If you're just tuning in and didn't catch the first part of our steel mill and lube oil series, click here.

When we left off, we just determined how the high levels of emulsified water and high particulate contamination levels work together to cause bearing failure and reduce oil life. So, how do we prevent this expensive combination from happening? We're glad you asked!

Premium oils keep steel mills running. It's crucial to protect their quality in order to keep the mills fully functioning. 

In both hot and cold steel mill production, high-demulsibility lubricant is used for backup roller bearing lubrication. Some of these oils are referred to as SD, which stands for super-demulsibility. Not surprisingly, these SD oils are a premium product and come at a premium price. If a manufacturer wants to invest in these big-ticket oils, they obviously want to go to great lengths in order to keep them clean and fully functioning.

Join us for this three-part series as we take an in-depth look at improving rolling mill lube oil performance and useful life.

Mining is a dirty business, as you can imagine, and equipment used to aid in mining efforts is not immune to the filth. Yet it is imperative to keep fluid clean. Not only will it save time and money, it lessens the amount of downtime for repairs, which is always a great goal.

Selecting the right filter can improve the reliability of a system and eliminate failure. With so many options available, we understand how difficult it can be to choose just the right one. Let’s take a look at some of the hydraulic and lubrication filter types and where/how they are predominantly used to help you make the best choice for your filtration needs.

You likely know that there's a direct link between fluid cleanliness and component life-span. But when it comes to ISO cleanliness codes, does it all look like gibberish to you? If you answered "yes," then we can help. Watch the video below for a great primer on ISO Fluid Cleanliness Codes. You can also find the transcript below the video. 

Water, it's a compound that is required for practically everything on the earth. But within a lubrication or hydraulic system, it's one of the most damaging contaminants possible. Unfortunately, it's also one of the most common contaminants you'll find in your system. 

When your lubrication or hydraulic system is continuously or even periodically exposed to high water levels, it can result in a mountain of damage. You can find evidence of water contaminant destruction if you look close enough. This damage appears as :  

Varnish contamination is the inevitable byproduct of many degradation processes in hydraulic and lubrication systems. The effects of varnish on industrial and manufacturing systems range from the nuisance of minor downtime and routine maintenance to, worst case scenarios, multi-million dollar catastrophic failures of major capital equipment. 

Guest post today by Dan Helgerson. He is the Technical Editor of the Fluid Power Journal, where this article was originally published.

We have been talking a lot about filtration here at the steel mill. My predecessor had done a remarkable job in educating by example, demonstrating the need for good control of the fluids in our hydraulic and lubrication systems. He had helped stop the leaks and had added well-thought-out filtration systems that have resulted in substantial savings and increased productivity.

There is still a lot of work to be done and in pursuing that we have invited a number of vendors in, each offering an approach to getting and maintaining an acceptable fluid cleanliness level. The one thing that they all have brought to the table is a discussion of the ISO Cleanliness code. I was in a meeting with a group of managers when one vendor began to talk about the code. Being a Certified Fluid Power Accredited Instructor (AI), I immediately saw this as an obvious teaching moment, so I asked, “Does anyone here want to know what those numbers mean?” The answer was a quick and resounding, “No!”