Our Certifications

Equipment Reliability Services (ERS)

ERS focuses on the detection and more importantly, the correction of root causes. The program starts with quality sample collection and some basic knowledge of your machine, your industry, your operating environment, and your lubricant. While we recommend the use of VEDA’s ERS Lubricant Sampling System, Our analysis services will work with any high quality oil sample. With the proper information in place we will begin analyzing results and reporting on :

Lubricant Condition

By effectively monitoring fluid condition, you will be able to maximize oil life and identity adverse conditions that affect lubricant life.

Ferrography (Wear Debris Analysis)

Our standard Oil Analysis will trend and identify abnormal wear conditions. These may trigger more rigorous wear debris analysis to identify predominant wear mechanisms, their severity and allow us to offer specific recommendations to abate the problem in many cases.

Root Cause and Remediation

The primary value of condition monitoring through Oil Analysis is its unique ability to identify and quantify the most common root causes of machine wear. By setting proper, machine-specific targets and limits for each asset, we will be able to help create a strategy for each machine to achieve proper fluid cleanliness conditions.

Long-Term Results

The process continues with ongoing analysis, trending, and modifications to targets as needed. Any exceptional results will be verified and our data analyst will follow up with you to procure any necessary information and recommended corrective action.

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE BY FERROGRAPHY ANALYSIS

Ferrography – What is it all about?

It provides Microscopic Examination and Analysis of Debris (particles) separated from lubricating oils. This is a technique in use since 1970,

What type of debris do we expect which are harmful to Lubrication System and the Machine?

There are six basics wear particle types generated through the wear process. These include metallic particles that comprise of Normal Rubbing Wear, Cutting Wear Particles Spherical Particles Severe Sliding particles, Bearing Wear Particle, (Fatigue Spall Particles, Laminar Particles) and Gear Wear (Pitch Line Fatigue Particles, Scuffing or Scoring Particles). There do also exist sand and dirt particles responsible to generate wear particles in the system.

Benefits of Ferrography?

Reduction in unscheduled downtime due to wear of rotary components like bearings and gears. Effective maintenance scheduling. Improved equipment reliability and safety. Reduction in maintenance costs. Maximization of oil change-out intervals that indirectly conserves environmental cleanliness aspect. Reduction in machine power consumption over a period. Ferrography Wear Particle Analysis, performed on a lubricant sample, provides the earliest detection of abnormal machine wear condition and pending failure of interacting machine parts due to tribology-related root causes, before the abnormal wear particles are ground down to sizes small enough to fall within the detection limits of atomic element spectrometers (1 μm for atomic-absorption spectrometer, 3 μm for ICP atomic-emission spectrometer and 8 μm for RDE atomic-emission spectrometer) and before telling peaks and significant patterns in the vibration spectra become sufficiently discerning for detection by machine vibration monitoring and analysis. Ferrography Wear Particle Analysis provides comprehensive in-sights into the machine wear condition by identifying: The Wear Mode: (e.g. normal rubbing wear, severe sliding wear, cutting wear, corrosive wear, gear wear, bearing wear… The wear severity (Wear particle size and concentration) The wear particle metallurgy (the source of wear particles) (e.g. iron, steel, copper, babbit…) The cause of wear (e.g. abnormal loading, misalignment, lube degradation, bearing fatigue spalls, abnormal lubrication condition…)

It also Provides some useful information on: The Lubricant Condition  (e.g. Presence of black oxides/severe sliding wear particles indicates lubricant unable to withstand the high load and high temperature; presence of red oxides indicates moisture in the system; presence of decomposed friction polymers indicates lubricant breakdown and depletion of EP additives…) The filter, breather and/or seal condition (e.g. presence of filter paper or fibres indicates filter element breakdown; presence of sand/dirt and red oxides indicates poorly functioning breather elements or leaking seals…) Such early detection and comprehensive information allow for timely preventive actions, based on informed decision, to be scheduled and taken to check and resolve any incipient and developing faults to pre-empt accelerated loss of operating efficiency premature end of equipment useful life secondary damage and forced outage. Such machine condition monitoring is essential for high reliability maintenance especially for mission critical equipment to ensure equipment availability production and plant safety.