What is the life of the Oil ?

NAS1638 Class 10 is not defined as "clean".
If you have a drum with oil (and no working system) you can probably filter if for ten years, and it would be just as good.

If you have a working hydraulic system there is several elements that can reduce the oils lifetime. Pressure, heat, moisture, particles, acid and more.

You need to monitor each system with oil analysis. We have customers doing this, and some are still using the same hydraulic oil after 5-7 years.

Hymat

In reference to this issue, is more important to keep the oil without particles, for extending the life of the mechanical elements, that the life of the oil. Of course if you maintain your hydraulic oil clean (NAS 10 is not clean!!!), the oil life is going to increase, but more important is the life of the mech. elements. You can check this, in the Life Extension published by Noria.

Regards.

Thanks Mr. Huges.

But my quastion is what are the boundry limits of each perameters for each class of Oil cleanliness level so that life of the oil can be extended substentially.say 8 to 10 years. e.g. almost all systems attain say 45 0 C temp./ Working pressure is 210 bar, Moisrute level is 300 PPm and say Oil cleanliness level is maintained as NAs 6, then for How long Oil will last ? Do you / anybody has any idea of some such matrix to judge the life of the oil ?

quote:

Originally posted by mr. Hughes:
NAS1638 Class 10 is not defined as "clean".
If you have a drum with oil (and no working system) you can probably filter if for ten years, and it would be just as good.

If you have a working hydraulic system there is several elements that can reduce the oils lifetime. Pressure, heat, moisture, particles, acid and more.

You need to monitor each system with oil analysis. We have customers doing this, and some are still using the same hydraulic oil after 5-7 years.

If you eat healthy and exercise everyday, how long will you live?

Your question about the life of oil is similar. A turbine oil may last 30+ years in a hydro-electric turbine and 1 year in a gas turbine. There are many, many variables to consider. Listen to Mr. Hughes advice: Keep you oil clean and dry while employing condition monitoring practices to carefully monitor your oil life. Then, you can extract as much time out of your oil as possible.

The key question is how long will the additives last. You can filter oil to clean it up but if the additive package that is required for the pumps is depleted then the pumps will begin to wear and develop rust in your system.

If you are filtering hydraulic oils have your oil analysis lab conduct regular testing and keep an eye on the zinc or other additive levels. If they dip below the pump manufacturers recommended level then you need to replace the oil in the system.

In my opinion the life of oil is indefinite if it is kept at NAS 5 or 6 and the moisture content is below 50 ppm ,preferably zero, the temperature is not above 50 degree centigrade and topping is done with new oil(Of NAS 6 and containing moisture less than 50 ppm) containing full additives. Yes, the condition of oil must be monitored regularly to avoid any deterioration due to some unexpected reason.
But I will once again say that oilcan be run for many years, 20 or 30 or even more without
any problem.
Additives are there to take care of contaminants, if the contaminants are minimum the work load on additives is also minimized and their depletion is reduced considerably. Yes some depletion will take place which will be made up by the fresh additives going with Top up oil. So there should be no fear on the additives- front.
But Yes, how to maintain such condition in oil, which equipment and how much monitoring?

Dear mr. Prabhakar

Thanks for your reply to my querry.
V.S.Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Prabhakar Agrawal:
In my opinion the life of oil is indefinite if it is kept at NAS 5 or 6 and the moisture content is below 50 ppm ,preferably zero, the temperature is not above 50 degree centigrade and topping is done with new oil(Of NAS 6 and containing moisture less than 50 ppm) containing full additives. Yes, the condition of oil must be monitored regularly to avoid any deterioration due to some unexpected reason.
But I will once again say that oilcan be run for many years, 20 or 30 or even more without
any problem.
Additives are there to take care of contaminants, if the contaminants are minimum the work load on additives is also minimized and their depletion is reduced considerably. Yes some depletion will take place which will be made up by the fresh additives going with Top up oil. So there should be no fear on the additives- front.
But Yes, how to maintain such condition in oil, which equipment and how much monitoring?

Thanks to all who have replied to my querry.
V.S.Dave.

Dave,

mr Hughes has correctly indicated that NAS 10 is not "really clean." In an Indian environment most oils supplied in steel barrels will be in the range of NAS 12 to 10. Superclean oils have to be "packaged" seperately. NAS 7 to 5 oils were supplied by Castrol in India in HDPE barrels. Other manufacturers supply superclean NAS 7 to 5 oils in EPI coated Steel barrels.

Prabhakar is right, moisture below 50 ppm will certainly extend life, as moisture interferes with the additive packages and tend to allow rust.

The third parameter in extended life is oxidation. Low or no oxidation also means extended life. In certain applications, if oil is not used or used intermittently it may last a long long time. But the moment oil is used continously the oxidation process starts.

M Hussam Adeni

Dear Mr. Adeni,
Thanks for your reply.
By the way do you have any idea whether any one is Calibrating and repairing the Laser Particle Counter in India ? If you know please let me know as soon as possible as Pressure Transducer of my ARTI - USA make Laser Particle Counter is giving me some trouble and Also needs Calibration. Otherwise I will have to send it back to USA which is very expensive.
With best Regards.
V.S.Dave.

Oil life can be extended indefinitely, IF proper conditions are met.

Clenliness, additives and moisture removal are VERY important, but also acids, oxides and varnish should be considerations.

To keep oil clean indefinitely, one would need to filter it effectively (0.1 Micron), remove as much moisture as economically feasible, eliminate acids and oxides, and prevent the formation of varnish.

For information on how to accomplish all of these golas at once, visit www.mboilfilters.com

I believe the answer to your question is not as simple as just keep the particle count down and the water ppm down. There are other aspects of your system which need to be considered. What type of oil are you using? Is it a mineral based oil, a polyol ester, a cannola based oil? What type of system components are there? Different types of pumps will cause more wear on your oil. How well is the system designed and maintained? Do you have leaks which will cause ingression of contaminants? Is the cooling of the oil adequate and maintained? Is the system subject to temperature fluctuations? Are there areas in the tank where oil can stay with out moving? Are the returns adequate to prevent entrapment of air? Also, what types of additives are you using in your oil? Do you have anti-wear additives, anti-foaming, what about demulsifiers? Don't get me wrong, oil can last for a very long time, but it will require constant care. My suggestion to you would be to have a complete oil analysis done of your new oil. Use this as a base. Monitor each variable as close as possible. Have your operators keep you aware of any conditions out of the ordinary, overheating, breakdowns, components changes, etc. Maintain your filtering and follow the safe practices for topping off and keeping out contamination. The other thing I would do is a thorough tank cleaning yearly. This will allow you the opportunity to inspect the inside of the tank for problems and clean any contamination not taken out by filtration. I hope this helps. Good luck.

I will strongly agree to this and also need to see for the moisture content and humid enviornments as well
this helps in increasing oil temperature.