FAQ
Drop of Knowledge #5
28.05.2024
We share what is important – oil diagnostics knowledge, events in the life of the laboratory, trade fair information. We send out the Neweletter once a month, every last Tuesday. We are very pleased to have you with us. 🙂
Why is oil purity important?
Impurities in oil. Where do they come from?
Oil purity means the amount of impurities in the oil. In addition to those entering from the outside, contaminants are generated by the system in the form of wear particles and oil (particles of base oil degradation). Impurities in the oil, especially large ones, are dangerous for the device and affect its service life, significantly reducing it. In addition to negatively affecting the lubrication system, contaminants can also accelerate oil degradation.
How do you monitor oil purity?
In order to monitor the purity of the oil, laboratory tests are performed on the so-called cleanliness class. Particle count results and size ranges can be presented in different ways depending on the standard used. In the Ecol laboratory, we most often present the cleanliness class code according to the ISO 4406 standard, e.g. 18/16/13. The higher the values in the code, the more contaminated the oil is. A change in the value by 1 indicates a doubling of the amount of particles. Depending on the type of application, there are different requirements regarding the cleanliness class.
Due to the dangers of contaminated oil, the cleanliness class should be monitored and its cleanliness should be ensured, e.g. by using bypass filtration.
Knowledge base at ecol.eu – check out our articles
We encourage you to visit the ‘knowledge base’ section of the ecol.eu website, where you will find many valuable entries in the field of diagnostics and laboratory analysis. One of these is our latest article:
➡️ “Causes of foaming of hydraulic oil” (direct link).
Entries can be sorted by technology and industry. Additional sorting also includes a list of tests performed in our laboratory. Our knowledge base is constantly evolving. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you see opportunities to publish a joint entry, related to the topics of oil testing and diagnostics in the broadest sense.
You can meet us in June:
- 04 – 06.06.2024: PWEA 2024 Conference, Świnoujście
- 11.06.2024: Reliability and Maintenance in production plants, Opole
- 12-14.06.2024: Problems of Engineering. 55 years of the Faculty of Technical Sciences UWM, Olsztyn
- 13-14.06.2024: Congress on Energy Efficiency in the Food Industry, Przechlewo
- 17-19.06.2024: Scientific and Technical Conference of the Petrol-Gas Section: 19th Discussion Forum, Janów Podlaski
- 18.06.2024: Reliability and Maintenance in production plants, Mielec
- 18 – 20.06.2024: IX Seminar “Operation of TPOK plants – experiences”, Gdańsk
- 18 – 20.06.2024: Lubmat-Ibertrib-2024, San Sebastian, Spain
Element of the month
Silicon is an element that is the second most abundant element on Earth after oxygen. Silicon, the source of which is silica, occurs mainly in sand and rocks. Silicon is mainly used in the production of glass, building materials, ceramic products and silica gel (drying agent), but it is also used in petrochemistry. Depending on the type of oil or grease, it may be the oil base, a component of the grease, or it may be an anti-foaming additive.
In oil diagnostics, the element silicon is mainly associated with environmental contaminants, and this is usually the case. These contaminants may be those from the environment (e.g. entering through the breathing filter/air filter), silicone seals, assembly pastes, filter fibers or the presence of another lubricant. Typical silicon levels depend on the type of application and the system’s environment, i.e. how much contaminants the system is exposed to.
Silicon is an undesirable element unless it is used as an additive. In this case, you can sometimes observe in tests how its concentration decreases over time. Elemental silicon may constitute base oil (silicone oil). Interestingly, silicone oil is immiscible with any other oil.
Thank you for your presence
If You have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Katarzyna Paryż, Head of Sales