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A CLEAN PUNCH
Contamination never quits, nor should you when it comes to fighting it. Revisiting and, perhaps, rethinking how your site stores and handles new lubricants is a great way to strengthen your punch. Jarrod Potteiger Des-Case Corporation
D
eveloping and implementing a world-class contaminationcontrol program is a sizable undertaking that usually requires significant modifications to machinery—as well as changes in procedures and methodologies that can take years. You don’t need to wait that long, though. To quickly punch up your facility’s contamination-control efforts, make sure you’re storing and handling new lubricants correctly. Is new oil clean? No. Typically, new lubricants are unsuitably dirty for most applications. There are, of course, exceptions: A few manufacturers offer a specified maximum particle count, and some suppliers filter bulk oil as it is dispensed. It is imperative that new oil be properly cleaned prior to use. A new drum of lubricating oil will often have a particle count of roughly 19/16/13 or higher. That means every cubic centimeter of oil in the drum contains between 2500 and 5000 particles that are at least 4 microns in diameter—that’s about one billion particles for the whole drum. How do you fight this contamination? #1: Get it clean. The first step is to filter “new” oil to an acceptable level—the method for doing so depends on the method of delivery. If the lubricant comes in drums, each drum can be filtered using a filter cart. Filtering new oil as it is applied to a reservoir or dispensed into a transfer container is an excellent and inexpensive way to ensure the oil’s cleanliness when it arrives at your site. Another popular approach involves the use of a comprehensive lubricant management system like the one in the figure on the next page. (This addresses a number of storage and handling issues at once). These systems can be configured with a wide range of options, including separate pumps and filters for different lubricants; high-quality desiccant breathers to prevent subsequent contamination to the fluid;
14 | LUBRICATION MANAGEMENT & TECHNOLOGY
MAY/JUNE 2010