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Unusual Particle Counts Confusing
Wyatt Coleman, Territory Account Manager, Analysts,
Inc.
The first step would be to assess the size and concentration
of the particles that continue to persist. Knowing the size and
concentration may help to understand where the particles are coming
from. To do this, Ferrographic Analysis can be implemented. Large
Particle Spectroscopy can also be helpful for non-ferrous material.
Although your oil is one of the best sources of important information
about your system, there are other locations where debris may
be found and analyzed. You may want to actually perform a filter
analysis on the debris in the filter itself. The debris found
around magnetic collection plugs, centrifuge bowls, and sediment
bowls could also prove to be very valuable.
In addition to the routine laboratory analysis, strong consideration
should be given to online and inline monitoring. Online monitors
continuously sample and provide analysis of a certain portion
of the flow. It would be recommended to analyze a large portion
of the system flow as to not receive misleading results.
Similarly, inline monitoring results are instantaneous. They
provide real-time data which can be used for trending and condition-based
maintenance.
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