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Grease
Approximately 90 percent of all bearings are lubricated with grease. But how much do you know about the grease or greased bearings in your plant? Grease analysis is certainly not for every bearing ... Maybe it's not even for most bearings. But when you have a need to know, a thorough analysis of the grease in question can prevent headaches and save money.
Herguth offers complete grease analysis programs to monitor contamination levels, grease degradation characteristics and wear rates. These programs are designed to be rapid, thorough and economical.
Grease analysis is a valuable diagnostic tool for condition monitoring. Samples of grease are either submitted individually for evaluation of a special problem or over time to establish a baseline for use as a predictive maintenance tool. When trending grease analysis results over time and comparing these results to new grease the rates of contamination ingress, additive depletion, grease degradation and wear rates can be monitored. Knowing these critical characteristics one can make maintenance decisions and be assured that you are taking the right steps in protecting your investment. Contamination Contamination of grease is detrimental to the lubricating quality of the grease, whether the contamination is from water, dirt or even another incompatible grease the performance levels of grease are severely impaired by contamination. Contamination can cause serious bearing damage if gone undetected and thus uncorrected. The most common damage that contamination causes is abrasive wear followed by corrosive wear and contact fatigue. Early detection and correction of a grease contamination problems will dramatically reduce the risk of bearing damage that would otherwise occur. Degradation As grease is used the beneficial additives that are blended into the grease to protect against base oil oxidation are depleted. Once these additives are depleted, the grease will become oxidized and the designed performance characteristics will be dramatically altered. One of the most important performance characteristics, is the viscosity of the base oil and the base oil viscosity will increase when the antioxidants can no longer protect the oil. Wear Measuring the concentration, metallurgy and topographical characteristics of wear metals in used grease not only gives the user a measurement of how much wear is taking place, but the source and mechanisms of the wear. Wear rates can be compared over time, for a single bearing and/or against like bearings to evaluate abnormal conditions. When coupled with other technologies, such as vibration analysis (where applicable) metals analysis becomes an indispensable part a complete condition monitoring program. Advanced Grease Analysis If any of the analysis performed during the "Basic Analysis" indicate unusual or abnormal findings the laboratory will select further analysis to define, in more detail the specific abnormality and the extent of the problem. The advanced analysis may be carried out after a discussion with the client and authorization to proceed. The client always has the opportunity to customize the advanced grease analysis, based on their situation simply by calling the customer service group at the Herguth Laboratories and setting up a special program. Common analytical methods used in the advanced grease analysis include Remaining Useful Life Evaluation Routine (RULER), Emission Spectroscopy, Wear Particle Analysis, and Percent Oil and Filler. There are many other analyses available and the laboratory should be consulted if special analytical methods are required. Volume of sample required, fees and turnaround times will change when using the advanced grease analysis methods. Sampling The minimum sample volume required for the basic grease analysis is 1 ounce (28 grams, or about one heaping teaspoon full of grease). When sampling, it is important to select the grease that is representative of the grease that is actually providing the lubrication to the bearing and will contain those contaminates, wear metals and grease degradation characteristics that are meaningful to the actual lubrication and operation of the bearing. If samples that are not representative are submitted, the laboratory should be advised since this will have an impact on the evaluation and trending of the data. On occasion, there may be a grease analysis required on a sample that is substantially smaller than the required volume. In these cases, contact the laboratory for modifications to the basic grease package. For more information call 1-888-HERGUTH (437-4884) |
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