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Selecting Machines for Oil Analysis
Dana L. Joseph, C.E.T., Laboratory Technician
IV - Condition Monitoring, Manitoba Hydro
In order to select the components for oil analysis tests, as
a Reliability Engineer, I would determine if the equipment reliability
was acceptable, if not, then I would proceed with filtering which
ones were critical pieces of equipment. From there, I would determine
if the equipment was expendable or not. If so, I would consider
running the asset to failure, if it was too costly, I would determine
if an incorporated maintenance plan would achieve the results
that I wanted. From there, I would decide whether I would maintain
a preventative, predictive or proactive approach.
Once the pieces of equipment were chosen for the maintenance
program, I would select the oil analysis tests based on the environment,
the age of the equipment, the failure consequences and the lube
time currently on the equipment. Taking baseline readings on tests
such as particle counts, AN/BN, Viscosity, Moisture, Ferrography,
FTIR, Elemental Analysis and RPVOT would be suggested at a more
frequent interval (say every 3 months). Once the baseline was
established, monitoring for change using alarm limits on some
of the more common tests such DR, FTIR, ISO Particle Count, Visc,
Moisture, Metals would suffice. If an increase was seen, further
testing in AF, RPVOT, etc would be done.
See other responses
to this Readers Challenge.
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