Oil Contamination

Oil contamination is everything not meant to be in the oil!
When there is rotation, there is friction; and friction leads to wear and tear. This releases particles, causing oil contamination, that the oil transports, and deposits, all over the system. These particles then build up in different areas, causing damage to valves and bearings, which, more often than not, are the most sensitive components.

Clean, dry oil and lubrication systems can prolong equipment lifetime and extend equipment maintenance intervals by as much as 8-10-fold while contributing to avoiding wear on parts and to avoid high levels of oil contamination in the equipment. For example, a bearing manufacturer has said that reducing water in oil contamination levels from 100 ppm to 25 ppm increases bearing lifetime by twofold. British hydraulics researchers have figured out that if the concentration of solid contaminants larger than 5 µm are reduced from 5000-10,000 particles/ml of oil to 160-320 particles, the lifetime of a machine is increased fivefold.

Considerable benefit is gained from low oil contamination levels and achieving it, although it can be costly, is well worth it. This is at least true in cases with expensive equipment and high maintenance costs, or if the equipment is less costly, but important for continuous operation, e.g. most applications in the energy sector. This prolongs equipment life and maintenance intervals by up to 10-fold is highly profitable in both cases.

“By putting more effort in to obtaining and maintaining clean oil and utilising reliable monitoring systems, instead of focusing on ad hoc maintenance and breakdowns, the production loss can be minimized, costs reduced and revenues increased”.
Oil change alone cannot fix a contaminated equipment problem. Without prober care, contaminants will remain in and on the equipment.

Most Fluid System Failures are Caused by Contamination
It has been proved that contaminated oil causes 80 percent of hydraulic and lubrication breakdowns. Contaminants in systems causes wear on components, which significantly reduce the service lifetime, leading to lower performance, unstable and irregular operation, and even worse, breakdowns and serious damage. Therefore, it is important to have a prepared plan on how to reduce the level of contamination and thereby, avoid the consequences, which often end up being monetarie losses.

All areas of the energy sector are dependent on production continuing no matter what, so processes and technologies need to be reliable and never fail. Many facilities utilize equipment such as gear oil systems, lubrication systems, hydraulic systems and other systems. These process systems are sensitive and must be treated with care so as to avoid breakdowns. A great many resources are applied to checking and performing maintenance on rotating components. It is a serious problem as a shutdown means production loss. Because of this, companies are obviously very interested in reducing these unexpected shutdowns. This is where our role as those who reduce failures and prevent system break-downs begins.

Ocean Team are the best when it comes to processing and cleaning of hydraulic systems and oils. Our leading position is rooted in many years of experience with cleaning many different kinds of systems all over the world.

Read more about Oil & Gas