

The OPCom 2 particle monitor is used to measure particle contamination.

Figure 3: LubCos H2O+II

In addition to the rel. humidity (0…100%) and the permittivity P, the conductivity C of the oil can also be measured.

Each type of oil has a characteristic permittivity, it is the fingerprint of the oil, so to speak. The Portable Oil Lab therefore makes it possible to detect mixtures of different oils or filling with the wrong oil.

The measured values of the device are saved in the internal memory and can be transferred to a PC for further processing in a database after a successful service.

The device is equipped with an integrated printer. Measured results can be printed out directly on site at the system and discussed with the user or customer.