Unlock the Hidden Insights Within Your Lubricants and Wear Debris.
Lube Oil Analysis and Ferrography at Aswartha deliver comprehensive, condition-based insights on both lubricant quality and the internal wear of your machinery. By meticulously identifying oil degradation, contamination from external sources, and critical metal debris, we enable proactive maintenance actions that protect your most critical machines.
This scientific approach significantly reduces operational costs, prevents catastrophic failures, and extends the overall lifecycle of your valuable assets by addressing issues before they cause asset fatigue and breakdown. It's like a blood test for your machinery, revealing problems before they become critical.
🧠 What We Uncover
- Lubricant oxidation, viscosity breakdown, or additive depletion, indicating oil's declining protective properties.
- Contamination from water, coolant, fuel, or particulates (dirt, dust), which can accelerate wear and corrosion.
- Wear metals (e.g., iron, copper, lead, aluminum) indicating specific component fatigue and active wear.
- Signs of corrosion, overheating, or abrasive contact within machinery, pinpointing root causes of damage.
- Microscopic wear particles through advanced ferrography, revealing active wear modes, their severity, and origin (e.g., sliding, cutting, rolling wear).
- Cross-contamination between different lubricant types or systems.
- Effectiveness of filtration systems and overall lubrication program health.
🎯 Strategic Business Outcomes
📈 Why It Matters to Your Business
Oil is far more than just a lubricant — it’s a vital diagnostic tool, providing a continuous, internal health report for your machinery. By analyzing both the oil's condition and the wear particles suspended within it, Aswartha helps leadership teams implement sophisticated predictive lubrication strategies.
This approach leverages the chemical and physical health of your oil and the direct evidence of wear as asset performance indicators. It minimizes downtime, optimizes reliability, and provides unparalleled insights into your equipment’s internal workings without intrusive inspections. By listening to what your oil and wear particles are telling you, you can transform your maintenance operations from reactive to highly predictive.
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Optimize Lubrication Intervals
Change oil only when necessary, saving on lubricant costs and waste disposal, improving sustainability.
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Prevent Catastrophic Failures
Identify small problems like contamination or specific wear metal generation before they escalate into major breakdowns.
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Enhance Equipment Lifespan
Proactive maintenance based on combined oil and wear analysis extends the useful life of expensive assets and defers capital expenditure.
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Improve Maintenance Efficiency
Direct resources where they are most needed, reducing unnecessary inspections, overhauls, and associated labor costs.
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Boost Overall Plant Reliability
Ensure critical machinery remains operational, supporting consistent production output and reducing operational risks.
🔬 Our Analytical Capabilities & What They Reveal
We employ a comprehensive suite of analytical tests, combining traditional oil analysis with advanced ferrography, to provide a holistic view of your lubricant and equipment health:
Physical Properties Testing
Tests: Viscosity, pour point, flash point, specific gravity, water content.
Reveals: Lubricant integrity, suitability for operation, presence of critical contaminants.
Elemental Analysis (ICP & XRF)
Tests: Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) & X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) for elemental composition.
Reveals: Concentrations of wear metals (Fe, Cu, Pb, Al, Cr), contaminants (Si, Na, K), and additive elements (Ca, Zn, P).
Contamination Detection
Tests: Karl Fischer (water), Fuel Dilution, Glycol.
Reveals: Presence of harmful contaminants that can lead to rapid wear, corrosion, and oil degradation.
Oil Degradation Analysis (FTIR)
Tests: Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
Reveals: Level of oxidation, nitration, sulfation, soot, and depletion of critical additives.
Analytical Ferrography
Tests: Microscopic examination of wear particles captured on a ferrogram slide.
Reveals: Size, shape, quantity, and composition of wear debris, indicating specific wear mechanisms (e.g., cutting, sliding, fatigue) and severity.
Particle Count & Sizing (ISO/NAS)
Tests: Automatic particle counters.
Reveals: Overall cleanliness level of the oil (ISO 4406, NAS 1638 codes) and the distribution of particle sizes, crucial for hydraulic and sensitive systems.
Acid/Base Number (TAN/TBN)
Tests: Total Acid Number (TAN) and Total Base Number (TBN).
Reveals: Oil degradation and its remaining ability to neutralize acidic byproducts of combustion or oxidation.
Filter Patch Analysis
Tests: Microscopic examination of debris captured on a filter membrane.
Reveals: General contamination levels, presence of large particles, and overall cleanliness trends.
Our detailed reports provide actionable insights and precise recommendations, empowering you to optimize your lubrication program, extend asset life, and prevent unexpected failures.
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