Particle Count Specifications

I was expectant to see anybody answering your question. Could you get the information?

For gearboxes, the spec might be at around 13/16 ?

I am also looking for such information. Also cleanliness limits for the turbine oil in ie. LM2500 units.

Me too. I am looking for it also.

The best that I can do is the following, which I hope will help:

Oil cleanliness levels required
for hydraulic components (160…210 bar)

Pumps
Axial piston pumps 21 / 18 / 15
Radial piston pumps 21 / 18 / 15
Gear pumps 21 / 18 / 15
Vane pumps 20 / 17 / 14

Motors
Axial piston motors 21 / 18 / 15
Radial piston motors 21 / 18 / 15
Gear motors 21 / 18 / 15
Vane motors 20 / 17 / 14

Valves
Directional control valves 21 / 18 / 15
(solenoid valves)
Pressure valves 21 / 18 / 15
Flow control valves 21 / 18 / 15
Check valves 21 / 18 / 15
Proportional valves 20 / 17 / 14
Servo valves 17 / 14 / 11
Cylinders 21 / 18 / 15


Influence of operating pressure on required
oil cleanliness

0…100 bar 3 classes worse
100…160 bar 1 class worse
160…210 bar none
210…250 bar 1 classe better
250…315 bar 2 classes better
315…420 bar 3 classes better
420…500 bar 4 classes better
500…630 bar 5 classes better
Max. system pressure [bar]

More info in the Argo-Hytos Guidelines downloadable from www.argo-hytos.com

THX a lot Matt, very helpful!

Those levels look very high to me for hidraulics! I had a completely different idea. thank you for sharing this information with us.
Are those maximum levels or standard for operation, or minimum levels to reach for example when we contract an external filtration cart service?

I've not seen any specs from GE, even the GEK specs I have seen do not include data on ISO cleanliness or purity as some OEMs call it. Only Siemens and Alstrom had some specs for new oil which was around 17/14 to 18/15. Have you asked the OEM?
The ISO cleanliness should be measured and trended with other parameters as well to determine any corrective measures.

Regarding the cleanliness level for hydraulics,
if the previously posted levels are met the economy will be stimulated as a lot of components will fail prematurely.
Tom

Hi BB'

we have monitored all of those applications by microscope, (ferrogram, wear debris analysis,) i

If we can run @ an ISO 4407 16/13 in turbines the machine is not wearing, no debris worth removing from the fluid
Industrial gearboxes can run reliably at an ISO 17/14 but wind turbines are so difficult to service we thing try and run wind turbines @ an ISO 16/13,

We sampled the dirt and debris off the wind turbine gearcase exteriors here in Australia and found the dirt and debris 50 M up blown into the wind turbines "machine Room" was 50-60% hard particles so breathers are best sealed .
Regards

Rob S

rttech.com.au

I have seen a Tribological recomendation of ISO 4406 1999 of 16/13/10 but they were using polar filtration. Which is the terminaology for thier brand of system. I have seen the lab results for many turbines and it is possible to achieve rather I can only assume it is better to maintain this over long periods. It makes sense though.
I also agree with Tom on his perspective

Hi Rob S,

In ISO 81400-4:2005 the recommended cleanliness is -/16/13, do you think it is practical if we use APC to test the cleanliness?

Thanks

ZMGH

Dear zmgh,

Yes you can use APC to test cleanliness.

Please note the APC will also count:

Air bubbles water droplets, and soft contaminants and agglomerates as particles.

The new (not released ) ASTM Practice will recommend using 50/50 dilution with solvent to negate the effect of the first two. This is good for petroleum oils for synthetics you must insure solvent compatibility.

The agglomerates and soft particles are another matter all together.

Good Luck

Excerpt from ASTM 4378
Standard Practice for In-Service Monitoring of Mineral Turbine Oils for Steam and Gas Turbines

If a cleanliness level is not specified by the manufacturer, cleanliness in the range from ISO 16/14/11 to 18/16/13 (ISO 4406:1999) is usually satisfactory