Application of oil condition monitoring techniques for improving critical equipment availability in steel plant

The particles contained in the lubricating oil carry detailed and important information about the condition of the machine. The information may be deduced from particle shape, composition, size distribution and concentration. Particles eroded from the surface of an oil wetted component in any centralized lubrication system upon examination give specific and accurate information. The operating wear modes prevailing in the machine are determined with the examination of the lubricant in circulation. Analytical and experimental studies were undertaken to assess the deleterious effect of contaminants present in lubricant on the performance of critical equipment in steel plant. The study involves the findings of typical characteristics developed in the oil wetted components on account of contaminants. Morphology of worn out particles, change in chemistry of lubricant and the presence of contaminants in the centralized system was optimized. The experimental methods include quantification of total ferromagnetic particles through direct reading and analytical ferrography, particle size in a laser diffraction particle counter and deleterious particles present in the lubricant through an Oil View Analyser instrument and an inductive couple plasma unit. The above condition based analytical techniques were used to predict the overall health of the critical equipment located in different units of steel plant. Copyright © 2017 Japanese Society of Tribologists.