Research has shown that 80% of all hydraulic failures can be directly attributed to oil contamination from solid particulate. 40% of breakdowns can be due to water content or emulsification of lubricating oil.
To minimise wear and tear and maximise mechanical uptime, continuous oil maintenance has become a significant point of focus. More and more operators realise that this technique offers the only genuinely cost-effective long-term solution to this issue. Even new oil is not “Clean” and can contain contamination introduced in the distribution, storage and transportation process as well as being susceptible to condensation or water formation.
Systems that operate with high-quality oil require the oil to be cleansed before deployment and continuous maintenance to preserve this quality.
The use of Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants (EAL’s) has added more importance to the subject of oil maintenance. By their very nature these lubricants are highly sensitive to water and biodegradable, preventing damage to the environment should they be allowed to leave a system for any reason. EAL oils, especially used for shipping, hugely benefit from continuous maintenance to maximise their quality and in turn their effectiveness.
Wågene Purifiner filter units combine superior pure cotton particulate filtration and a patented evaporation chamber to create a continuous oil maintenance filter for hydraulic and lubricating oil systems. In testing, reductions of water content and particulate contamination can be up to 95% and 70% respectively within a 2 hr period and complete removal of seawater contamination in 8 hours of usage.
Continued use of such systems can provide oil-life extensions of up to 10 times over those of non-maintained lubricants, increasing mechanical uptime of components, minimising unscheduled breakdowns and reducing maintenance costs of systems.
