Editors note:  Mike Sondalini edits the popular subscription based newsletter called Process & Plant Equipment UPTIME. More information about the newsletter can be found at FeedForward.com.au

Clean, dry oil can extend equipment life between failure up to 8 - 10 times the normal operating life. Timken, the bearing manufacturer, reports that reducing water levels from 100 ppm (parts per million) to 25 ppm increases bearing life 2 times. British hydraulics research indicate that if solids contamination with particles larger than 5 micron (0.005 mm or 0.0002”) is reduced from the range of 5,000 – 10,000 particles per milliliter of oil to 160 – 320 particles, the machine life is increased 5 times.

It is clear that there is great benefit to be gained in having clean oil and that it may be well worth spending a lot of money to achieve it. This would be the case where expensive equipment was used and the cost of maintenance was high or where the equipment was costly but not highly profitable to operate. Increasing the equipment life and the period between maintenance up to ten times normal would be highly profitable in both cases. On the other hand if the cost of replacement equipment is cheap it is unlikely to be justifiable to spend money on oil filtration.