Contamination Control: What You Cant See Will Hurt You Get the Basics you Need

By David Piangerelli STLE CLS

Contamination

What is a micron ? ISO 4406 code system to determine cleanliness Why should you care? Impact on component life What can you do?

What is a Micron?
ITEM Virus Bacteria Blood Cell/Corpuscle Human eye visibility Human Hair Table Salt Coarse Sand 40 - 100 100 - 140 300-500 SIZE (Micron) 0.0015 - 0.09 0.1 - 10 5 - 10 10 - 20

ISO 4406/2000 Standard

The ISO 4406 particle count is the method of reporting quantities of contaminants per 100 ml sample Results are commonly referred to as the Cleanliness Code for a given fluid sample and come in a three digit format - i.e. 21 / 18 / 15

The first number represents the range for the quantity of particles larger than 4 microns.

The second number represents the range for the quantity of particles larger than 6 microns.

The third number represents the range for the quantity of particles larger than 14 microns.

ISO 4406 Example

For instance, if a given sample of 100ml has: 15,000 particles larger than 4 microns, the 4m CC will be 21 2,000 particles larger than 6 microns, the 6m CC will be 18 240 particles larger than 14 microns, the 14m CC will be 15
ISO code more than up to 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 2 5 10 20 40 80 160 320 640 1300 2500 5000 10000 20000 40000 80000 2 5 10 20 40 80 160 320 640 1300 2500 5000 10000 20000 40000 80000 160000

Dynamic Film Thickness

Components

Anti friction bearings Vane pumps ( vane tip to outer ring ) Gear pumps ( gear to side plate ) 0.5 - 5 Servo valves ( spool to sleeve ) 1 Hydrostatic bearings Piston pump - 4

0.5 0.5 1

1 5

- 25 - 40

Be aware that the clearances in servo valves, bearings, vaneand even gear pumps are between 0.5 and 5 micron !!

Typical Cleanliness Levels

Oil Pump or Dirt Pump?

At ISO 21/18, this hydraulic system passes 136 - 50 lbs. bags of dirt through the teeth of the pump in one year

Contamination Control Example - Pump

Amount of Dirt in Oil Amount of Dirt Flowing Through Pump in One Year 157.7 lb/yr 78.9 lb/yr 19.7 lb/yr

ISO 19/16 ISO 18/15 ISO 16/13

C o n t a m i n a t i o n

ISO 22/19 21/17 20/15 19/16 18/15 17/14 16/13 15/12 14/11 13/10 12/09

-------------------

Component Life

2,500 10,000 25,000

Clean New Oil

Component Life Over Time

Source Caterpillar Contamination Control Basic Training Program

Acceptable Contamination Levels

Particle sizes > 5 m > 15 m Range of counts 1,000,000 64,000 ISO 21 /17
Sensitivity: Type of system: Typical components Sensitivity: Type of system: industrial systems Typical components Main protection Low pressure systems with large clearances Ram pumps Average Low pressure heavy Gear pumps, manual and poppet valves cylinders Important General machinery & mobile systems. Medium pressure, medium capacity Vane pumps, spool valves Critical High performance and high pressure long life systems, i.e., aircraft, machine tool Industrial servo valves Super critical Silt sensitive control system with very high reliability. Laboratory or aerospace High perf. servo valves

> 5 m > 15 m

250,000 16,000

19/15

Sensitivity: Type of system:

> 5 m > 15 m

130,000 8,000

18/14
Typical components Sensitivity: Type of system:

> 5 m > 15 m

16,000 1,000

15/11
Typical components Sensitivity: Type of system:

> 5 m > 15 m

4,000 250

13/9
Typical components

Lubricant Handling/Storage Contamination Control

Keep it Clean-Cool-Dry Desiccant Breathers Oil Safe System Color Coding Storage solutions Personnel training Monitor/improve

Bad Oil Room!!!

Life Extension Table: Dirt

Copyright Noria Corporation, used with permission 2000-2001 Noria Corporation.

L ife E x te n s io n T a b le : M o is tu r e
1 0 ,0 0 0 5 ,0 0 0 R olling R olling 2 ,5 0 0 R olling 1 ,0 0 0 R olling

Life Extension Table: Water

N e w M o is t u r e L e v e l ( p p m ) 500 R olling 250 R olling 100 R olling 50 R olling 1 .6 1 .3 3 .3 2 .3 1 .4 1 .9 1 .6 1 .2 4 .8 3 .3 2 .0 1 .4 2 .3 1 .9 1 .5 1 .2 7 .8 5 .4 3 .3 2 .3 1 .6 2 .9 1 1 .2 3 .5 1 6 .2 4 .3 2 6 .2 5 .5 3 7 .8 2 .4 1 .9 1 .6 1 .3 7 .8 4 .8 3 .3 2 .3 1 .4 2 .9 1 1 .2 3 .5 1 8 .2 4 .6 2 6 .2 2 .3 1 .9 1 .6 1 .2 6 .9 2 .8 1 1 .2 3 .5 1 6 .2 4 .8 2 .3 3 .3 1 .9 2 .0 1 .5 1 .4 1 .2 7 .8 5 .4 3 .3 2 .3 1 .5 2 .9 1 1 .2 2 .4 1 .9 1 .6 1 .3 7 .8 4 .8 3 .3 2 .3 1 .4 6 .7 5 .5 4 .3 3 .5 2 .9 2 .3 1 .9 1 .6 1 .2

E lementournal lementournal lementournal lementournal lementournal lementournallementournal lementournal J E J E J E J E J E J E J E J 5 0 ,0 0 0 2 .3 2 5 ,0 0 0 1 .6 1 0 ,0 0 0 5 ,0 0 0 Current Moisture Level (ppm) 2 ,5 0 0 1 ,0 0 0 500 250 100

Really Bad Oil Room!

Funnels are Dirt Magnets!

Good Oil Room!

Color coded oil transfer vessels

Polyethylene Storage Tanks

Oil Transfer Vessels

Oil Transfer/Filter Cart

Desiccant Breather Function

Second particulate filter element protects against migration of desiccant. Hydrophilic agent adsorbs water, indicates condition by color change. Particulate filter element. Air diffuser/oil mist foam filter. In/out air vents. Press-in mounting, varying adapter options. Second foam filter stops oil mist during exhalation, evenly distributes air.

Durable, shock absorbing housing.

Design varies by manufacturer.

Keeps head space clean & dry

Portable Filter Cart

Hydraulic Breather Adaptor w/Desiccant Filter, QD Coupler, Filter Indicator and Oil Sample Port

Case Study Transmission Manufacturer

Before NTZ Filtration Parts p/ 1 ml 4 micron = 137416.93 6 micron = 57649.43 14 micron = 1215.93

Case Study Transmission Manufacturer

After Single Pass NTZ Filtration Parts p/1 ml 4 micron = 1467 6 micron = 269.43 14 micron = 16.83

Case Study Transmission Manufacturer

From ISO 24/23/17 to ISO

18/15/11

Before NTZ Filtration Parts p/ 1 ml 4 micron = 137416.93 6 micron = 57649.43 14 micron = 1215.93

After Single Pass NTZ Filtration Parts p/1 ml 4 micron = 1467.00 6 micron = 269.43 14 micron = 16.83

Reduction in Solid Particle Contamination : 99.45 % Reduction in Water Contamination : 100 %

Condition Monitoring
Time (mileage/hours) based oil changes Vs Condition based Oil analysis
Spectrometric analysis Particle Counting Ferrography

Machine Health report Lubricant condition

Ferrography

Ferrography Report

Oil Analysis Protocol

Never

re-use sampling tube, discard after one use

Wipe Wipe Mark

off sample pump if used. off area around sample port

the sample bottle prior to actually taking the sample. Use the self adhesive label and fill in pertinent data prior to attaching to the bottle while it is clean.

Sample Hot!
Always

sample hot! Oil analysis results generated by sampling cold static oils are not representative of the true condition of the unit or lubricant.
Heavy

metals and water have settled out of the lubricant. The best samples are obtained in a dynamic state while a machine is in operation or immediately after it has been shutdown.

Clean Representative Samples!

Try to obtain samples from the mid level of the reservoir. Never sample from the drain unless a suitable quantity of lubricant has been allowed to run through it acting as a flush. Never sample from the top. Do not use oil obtained from filter housings. If sampling from a port, always clean around the port before removing plug.

Be Consistent
Once a particular method has been chosen to obtain a sample, whether it is obtained from a drain, or using a hand operated suction pump etc., try not to deviate from the chosen method in order to gain repeatable results. Document sampling procedures for each unit sampled

Oil Sampling Valves

The primary objective of Contamination Management is optimal system cleanliness. Optimal system cleanliness will give you: 1. Increased fluid usage life 2. Reduced component wear 3. Less machine down-time 4. Optimal machine performance All this will result in significant cost savings for your customer.

Dedicated to Maximizing Equipment Productivity

The Lubrication Reliability SourceTM