Machinery Lubrication May June 2014 May June 2014 | Page 9
MAINTAINABILITY
MACHINE DESIGN
FEATURES
CORRECT
LUBRICANT
STABILIZED
LUBRICANT HEALTH
CONTAMINATION
CONTROL
ADEQUATE AND
SUSTAINED
LUBRICANT SUPPLY
Oil Analysis
Properly selected and
located primary and
secondary live-zone oil
sampling valves
More accurate oil
More accurate oil analysis
analysis confirms the confirms the health of the
right lubricant is in use lubricant
More accurate oil analysis
detects and quantifies the
presence of a range of
contaminants
More accurate oil analysis can
detect air entrainment issues
and thermal degradation/wear
conditions
Proper installation of
magnetic wear debris
inspection plugs
May reveal inadequate
film strength from
wrong oil in machine
frictional zones
May reveal inadequate
film strength in machine
frictional zones from
degraded lubricant
(additives, viscosity, etc.)
May reveal inadequate film
May reveal inadequate film
strength in machine frictional
strength in machine frictional
zones from contaminated
zones from lubricant starvation
lubricant
Online oil analysis sensors
Sensors can confirm
the use of the right
lubricant
Sensors can detect
degrading lubricant
properties
Sensors can report the
concentration
N/A
Minimal use of funnels,
contaminated fill ports, etc.;
contamination control from
flushing and filtration
Simplified oil change and
control of oil level
Contamination Control Maintainability
Quick-connects for adding
or draining oil, periodic
portable filtration and
flushing requirements
N/A
Contamination control
prolongs lubricant life
Quality headspace
management (breathers,
headspace purge,
dehydration, etc.)
N/A
Reduced contaminant
ingression extends oil
service life
Reduced water, dirt and
process contaminants
N/A
N/A
Contamination control
prolongs lubricant life
Faster and more effective
removal of damaging
contaminants
Reduced risk of contaminantinduced internal and external
lubricant leakage causing
starvation issues
Suitable performance,
quality and location
of filters
maintainability, many benefits are
realized including:
Increased reliability
Lower overall costs of enabling
reliability
Decreased time to complete
maintenance tasks
Fewer maintenance errors
Reduced maintenance injuries
Less training required to perform
tasks
Improved
troubleshooting
effectiveness
In seeking lubrication-enabled reliability
(LER), the vast majority of the
opportunity comes from paying close
attention to the “Big Four.” These are
vital attributes to the optimum
reference state needed to achieve
lubrication excellence. The “Big Four”
individually and collectively influence
the state of lubrication and are largely
controllable by machinery maintainers,
especially if a machine is designed and
built for optimum maintainability. The
“Big Four” are:
1. Correct lubricant in use (meets
reliability objectives)
2. Stabilized lubricant health (physical
and chemical properties)
3. Contamination control
4. Adequate and sustained lubricant
level/supply
While it may seem to be an
oversimplification to reduce lubrication
excellence to just four basic objectives,
as a practical matter, not much else is
required. See the tables on pages 2, 4
and 5 to learn how machine
maintainability can be applied in the
context of the Big Four.
Role of Buyers/Purchasing
Before buying new machinery, an
engineering specification should be
carefully and thoroughly developed.
Engineers charged with writing these
specifications should be educated on
modern concepts in machinery
lubrication. Simply working as an
engineer or having an engineering
degree alone does not qualify. Instead,
training by leading consultants and
instructors is strongly advised.
Training should be followed by
certification compliant to ISO 18436-4
and
similar
standards.
Noria
recommends
that
engineering
specifications for new equipment only
be written by professionals with
Machine Lubricant Analyst (MLA) Level
II and III certification credentials. A
specification should address many, if
not all, of the maintainability features
www.machinerylubricationindia.com | May-June 2014 | 7