Page 218 - Intro Predictive Maintenance

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laboratories, and lubricant manufacturers have clouded the true requirements of
equipment to the maintenance personnel or individuals responsible for the program.
The following steps provide a guideline to implementing an effective lubricating oil
analysis program.

9.2.1 Equipment Audit
An equipment audit should be performed to obtain knowledge of the equipment, its
internal design, the system design, and the present operating and environmental con-
ditions. Failure to gain a full understanding of the equipment’s operating needs and
conditions undermines the technology. This information is used as a reference to set
equipment targets and limits, while supplying direction for future maintenance tasks.
The information should be stored under an equipment-specific listing and made acces-
sible to other predictive technologies, such as vibration analysis.

Equipment Criticality
Safety, environmental concerns, historical problems, reliability, downtime costs, and
repairs must all be considered when determining the equipment to be included in a
viable lubricating oil analysis program. Criticality should also be the dominant factor
used to determine the frequency and type of analyses that will be used to monitor plant
equipment and systems.

Equipment Component and System Identification
Collecting, categorizing, and evaluating all design and operating manuals including
schematics are required to understand the complexity of modern equipment. Original
equipment manufacturers’ assistance in identifying the original bearings, wear sur-
faces, and component metallurgy will take the guesswork out of setting targets and
limits. This information, found in the operating and maintenance manuals furnished
with each system, will aid in future troubleshooting. Equipment nameplate data with
accurate model and serial numbers allow for easy identification by the manufacturer
to aid in obtaining this information.

Care should be exercised in this part of the evaluation. In many cases, critical plant
systems and equipment has been modified one or more times over their installed life.
Information obtained from operating and maintenance manuals or directly from
the original equipment manufacturer must be adjusted to reflect the actual installed
equipment.

Operating Parameters
Equipment designers and operating manuals reflect the minimum requirements for
operating the equipment. These include operating temperature, lubricant requirements,
pressures, duty cycles, filtration requirements, and other parameters that directly or
indirectly impact reliability and life-cycle cost. Operating outside these parameters
will adversely impact equipment reliability and the lubricant’s ability to provide