News

ALS Tribology has designed a Return on Investment Calculator (RoI) that provides meaningful information on the true cost benefits of using in-service fluids testing to optimize asset reliability and mitigate potential failures. Read More

Some industrial applications use oil analysis in conjunction with scheduled Preventative Maintenance (PM). This is primarily done because it works into a convenient sampling routine for the in-service lubricant and complements routine maintenance practices if timed properly. Preventative maintenance normally addresses planned maintenance and OEM recommendations and requirements. This sampling routine may not always provide the most optimal benefits of oil analysis for some applications. Under these circumstances the use of analysis of in-service lubricants as a maintenance tool might only provide rudimentary benefits. Scheduled preventative maintenance alone may result in too much or too little maintenance activity. Read More

Base number has historically been an indicator of used diesel engine service life. With the current engine oil formulations for categories API CK-4, base number has continued to take on less relevancy for monitoring diesel engine oil service life. This is due to the advent of lower sulfur fuels and engine oils, which has reduced the need for high base number oils. Today’s engine oil formulations are engineered to provide extended service life and because of this monitoring oil oxidation and degradation related extended service life has become an increasing focus. Read More

Recently I received a number of questions around test methodology on some of the analysis we perform and, in answering these questions, realized that two important properties of testing is not well understood by folks in general, which are Sensitivity and Specificity. Read More

Over the past few years, the hot topic at many maintenance and reliability conferences has been the use of IoT also known as ‘the Internet of Things’. When thinking of equipment, we often draw comparisons of equipment to the human body. In the broadest sense, IoT is the nervous system of equipment. Our bodies can sense of touch, movement, balance, smell, taste, sight, pressure, temperature, and auditory vibrations. The information is received by various nerves and transmitted to our brains for processing. How we respond to this data is based on the judgement of how we perceive the information. Read More

It’s a win-win for ALS and one of our clients and proves the value of oil analysis. ALS was sent an excerpt in an Annual Report from one of our PLP’s (Private Label Programs) we do. The excerpt was about how the implementation of proactive maintenance practices (including oil analysis) as part of a reliability centered lubrication program, was used to maximize uptime and cost avoidance for one of their clients. The end user is a family owned construction company located in the state of Washington. Read More

A lubricant’s film strength plays a part in how well the lubricant film thickness between moving parts protects and performs against friction and wear. Lubrication film strength is the ability for a lubricant film separating moving parts to not break under pressure, which is a critical property in avoiding metal to metal surface contact.  This is especially important for thin film lubrication under high pressure situations. Read More

A Heat Transfer fluid is a fluid that can perform reliably in heat transfer systems or heat exchangers using hot-oil heat exchangers. Heat transfer fluids are typically formulated with highly refined mineral oils or silicon-based fluids, this short article will primarily address mineral oil-based fluids. Read More

Historically sulfur when used in lubricating oil formulation chemistry it has been used as an additive for an antioxidant, part of antiwear (AW) compounding, extreme pressure (EP), and enhanced lubricity properties (the oil's ability to lubricate under boundary metal-to-metal contact conditions).  Read More

There can be occasions when it is required to idle equipment for extended periods of time due to production requirements, economic conditions, or other situations. There are some basic practices that can ensure equipment is mothballed properly so that equipment is protected during storage or idle time.  A little investment will protect equipment value for resale or reliable performance for production startup. Read More