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HYDRAULIC FLUID CLEANLINESS SIMPLIFIED
Hydraulic fluid is used to transfer power in hydraulic machines in order to perform work. The fluid also cleans, seals, lubricates, and protects machine component parts. How clean are your hydraulic fluid deliveries? How do you measure cleanliness? What can you do to clean it?
HOW CLEAN ARE THE YOUR NEW OIL DELIVERIES?
How clean is the hydraulic oil refined at the refinery station? How clean is it after it has been hauled in a common carrier tanker to a regional terminal distribution facility? Was the tanker a dedicated hydraulic fluid tanker with a specified ISO 4406:1999 cleanliness code? How clean is it after it has been transported from the distribution terminal to your local lubricant supplier? How clean are the storage containers along each transfer point? How clean are your storage containers?
How clean are new oil drums and recycled oil drums used by some lubricant distributors? There are several potential contamination points along the journey for hydraulic oil to be contaminated by before they get to your location.
WHAT IS ISO 4406:1999?
ISO 4406:1999 is a very good oil cleanliness classification that is easy to use. It identifies the number and size of contaminant particles in hydraulic oil samples. The sizes measured are 4, 6, and 14 micron. The corresponding code number indicates the number of particles per 1 milliliter (ml) with a specific micron size greater than 4, 6, and 16.
| ISO 4406 Chart | ||
| Range Number | Number of particles per ml | |
| More than | Up to and including | |
| 24 | 80,000 | 160,000 |
| 23 | 40,000 | 80,000 |
| 22 | 20,000 | 40,000 |
| 21 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| 20 | 5,000 | 10,000 |
| 19 | 2,500 | 5,000 |
| 18 | 1,300 | 2,500 |
| 17 | 640 | 1,300 |
| 16 | 320 | 640 |
| 15 | 160 | 320 |
| 14 | 80 | 160 |
| 13 | 40 | 80 |
| 12 | 20 | 40 |
| 11 | 10 | 20 |
| 10 | 5 | 10 |
| 9 | 2.5 | |
For example code 22 / 18 / 13 gives the following information:
22 indicates 20,000 to 40,000 particle range per ml greater than 4 micron
18 indicates 1,300 to 2,500 particle range per ml greater than 6 micron
13 indicates 40 to 80 particle per ml greater than 16 micron
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO YOU?
Because the oil cleanliness needed by your equipment is determined by the component most effected by contamination damage. Servo valves need a basic cleanliness range cleanliness range of 17 / 14 / 11. Proportional valves and vane pumps need a range of 20 / 17 / 14. These values are for a basic pressure range from 2320 psi to 3050 psi. Notice when you move up one range you have doubled the particulate measurement!
ANALYSIS COST
You need to have new oil analyzed with a premium hydraulic oil analysis that includes ISO 4406 particle counts. This will run close to $50.00 per sample. The oil sample bottle should be a "clean" bottle provided by the analyzing laboratory so the sample bottle will not contain contamination.
TEST AND CLEAN NEW OIL
Super fine filter ( 3 micron absolute ) the oil with a filter cart, flushing cart, kidney loop filter, or off line filter unit. You could take oil samples after every cleaning cycle. This would be the most accurate and expensive way to monitor cleanliness. You can also run several cycles and compare the difference to your baseline analysis to compare to you target cleanliness levels. Each baseline sample will be different and will show how inconsistent oil cleanliness is from delivery to delivery.