The basics of lubricating grease and in-use testing
Written by Amy Rishell and John Sander
Conclusion
To summarize, used grease samples are typically very small in size, which makes it difficult to get a representative sample for testing. Traditional grease testing methods require large samples, so they are not well suited for testing used grease. New and improved tests are being introduced and implemented to properly test used grease, and the result is better, more meaningful data. With these recent innovations – and more on the horizon – condition monitoring of in-use grease is set to become an important tool for maintaining or troubleshooting a lubricated part or system.
Today, many plants are embracing equipment reliability-centered maintenance programs to establish safe minimum levels of maintenance, make necessary changes to operating procedures, and establish capital maintenance plans. The successful implementation of an RCM program leads to increases in uptime, efficiency and cost effectiveness. One of the cornerstones of an effective RCM program is a well-managed lubrication program, which includes in-service analysis of lubricants.
Analysis of in-service lubricants has been employed as a predictive tool to prevent unplanned maintenance as well as a root cause analysis after a failure to prevent recurrence. While in-service analysis has been commonplace for quite a few years, grease analysis has generally been considered of lesser value. Under the proper conditions, it is hoped that this paper provides useful insight into how to make in-service grease analysis a practical and useful part of world-class RCM programs.
