Oil contamination occurs for several different reasons, all of which leads to engine wear and breakdown if not corrected. Since oil plays an important roll in maintaining lubrication, oil breakdown or contamination reduces the lubrication the metal pieces receive, increases the friction between those moving metal parts, and can lead to engine failure.
There are three main ways that oil becomes contaminated: particles entering through the air intake, metal shavings from the friction between the moving metal pieces, and combustion by-products that raise the oil’s acidity and leads to corrosion. Minimizing the foreign particles entering the oil takes a combined effort of monitoring contaminates levels, neutralizing by-products, and changing the oil and air filter.
Since particles are guaranteed to get into the oil one way or another, being proactive in engine maintenance can save time and money. With less downtime and less costly repairs due to engine failure, manufactures can turn their focus to other trouble spots. One way to monitor engine wear is with a scanning electron microscope. This lets manufacturers and machinists to identify problematic additions to the oil, and perhaps where they are initiating from, in order to plan for critical cleanliness.
Aspex has created a software platform to monitor particles size, counts, and elemental composition. The Advanced Quality Control (AQC) for the Aspex Personal Scanning Electron Microscope (PSEM) with SEM EDX technologies, allows manufactures to monitor oil cleanliness on the assembly line. This fully-integrated, automated system can identify composition of particles so manufacturers can look upstream to stop the contamination before it starts.
Typical particles that enter the oil as contaminates are between 5-20 microns, since the air filter stops particles between 20-40 microns. The PSEM with AQC is capable of sizing particles on the sub-micron level, identifying even the smallest foreign particles found in oil. Additionally, the PSEM can be used to satisfy the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 4406, which sets limits on the particles size allowed in oils.
By using the AQC to identify and classify the particles found in the oil and using the ISO 4406, manufacturers and machinists have necessary information minimize or eliminate oil contaminates. The Aspex PSEM with AQC can reduce manufacturing and warranty failures by 30%, including within transmission and power steering applications, fuel injector systems, and diesel engines, savings far greater than the upfront cost of implementation.
Reference:
Aspex, http://www.aspexcorp.com/industries/industrial-automation.html
Car Junky, http://www.aspexcorp.com/industries/industrial-automation.html
