Tag Archives: heavy equipment lubes

Best practice of lubrication procedure

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

As industries are growing at a rapid rate, plant managers need to develop their lubrication procedures. Best practices of lubrication procedure can boost up equipment reliability, reduce energy consumption and carbon-dioxide emissions and optimize maintenance. In order to increase productivity, top-notch lubrication methods, perfect staff training and high quality lubricants are essential.

Three stages of lubrication strategy

  • Boundary lubrication: – In boundary lubrication, an equipment faces the friction most as it was in its “start –up” phase. During start up, speed is relatively low and the load is high. The lubricant cushion is here only a thin film.
  • Mixed lubrication: – When the speed increases, the lubricant cushion builds and draw more lubricants in between the metals. Though the friction is reduced in mixed lubrication, but it can’t stop metal–to-metal friction at full.
  • Hydrodynamic lubrication: – Continuously increasing speed bring lubrication to its final stage known as “Hydrodynamic Lubrication”. Here friction is reduced to the minimum and the surfaces are properly coated with lubricant to avoid metal-to metal friction.

Tips to accomplish lubrication goals

  • Choosing the right tool for lubrication process is an important part. Pump and system maintenance experts gain an insight into the condition of the lubricant of the machinery with the help of ultrasound technology. Thus the team able to put right amount of lubricant at the correct time at correct place.
  • Identification is another step in which a labelling system is involved. It is used because in large plants various lubricants are applied. The labelling helps to avoid errors of mixing lubes (as lubricants are composed of chemical compositions and hence incompatible) especially in food industry.
  • One of the main reasons of equipment’s early failure is the oil contamination. So, in order to carry out the lubricant safely and clean, one should use fully sealed container and contamination – free containers which means containers that will not generate contaminants.
  • Dispensing equipment should be efficient and user friendly. The containers should be well identified to avoid any kind of mistakes.
  • It is advisable to colour code the grease guns to make sure right lube is used for right application.
  • Controlling the oil contamination in the equipment also plays a vital role. Online and offline filtering system help to clean the oil.
  • Before applying oil in the lubrication strategy, one should undergo a chemical analysis of the oil.
  • As lubricant has the power to pollute the environment, most maintenance strategies work hard to prevent such accidents.
  • The basic training of lubrication personnel should be encouraged to carry on an effective lubrication procedure.

The customers should make their lubrication strategy not under any pressure and their decision to buy lubricant should not falsely guide by the purchasing department. Most of the customers don’t realize that their equipment stop working not due to any mechanical failure, but due to lack of or improper lubrication procedure. There are OEMs which acts as a guideline to choose the right lubricant. Many customers report leakage as a problem. This leakage increases the consumption of lubricant by upto 25% which is not negligible. Some companies specially designed dyes to find out where such leakage is taking place which is really an effective tool to optimize lubrication strategy.

 

 

How to develop a lubrication program for your heavy construction equipment?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Lubrication is the technical process which helps to reduce the wear without the interference of human. Lubrication is done   by mediating a substance known as lubricant (which can be solid, liquid, or sometimes gas) which helps to carry the load between the opposing surfaces.

It is important for every equipment to get it properly and regularly lubricated so that it can go in the long run. Without lubricating heavy construction equipment, your machines will fail to withstand the wear and tear of time. But, don’t be afraid! You just need to follow some guidelines and you are on the way of increasing the life span of construction equipment even without wasting any money on the technicians.

There are three main things which can develop a lubrication program-

  • Procedure which support a broader maintenance tactics.
  • What needs to be set up?
  • From where to start the procedure?

These lubrication programs can be accomplished in many different ways. The procedure listed below is the most easy and effective while bringing uniformity to the task.

  • You should be dedicated enough to give your attention to find out what parts of the equipment should be lubricated. To cover the areas of lubricating the heavy construction equipment, you first have to make a proper schedule and for this time and effort is needed.
  • You can also look into the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) manual to find out what kind of lubricant should be used for the machine. In the OEM number of lubrication points are also mentioned. These OEMs are really very helpful for the beginners in this field. A comparison of OEM selection with the AGMA standards is also very essential.
  • You should plan lubrication properly to avoid any kind of damages. Everyone dealing with lubrication program should be endowed with responsibility.
  • If you really want to become an expert in lubrication then, you should have to learn when to stop the lubrication procedure. If you over lubricate a heavy equipment, then be careful, you are unaware of the damage that you are causing to the construction equipment.
  • For lubricating the condition based machines, ultrasound technology is ideally suitable. This ultrasonic inspection helps you to know which bearing needs to be lubricated and how much lubricant you should apply to it.
  • Apart from normal wear, bearing is also greatly affected by the thickness of a relative film by an adequate lubricant.
  • As the lubricant is susceptible to weather, the container with the lubricant should be kept in a controlled climatic condition (dry, covered and at constant temperature).
  • For lubrication program correct viscosity is also another important factor. This viscosity is determined by operating temperature, environmental conditions, shaft speed, and type of the lubricant, tooth geometry and loading. The tooth form directs the sliding and rolling. Whereas the speed, viscosity and surface area of the gear dictates the operating frictional mode.

Most of the person who carries on with his lubrication work does not exactly know how to schedule their lubrication procedure. By following these simple steps, you can easily be an expert in this field.

 

Making the most from your oil analysis data

Oil analysis also known as OA is used to get accurate information of the lubricant and the condition of the machine. With the help of oil analysis one can eliminate heavy costs involved in the maintenance of the machine. Tribologists are there to interpret the data of oil analysis.

Oil analysis helps to identify two primary oil conditions that can cause hazards to the equipment:

  • Measuring the acid number and oil viscosity help to detect the chemical changes that has occurred due to thermal degradation of the oil.
  • Metallic contaminants in the oil are detected by Atomic Emission Spectroscopy which also indicates lube mixing.

Tribologists use the Oil analysis data and distinguish the new oil from the used one to replace the oil at the correct time. A careful Oil analysis data sometimes make the oil sweetened either by putting some quantity of fresh oil or by adding replenishing additives that were drained.

What is the use of oil analysis?

  • Amount of dirt contaminants present in the oil.
  • Fuel liquefaction of lubrication oil.
  • Limitless bearing wear.
  • Quantity of antifreeze in the oil.
  • Lubricant is correctly applied or not.

Through oil analysis one can peer inside the engine, transmission and hydraulic system without dismantling the machine.

How to take an oil sample for oil analysis?

An oil sample represents the condition of all of the oil in the machine. It is useful to get the oil hot and thoroughly mixed before taking it as a sample.

Taking the oil sample at the time of draining is more preferable because during draining some of the used oil will be drained and one could store the remaining oil in an appropriate container.

One can have oil sample by sucking out the oil by connecting a plastic tube with the oil reservoir.

How to choose the best oil analysis laboratory?

There are many oil analysis laboratory and choosing the right one is definitely a herculean task. Some points are given below that may help one to choose the right laboratory.

  • Turnaround time is one of the most important factors. It means the time which the laboratory has taken to test the sample. It should be 24 to 48 hours after the sample has been received by the lab.
  • Alert notification through email, telephone call, fax or by sending message should be given to the person if some kind of abnormality is detected during testing.
  • One has to find out whether the industry is specialised in that kind of testing equipment’s oil or not.
  • The analyst should interpret the environmental information, condition of the fluid, contaminants parameters and machine wear parameters and directs the person for the next step that should be taken to save the machine.
  • One should find out a laboratory that performs wide range of tests and not only one that fits the person.
  • Oil analysis test is mainly based on “you get what you pay for.” So one should not prefer price over quality service.

Oil analysis data serve as a tool to measure the condition of lubrication management procedure. So it is important to make the most from oil analysis data and prevent the machine from its early breakdown.