The Economics of Purification

Particle contamination is the major source of mechanical wear and machine breakdown in all of industry. Numerous empirical research projects have sought to quantify the impact of particle contamination and the economic benefits of purification. Below is a look at two of the most interesting recent works on the impact of contamination and purification.

1. The effect of purity on critical component life (Jim Fitch, Noria Corp.)

Jim Fitch is one of the world's leading experts on machinery lubrication. Noria Corp. trains and certifies more lubrication engineers than any organization in the world. Noria also publishes leading industry magazines Practicing Oil Analysis and Machine Lubrication. Fitch sought to quantify the effects of lubrication purity on the life of critical components. He used the standard 2-digit ISO code for fluid cleanliness (6-micron and 14-micron) and then compiled the results of other studies in regards to how changing ISO codes affected the lives of four critical components:

• Hydraulic and diesel engines

• Roller element bearings

• Journal bearings and turbo machinery

• Gear boxes and others

The results were amazing.

With roller bearings, Fitch found that by improving oil quality from 20/17 to 16/13, roller bearing life increased 2.5 times. If the oil quality is improved to 13/10 (a typical range for ISOPur BCA), roller bearing life increases 4 times. Other examples of component life increases (20/17 to 13/10) include:

Hydraulic and diesel engines: 7.0 x increase in life

Journal bearings and turbo machinery: 5.0 x increase in life

Gear boxes: 3.0 x increase in life

These are sample numbers from the Fitch study. A more comprehensive set of numbers may be obtained from Noria Corporation.

For companies with forward-thinking production and engineering teams, the impact of this study is monumental. Fluid purification can have a very important impact on critical component life. More reliable and longer lived components greatly reduce the risk of machine failure and plant shut downs. Such components also last longer and require longer replacement intervals. The study provides excellent validation for what most people already know – fluid purity has a tangible, bottom line impact.

2. The macro-impact of contamination (Ernest Rabinowicz, MIT)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Mechanical Engineering department has some of the world's foremost tribology (the study of wear and lubrication) experts. Dr. Ernest Rabinowicz, professor emeritus of this department, conducted a landmark study on the causes of industrial plant productivity losses. This study sought to understand what causes equipment to fail and production to halt, and then tried to assess the dollar impact of lost production. His study produced the following root cause analysis of machinery problems: