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The Importance Of Viscosity Testing In Industrial Machinery

By Beverly A. Robidoux

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 12Mar2012
Word count: 1326
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In order to determine the thickness of machine oil and its ability to flow through the parts it is intended to lubricate and protect, a number of major industries must rely on routine viscosity testing. Everything from heavy equipment used on a construction site to the massive motors used to generate power for offshore oil platforms have their oil sampled so that owners and operators can understand the working conditions inside the expensive machinery that their business depends on.

When a machine is in operation, it has a number of moving parts that are rubbing together at generally high speeds, creating a large amount of friction that causes the parts to wear out. In order to cut down on the amount of wear that a machine's internal parts suffer, oil is used to lubricate each part, greatly reducing the amount of friction they create.

If a lubricant is not thick enough, it will be unable to provide the optimal amount of lubrication necessary to protect its designated machine, while a lubricant that is too thick may make a particular machine run sluggishly. By testing the viscosity of the oils in a given machine, the operator will be able to determine whether or not those oils are providing the right amount of protection for the machine, among other things.

There are many complicated bits of information that can be drawn from one of these tests, from determining if the right kind of oil is being used in a machine to any changes the oil may have undergone during normal operation. A change in viscosity could indicate a number of things, such as dilution caused by other fluids leaking into the oil, changes in temperature, breakdown of the oil, and oil contamination.

By taking samples at regular intervals and sending them in to a trusted oil test lab, maintenance personal will receive much of the information they need to decide what sort of checks and repairs they must perform on the machinery. Anytime they are made aware of a drastic change in viscosity, they know that something about the way the machine operates has changed, and with the other information provided by the oil test, they will have a good idea about what has caused the changed and where they should start looking to get to the root of the problem. This is precisely why viscosity testing is considered to be a very necessary procedure for guaranteeing a long and productive life for expensive equipment.

Specialized in On-Line and On-Site solutions for viscosity testing and continuous monitoring.

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