Article originally published on Noria.com
Lube oil cleanliness is necessary for the reliable operation of machinery components such as bearings, gears and hydraulics. Failure to adhere to cleanliness standards can result in sluggish operation, excessive wear and premature failure.
This article provides a brief overview of appropriate oil filtration practices and guidelines.
Filter performance factors
Before selecting an appropriate filter, the following must be examined:
- Demands Imposed by Machinery Components - oil viscosity at the operating temperature, oil feed rate and permissible pressure drop.
- Expected Size, Type and Level of Contaminants - the ingression and formation rate of environmental dust, metal chips, fly ash, wear particles, water, and/or other contaminants.
Many oil filtration units involve small cartridges with flow capacities up to three to five gallons per minute (gpm). To increase the allowable flow rates, a system of smaller cartridges is arranged into a filtration unit. The following factors provide guidelines for selecting these filter units and possible alternatives.
(read the entire article, "How to Match Oil Filtration to Machine Requirements" on Noria.com...)
