Pulp & Paper

Overview

Machine condition monitoring based on oil analysis has become an important, if not mandatory, maintenance practice for pulp and paper companies. An effective oil analysis program will keep important manufacturing assets such as pumps, gears, bearings, compressors, engines, hydraulic systems and other oil-wetted machinery in operation by reducing unexpected failures and costly unscheduled downtime.

For pulp and paper companies the drying roll is at the heart of production and downtime can cost many thousands of dollars an hour for larger facilities. Consequently the oil-wetted machinery, in a paper rolling machine, consisting primarily of gears and bearings is of critical importance.

Challenges

The heavy loads, high speeds and dirty, wet conditions make pulp and paper production a tough environment for any machine. Lubrication oil provides a thin layer of protection between moving metal parts. This layer is often on a few microns thick, so maintaining oil cleanliness is paramount. Water, dirt, sawdust and metal particles can interfere with that microlayer of lubrication oil and damage or destroy your valuable equipment.

Consistent and frequent oil analysis is the best defense against failures and costly downtime. Not only can oil analysis prevent failures, it can also let you know that it's safe to extend the lifetime of your oil, saving considerable money on new oil, labor, filters and disposal of lubrication oil.

Typical Tests

Wear

Particle Count

A high particle count or a rapid increase in particles can foreshadow an imminent failure. 

Particle Composition

It is often important to understand the elemental composition of particles in order to find out where they came from. Optical Emission Spectroscopy gives the user elemental information for up to 32 elements, from Li to Ce (varies with application).

Particle type 

The size, shape and opacity of particles is used to determine if they are from cutting wear, sliding wear, fatigue wear, nonmetallic or fibers. This allows operators to determine the type of wear debris, wear mode and potential source from internal machinery components.

Ferrous wear

Ferrous wear measurement is a critical requirement for monitoring machine condition. The high sensitivity magnetometer measures and reports ferrous content in ppm/ml, and provides ferrous particle count and size distribution for large ferrous particles.

Chemistry

Total Acid Number (TAN)

TAN is measured to determine the corrosive potential of lubrication oils. If the TAN gets too high the oil can induce corrosion of machine parts and should be changed.

Viscosity

The main function of lubrication oil is to create and maintain a lubrication film between two moving metal surfaces. Insuring the viscosity is within recommended ranges is one of the most important tests one can run on lube oil. 

Contamination

Water

Water contamination in industrial oils can cause severe issues with machinery components.  The presence of water can alter the viscosity of a lubricant as well as cause chemical changes resulting in additive depletion and the formation of acids, sludge, and varnish.

Paper & Pulp Products

MiniLab 153 - Comprehensive Oil Analyzer For Industrial Machinery

Comprehensive Oil Analysis Solutions For Industrial Machinery With four simple test, the MiniLab 153 delivers comprehensive on-site oil analysis, providing immediate actionable results, saving time and reducing costs. Highlights of this system include:

• One product, delivering lab-quality analysis outside of the lab.
• Simplified workflow for the non-expert user, no chemist required. 
• Simplified data handling and report interpretation via OilView and Trivector reporting.

MiniLab 53 - Oil Analyzer For Industrial Machinery

With three simple test, the MiniLab 53 delivers comprehensive on-site oil analysis, providing immediate actionable results, saving time and reducing costs. Highlights of this system include:

• One product, delivering lab-quality analysis outside of the lab
• Simplified workflow for the non-expert user, no chemist required 
• Simplified data handling and report interpretation via OilView and Trivector reporting

FieldLab 58 - Portable Oil Lab

Portable and comprehensive oil analyzer for field service professionals. The FieldLab 58 is a rugged, portable expeditionary fluid analysis system that gives operators in the field the ability to perform comprehensive, mobile lubricant sampling. The battery-powered device enables complete lubricant assessment for condition monitoring and rapid results that permit informed maintenance decisions. It takes only 3 ml of oil to perform a comprehensive oil analysis and no chemicals or solvents are needed for sample preparation or cleaning. The complete analysis, with all four tests, only takes about 5 – 7 minutes, depending on oil viscosity.

Resources

On-site Oil Analysis for Machine Condition Monitoring

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