What Should You Know About Oil Analysis?

What Should You Know About Oil Analysis? Heavy industries and factories are dependent on oil and petroleum for the efficient daily operations. Dealing with malfunctioning machines when you already have so much to manage can be pretty daunting, right? Why not save yourself from this by opting for a reliable oil analysis program? Regular oil analysis and testing can prevent contamination in the machines and thus, save you from excessive, costly damages and downtimes. Checking the oil health of your machines regularly is necessary for the health of your machines. A well-lubricated machine can perform well for years while an improperly lubricated machine can go into premature failure. Oil analysis plays an active role here and keeps the oil in a healthy condition, which makes it suitable for machines. So what is oil analysis, and why is it so important for your industrial machines? We will discuss all you need to know about oil analysis in this blog post, so you know you are taking the right steps for your precious machines.

What Is Oil Analysis?

Oil analysis is a regular routine of analyzing the health of oil, its contamination level, and the machine wear and tear. The purpose of an oil analysis program is to test for any contamination within the oil and remove it to avoid potential damages caused by contaminated oil. Oil analysis is necessary to prevent your machines from downtime. Oil analysis gives you a complete picture of your lubricating process and helps you solve problems at the early stages. The analysis can be done onsite, off-site, or online. Off-site oil analysis is necessary for a more comprehensive test. Onsite testing is necessary for the equipment to be monitored very frequently. This type of oil analysis and testing are used to perform a range of tests, for example, checking metal contaminants and particle accounts. Online testing is suitable for instant alerts and for those that are not really detectable via a vibration or other indicators. It provides an early warning and prompts onsite and outside sample testing to repair the problem straight away if the fault is present.

Why Is Performing Oil Analysis Necessary?

One of the obvious reasons to perform oil analysis is to find out the condition of the oil and mitigate any issues if it has. The purpose is to take out the oil sample, check the contamination and other properties, and ensure whether it is suitable for further use. The oil analysis technique is used to check the following three categories: fluid properties, contamination, and wear debris.

Checking The Fluid Properties Of Oil

One part of oil analysis includes checking the fluid properties, which means identifying the oil’s current physical and chemical state as well as identify its remaining useful life. With this process, you can find out whether the oil is correct to use or not. It also tells you if the additives are active or have depleted over time. Moreover, you can also find out the viscosity shift and what the expected viscosity is. All these fluid properties will tell you whether a certain lubricant or oil can be further used or not.

Checking The Contamination Of The Lubricant

Another useful benefit of performing oil analysis is checking the destructive contaminants and finding their probable sources, which might be internal or external. Performing oil analysis to check the contamination of the oil means checking whether the oil is clean or not and what type of contaminants are present in the oil. It also means tracking the origin of contaminants and finding out their source. This process also tells if there is any sign of internal leakage, which might be leading to contamination. Therefore oil analysis can prevent contamination within the oil and help it to last longer.

Checking The Wear Debris

Oil analysis also includes the identification of particles that are produced as a result of mechanical wear and corrosion. This helps answer questions related to machine degradation and the amount of wear debris. It also highlights any internal machine component from where the wear is originating. All of these methods help check the condition of the oil to keep the machine healthy and extend the life of the oil. An oil analysis report consists of different measures such as viscosity, wear data, elemental data, contamination data, and moisture/water levels. There are many benefits of oil analysis.

About Micro Lube

Get high-quality lubricants with Micro Lube. Micro Lube is a full-service conveyor lubrication Company with international experience and a genuine commitment to professional, affordable, and personalized service to our diverse customers. Contact us for more information. I hope now you will get the enough information about oil analysis.
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