Reliable Plant 2012 Conference and Exhibition

Effective Electric Motor Lubrication

Jeremy Wright, VP of services, Noria Corporation

Most electric motors are designed with grease lubricated, anti-friction, rolling element bearings. Grease is the lifeblood of these bearings, providing an oil film that prevents the harsh metal-to-metal contact between the rotating element and races. Bearing troubles account for 50-65% of all electric motor failures, and poor lubrication practices account for most of them. In this session, you will learn how to determine the correct type of lubricant, calculate the correct amount of lubricant to use, calculate time intervals for re-lubrication, and much more.

Using Criticality to Help Drive Oil Analysis Strategy

Matt Spurlock, director of oil analysis services and technologies, Noria Corporation

Oil analysis provides a huge payback when deployed through a proper strategy. While an extremely valuable tool in today's reliability programs, it is sometimes applied in an ad hoc manner. A plant with a well-developed criticality system already has the foundation for establishing an effective oil analysis program. In this session you’ll learn how to use your criticality program to establish machine selection, reliability objectives, test slate selection and sample frequency for oil analysis. The days of the common test slate and frequency are over. The largest ROI is achieved by using criticality to fine tune an existing program and to get a new program off to an optimized starting point.

Oil Analysis Case Studies: The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY

Rendela Wenzel, Consultant Reliability Engineer, Eli Lilly and Company

In this session you'll hear oil analysis case studies that demonstrate what to do and sometimes what NOT to do. Attend and learn how the Eli Lilly oil analysis program prevented equipment failures, helped provide a root cause and possible countermeasures to prevent a reoccurrence, and about the integration of some vibration analysis techniques that helped to confirm the oil findings before the asset was taken out of service. Examples of using oil analysis to extend equipment life, pinpoint equipment problems and multiple technology integration will be presented.

Establishing the Foundation for a Successful Lubrication Program

Paul Bonorden, Reliability Engineer, INVISTA

There are many aspects to setting up a lubrication program that must be considered prior to initiating so that it can reach its fullest potential. One must consider the preplanning, the key components necessary and the timing of the program rollout. In this session you'll learn what must be considered during the planning, execution and continued operation of a lubrication program as well as the importance of addressing the culture of the facility to ensure success. This presentation will be especially helpful to those who are starting a lubrication program or to those who have one that has not progressed as far as they thought is should.

The True Cost of Filtration

Christian Bauer, Pall Corporation

Industrial hydraulic and lubrication systems are at the heart of modern production processes, and effective fluid contamination control is critical in ensuring reliability and productivity.  The use of filtration is instrumental in achieving and maintaining the required levels of fluid system cleanliness - but: What is the true cost of filtration?

 

When trying to determine the true cost of filtration, plant operators must go far beyond the procurement costs for filtration hardware and filter elements, but also consider the costs associated with scheduled maintenance, fluid consumption, waste disposal and system downtime, as well as energy costs. In this session you'll learn an approach of quantifying the benefits of utilizing modern, high technology filtration, characterized by low clean differential pressure across the filter element, and optimized surface area, compared to conventional filtration, by means of several case studies.

Maximizing the Value of Oil Analysis for Wind Turbines

Greg Livingstone and Amar Pradhan, Fluitec International

Oil analysis is well recognized as a key predictive maintenance technology across many industries. You would think that it is a natural fit for wind turbine operators who have struggled with reliable performance in their wind turbines, most notably, their gearboxes. Unfortunately, oil analysis has not provided nearly the same benefit in this application. This paper explores the reasons why oil analysis has been less effective for wind turbines. It also outlines several key suggestions on how to maximize the value out of your oil analysis program. Finally, it provides a guideline on what analytical tests to run and how to squeeze additional value out of your results through data mining.

Setting Effective Oil Analysis Alarm Limits

Matt Spurlock, director of oil analysis services and technologies, Noria Corporation

To properly evaluate oil sample data, you must have a solid understanding of the alarms that are in place for the various test data received. There is no "one size fits all" approach as each machine will have different reactions to given environments.

 

Oil analysis users should have the knowledge and tools available to establish custom alarm points for their machines. In this session, you will learn how to establish proper alarm points for wear debris, target alarms for moisture and particle contamination, and aging limits for lubricant properties analysis. Armed with this knowledge you can make an immediate impact on the health of your machines by identifying potential failures higher up on the P-F curve.

Removing Dissolved Soft Contaminants from Turbine Oil

Steffen Nyman, C.C. Jensen Inc.

Varnish can shut down a whole plant and changing the oil is seldom the optimum solution. This presentation describes the steps in creation of soft contaminants, their consequences, which oil analysis tests are most effective in detecting varnish precursors, varnish removal by cooling and offline filtration as well as case studies. You'll learn the six steps in the creation of varnish and how to reverse them, how the oil temperature influences the solubility of varnish/soft contaminants, and how real power plants have used this technique with success.

Fuel Analysis: The Forgotten Tool of Fluid Analysis

Cary Forgeron, Analysts Inc.

Engine failures are not always related to lubrication issues. Fuel quality can have a significant impact on equipment condition and reliability. Changing regulations and the growth of bio-fuels have resulted in abnormal engine conditions Many end-users are unaware of the benefits of fuel analysis, which can identify potential causes for fuel filter plugging, smoking, loss of power, poor injector performance, malfunctioning throttle position sensors and sticking valves. Learn how to identify common issues caused by poor or improper fuel, the common tests performed and their significance, as well as when, why and how to sample fuel.

Lubrication Basics and Best Practices

Greg Kayes, Kluber Lubrication North America

This introductory session guides attendees through the essentials of all things lubrication, from general tips to best practices. You'll learn best practices for lubricant storage and labeling, grease gun preparation procedures, bearing fill quantities, lubricant monitoring techniques, and procedures for gearbox oil changes.

Handling, Storage and Management of Lubricants

Josh Pickle, technical consultant, Noria Corporation

Squeezing maximum life out of lubricants and machinery starts with clean and healthy lubricants. Proactively managing lubricants from delivery, to dispensing, to top-ups and filling lays the groundwork for successful lubricant contamination control and enhances almost every aspect of a lubrication program. In this session you’ll learn how to stop cross contaminating lubricants, employ lubricant storage best practices and begin managing lubricants properly.

Turbine Lube Oil: Long Term Study of Balanced Charge Agglomeration Use

Raymond Gomes, Isopur Fluid Technologies, Inc.

Varnish mitigation is the biggest problem in the use of gas turbine lube oil. Varnish, the byproduct of oil degradation, coats internal components of large machines. It causes wear, bearing failure due to shaft displacement, and servo valve failure.  If varnish is removed from oil, the oil could last much longer than the 3 to 5 years it currently lasts, and the engine would function better. This case study looks a long running study of active varnish removal from turbine oil. The seven GE7FA plants located in an electric utility in Southeast U.S. are now in their 10th year with 50,000 run hours on the initial load of oil. In this session you'll learn the method used to extend oil life and see the study's data.

Oil Sampling Best Practices

Josh Pickle, technical consultant, Noria Corporation

If proper oil sampling is not at the core of your oil analysis program, you could be wasting a lot of time and money on lubricant testing. Implementing a quality oil sampling program isn’t difficult with the right knowledge. In this session, you’ll learn how to pull data-rich, uncontaminated oil samples, how to select the right sampling locations for your machinery, and procedures for pulling oil samples from systems with different pressures.

Visual Lubrication Reliability Best Practices

Mark D. Jones Sr., Lubrication Engineers

In this session you'll learn how to make lubrication technician routes more effective, how to improve inventory control, detect water-in-oil problems, expose mixed lubricant problems and make TPM work well through visual lubrication reliability best practices. There are hundreds of ways to use visual lubrication to improve your lubrication and oil analysis programs - learn how.

Environmentally Safe Lubricants in the Real World

Mark Miller, Terresolve Technologies Ltd.

Environmentally safe lubricants, fluids and greases are becoming increasingly popular for industrial equipment and can protect the users against fines, cleanup costs and downtime, but care must be given in selecting the right product for a specific application. In this session you'll learn where and when to use biodegradable fluids, how to care for biodegradable fluids, how to choose the right fluid for your applications, and the various definitions of "biodegradable". You'll also learn about environmental compatibility with stern tubes, hydraulics, pumps, sealing materials, hoses, and other important components.

Analytical Ferrography: What to Expect from a User’s Perspective

Aaron Black, Senior Data Analyst, POLARIS Laboratories

Analytical ferrography reveals a lot of information such as the type of particles present. However, the true value in the results is understanding what to do when there are multiple particle types present, what caused those particles to appear in the sample, and the proper corrective actions to take based on the results. This session will tie all the pieces of analytical ferrography together to help you make strategic decisions regarding your equipment. You will learn how to determine when analytical ferrography is the right choice for testing, critical information to provide to your analysts, tips on how to review the results, and the most common reasons to request analytical ferrography in your test slate.

Improving Energy Efficiency with Proper Gear Oils

Greg Kayes, Kluber Lubrication North America

Many factors come into play when selecting gear oils, including the projected life of a gearbox, its seals and the desired performance of the gearbox within an application.  Whether a gearbox is designed for use in a food manufacturing environment or in an industrial machine, the lubricant selected for use in a gearbox must be chosen for optimum performance under a specific set of operating conditions. In this session you'll learn about the different gear oil chemistries available, the benefits of each gear oil type, test data detailing how different gear oils perform, and how gear oil benefits translate into improved plant performance.

Replacing Boiler Feed Pump and Main Turbine Oil Conditioners

Curtis Benjamin, CBM Specialist, Southern Company

Plant Scherer, the fifth largest electric generating plant in the United States, recently had to replace its boiler feed pump and main turbine oil conditioners. In this case study session, you'll learn about their process of replacing the older Keene (Bowser) bag filtration system with a vacuum dehydration system and the costs savings associated.

Grease Sampling and Analysis for Robotic Gear Drives

Rich Wurzbach, MRG Power Labs

In this session you'll learn how to obtain representative samples from grease lubricated robotic gear drives, perform meaningful analysis with small sample quantities, and perform condition-based grease replenishment. Case studies and two methods for grease sampling of Fanuc and other robotic gear drives will be discussed.

Extending Cutting Fluid Life

Duk Yung Cho, Solge Corporation

In this case study session you'll learn how a tap grinding NC machine user struggled with cutting oil life, despite the use of costly oil analysis, fluid conditioning and readditization. After years of frustration they made equipment modifications, changed their contamination control practices and learned how to control depleted additives resulting in a 50% oil life extension and more than $100,000/year in savings. You'll learn the practical and scientific methods used in this intriguing case study.

How to Use a Lubrication Audit to Improve Equipment Reliability

Tom Hiatt, reliability engineer, Covance Inc.

This session provides an overview of the development and performance of a lubrication program audit. These audits lead to the creation of an action plan that addresses the gaps in your lubrication program, and if implemented, will lead to an improvement in equipment reliability. Lubrication audits measure your current program practices against industry "best practices."

Grease Can Talk: Grease Analysis for Wind Turbines

Ruediger Krethe, OilDoc GmbH

Grease lubricated bearings in wind turbines often fail due to lubrication and contamination issues. Grease analysis can be a powerful tool to help avoid these failures, but the analysis of used grease is a much different process than used oil analysis. In this session you’ll learn how to take samples from grease lubricated bearings, what methods should be used for monitoring the grease, and how to interpret the results.

Methods of Application for Open Gear Lubricants and Their Selection

Lawrence Ludwig, chief chemist and technical director, Schaeffer's Specialized Lubricants

Open or semi-enclosed gear drives, which are also known a heavy-duty gear drives or girth gears have been one of the most common methods of power transmission since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Open gear drives are often the most economical type of gear drive alternative for use in applications where high load carrying capacity, long service life under severe shock load conditions are required. Though there are different types of open gear lubricants that can be used in the lubrication of an open gear drive system the particular type of application method must always be considered in order to ensure that the right amount of open gear lubricant in the right place at the right time is properly applied in order to prevent wear and catastrophic failure. In this session the different methods of application, selection criteria and procedures for applying open gear lubricants will be discussed.

Standard Guide to Lubricant Condition Data Trending Methods

Dave Wooton, Wooton-Consulting

Lubricant condition monitoring programs use an array of test measurements that provide a known basis for the quality of the data they are receiving. However, test measurements have little meaning in a condition-monitoring program if they cannot be associated with a failure mechanism of the oil or the machine. To address these critical aspects of condition monitoring in 2011 ASTM developed the "Standard Guide for Practical Lubricant Condition Data Trend Analysis" - ASTM D 7669. This session discusses the new standard's application and presents various trending techniques and formulae along with their associated benefits and limitations. These limit and trend techniques may be utilized for all instrumentation that provides numerical test results and for all types of equipment.

Using Ferrography to Provide Early Warning of Abnormal Wear

Knv Subrahmanyam, Predict Technologies India

Ferrography Wear Debris Analysis is a powerful tool that maintenance personnel use to provide insight into the early stages of machine failure. In this session you'll learn a realistic approach of implementing routine testing for heavy duty gearboxes and rolling contact bearings and how to integrate ferrography with vibration analysis.

Efficient Removal of Water from Oil via a New Membrane System

Sudip Majumdar, Director of Applications Development, Compact Membrane Systems

Water is considered a major contaminant for lubricants and hydraulic fluids. It can change an oil’s physical and chemical properties like viscosity, film thickness, lubricity and load carrying ability. Water leads to oxidation and hydrolysis which in turn generates acids and sludge. In this session you'll learn about a compact, lightweight and robust membrane-based system that has been developed to dewater lubricating oil in real time. The device has been shown to remove 100% of free and emulsified water, as well as reducing dissolved water to well below 100 ppm.

Condition-based Bearing Lubrication

Paul Klimuc, SDT Ultrasound Solutions

Lubricating bearings based on their condition, rather than time in service is a great way to optimize greasing at a facility. Condition based lubrication programs rely on ultrasound data collection to alarm when re-greasing is required. In this session you'll learn how to re-lubricate bearings with an ultrasonic grease gun interface to ensure the right amount of grease is added.

Eliminating the Two-Part PM: How Grease Relief-Samplers Protect and Diagnose

Rich Wurzbach, MRG Power Labs

It is generally accepted as a best practice in electric motor greasing to remove the bearing housing drain plug prior to greasing, adding grease, and leaving the plug out for some period of time to allow purging before returning and re-installing the plug. This typically requires two visits to the same machine at different times to achieve the restoration of the drain plug. In this session, you'll learn how to use grease relief-samplers to reduce the risk of over pressurization that occurs when a plug is not removed, or is re-installed prematurely prior to a sufficient period of purging of excess grease.  You'll also learn how the captured grease can be analyzed for optimizing relubrication intervals based on the condition of the grease being purged from the bearing.