What is Oil Analysis with Robert Kalwarowsky
Lubrication is an important part of asset management and oil analysis plays a major role in keeping the lubrication system of your machines well. There are a number of factors that need to be taken into account while checking the lubricant for impurities and high viscosity etc. That’s why it is important to check the oiling process of the gearboxes and other machine parts that would fail if the condition of the lubricant is not up to the standards. There are a lot of precautions and different tests to make sure that the machines run smoothly.
In this episode, we covered:
- Why is oil analysis important?
- Why it’s important to have leaders!
- Where do you start?
- And much more!
These tests mostly include looking out for your viscosity of the fluid and take measures to increase the fluid life. The type of tests and the selection of details from the oil analysis depends upon the purpose behind it. If the organization is looking for proper maintenance program and improvement of asset conditions, there’s proper analysis packing that they should buy. These packages help obtain all the details that are necessary to keep the oil and your machine healthy. It is very important to keep the oil clean and keep it pure from the contaminants. It involves taking regular samples so that we would be able to keep track of up and down trends.
There are some general practices for sample taking that help you keep the environmental factors to a minimum. The precautions should be taken to make sure that safety is always considered while taking oil samples. You can set different sample points but the choice of locations should be such that the samples can be easily taken. You can check OEM recommendations to set intervals for taking oil samples. There are a lot of sources such as online lubrication courses and service providers that can help you improve your lubrication program.
You just need to start from somewhere so that you would be able to learn the basics and then take it from there. You can always try the good reference books to add to your knowledge. There are certifications out there specifically for machine lubrication programs. There are a lot of online websites and groups that can help you greatly in this endeavor. Once you have familiarized yourself with the body of knowledge, you need program leaders who would be responsible for taking samples and facilitate the lubrication programs. There should also be a champion who would be passionate about the oil.
These leaders and the champion would be properly trained. They would not only make sure that the greasing and oiling is being done properly, but they would also use the resources the best way possible to ensure that there is a culture in the organization. The type of culture where people would be able to ask questions and get answers. They would educate people to develop a trend that would be beneficial for the oil analysis program and ultimately for the assets in the long run. When they have done that, they would surely be able to see the results.
Eruditio Links:
Rob’s Links:
- Rob’s Reliability Project LinkdIn
- Rob’s Reliability Project Website
- Robert Kalwarowsky’s LinkdIn
- Past episodes with Rob
- Machinery Oil Analysis Book
- STLE
- ICML
If you would like to contact Rob, email robsreliabilityproject@gmail.com
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