If your operation is unfortunate enough to be among the companies that have experienced mechanical breakdowns, you may want to look to your lubricant use for answers. Counted as two of the key causes of these malfunctions, contaminated oil and poor filtration are the culprits of around 80 per cent of all mechanical breakdowns.
To avoid these unwanted incidents, conducting routine oil analysis is crucial. Evidence suggests that examining your oil makes economic sense, with every pound spent in analysis making over triple the savings elsewhere. Additionally, regular oil analysis also makes it far easier to plan out scheduled intervals and optimise onsite drain intervals.
Enhancing productivity and profitability
Enterprises seeking to run more efficiently and improve both productivity and profitability will find oil analysis a reliable option with much to offer. Routine analysis can give equipment users a better understanding of how a machine’s internal components are working in general. An example of this is regarding whether a mechanical system is suffering abnormal levels of abrasion and wear. When such issues are identified early, the information can be used to head breakdowns off before they even happen.
Oil analysis uncovers this excessive or abnormal wear by revealing any impurities present, whether they are water droplets or particles. In a mechanical system that is functioning at optimum capacity, neither of these contaminants should be present in oil.
Professional oil analysis can then help onsite staff caring for equipment by showing them where to start looking for a fault and the best way to fix it.
Acquiring samples and considered interpretation
These expert laboratory tests will give operations an excellent idea of how well the oil being employed is holding up as it performs its vital role, lubricating, cleaning and protecting onsite equipment.
However, it is essential that these tests are carried out properly. For the results to provide an accurate picture, the temperature and level of oil must be normal in the system. It is also critical that the oil sample is taken from a system while the lubricant is circulating, or instantly after a mechanical system is turned off.
Providing these key factors are observed, an effective and fair analysis can be conducted, allowing its results to inform onsite users and to be compared to over a period of time.
One last important consideration is the duration spent interpreting the oil analysis results. Accurate and efficient oil analysis can provide companies with fresh insights and fact that can be used to draw conclusions from and adapt usage from. Where contamination is present, oil products can be changed or replenishment intervals shortened, depending on the actions required.
To sum up, oil analysis has multiple advantages. It can keep equipment running at optimum and help firms sidestep expensive breakdowns where repairs, replacement parts and system downtime can all add up to weighty and unnecessary costs. It also provides operations with information and knowledge of the health of their machinery that can inform maintenance work and decision-making regarding lubrication purchases and change intervals.
