IS OIL ANALYSIS PROACTIVE OR PREDICTIVE?
Industrial oil analysis is both a proactive and a predictive. The operational life of most industrial machinery is directly related to the contamination and chemistry of the lubricants. Water and dust are two common contaminants that drastically increase wear rates and shorten machine life. Degraded oil, wrong oil, and inadequate lubrication are also significant contributors to early failures. By monitoring, reporting, and recommending the correction of contamination problems, oil analysis is possibly the most valuable proactive condition monitoring technology available for improving plant reliability. In addition to being proactive oil analysis can effectively forecast the impending catastrophic failure of mechanical and electrical systems through which the oil flows. In the same way as a doctor analyzes blood to discern internal problems of the human body, maintenance professionals can use wear debris analysis (WDA) to discern impending problems in equipment. These four categories re
