Ontario Power Generation is a government-owned utility company located in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Like most companies, Ontario Power is constantly seeking ways to improve equipment reliability. To this end, Ontario Power started a program to implement a common predictive maintenance program across its three nuclear generating stations.
High water content of lubricating oils negatively impacts the operation and longevity of the oils and the mechanical equipment components being lubricated. Water increases the oxidation rate of oils, thus prematurely using up the oils’ oxidation inhibitors. Additionally, water has been known to cause certain oil additives to precipitate out, as well as to chemically attack some additives.
“Our oil analysis results often show levels of water present in the oil. We are considering the purchase of portable equipment suitable for the removal of water from lube and hydraulic oil systems. I have also been told by some people that some separators can only remove water down to the water saturation level of the oil. Is there a preferred method for removing water from oil in a lube or hydraulic circulating system? How much water can be removed by these methods?”
Numerous methods have been developed to selectively remove water and other volatile contaminants from hydraulic and lubricating fluids. These methods include absorbent filter media and regenerable adsorbent packings and the like.
Much has been said about particle contamination and its effect on component longevity. It is well known that an improvement in particle contamination by one ISO Cleanliness Code can result in a 10 to 30 percent increase in the life of contamination-sensitive components such as hydraulic valves, pumps, and journal and rolling element bearings.
