Analysis

Condition Based
Lubrication Best
Practice Using
Ultrasound Technology
YOUR SOURCE FOR

www.uesystems.com ULTRASONIC DETECTION EQUIPMENT AND PLANT RELIABILITY!
About UE Systems, Inc.
• Founded in 1973 • IMENA - India Middle East North Africa Region
• Focused on Research and • Regional Head Office- Hyderabad, India

Development of Ultrasonic Technology
• Repair and Calibration Center in Hyderabad,
• ASTM/ ISO International Standards India
• Continued Support from National and • Technical and Application support

International Offices
• Product Support
• FREE Online Educational
Webinars/Tutorials (UE Systems.com) • Onsite/ Online Training Support
• Online and Onsite Training
• Level One/Two Certification Courses

Conducted to ASNT/ISO Guidelines
Presenter Bio
• Name: Ahmed Moataz
• Job Title: Middle East and North Africa Regional Manager at UE Systems
Certifications:
• Airborne/Structure borne Ultrasound ISO Category I & II
• Vibration Analyst ISO Category II and ASNT Level II - Reliability Improvement and Condition Monitoring
• Asset Reliability Practitioner (ARP) ISO CAT I
Education & Expertise:
• Bachelor's degree, Mechanical Engineering.
• Master’s degree: MBA, Master of Business Administration
• More than 9 years’ Experience in the field of Condition Monitoring and Reliability.
• Conducted more than 290 Ultrasound Technology case studies, training courses and workshops in different
plants & Industries all over the Middle East Region during the last 5 years.
D-I-P-F Curve
I-P & P-F Region
• I-P: Healthy diet are likely to have a reduced
risk of some chronic diseases.
• P-F: checking your blood cholesterol on a

regular basis and deciding the right time to
take action.
• The I-P region is the only part of the reliability

curve where failures actually can be prevented.
…Our Goal
• Our goal, of course, when installing equipment is to extend the time between
installation and the beginning of failure. When you install equipment, such as
a motor and a pump, you probably do some precision alignment to make sure
it is properly aligned. If it is out of alignment, that time window is shortened
and the machine fails more quickly.
• Proper lubrication extends bearing life, so it is important to make sure you are
applying the appropriate amount in the right time.
What Is Ultrasound?
• Ultrasound is defined as sound waves that have frequency levels above 20 kHz, higher
than the range of human hearing.
Audible Range Ultrasound Range
Infra
20Hz–20 kHz 20KHz–100 kHz
1 10 100 1000 10 000 100 000

Frequency [Hz]
What Ultrasound Can Detect ?
Friction – Rotating Turbulence –
Equipment / compressed Gas leak
bearings in need of or valve/steam trap
lubrication leakage
Ionization – Impacting – All

electrical faults like Speeds & Other
corona, tracking, and Applications
arcing
Lubrication Functions
• Reduce Friction
• Reduce Wear
• Transfer Temperature
• Reduce Corrosion
• Reduce Shock
• Seals for Contamination
• Energy Reduction
Lubrication Facts
• The average lubrication film

thickness on a loaded bearing or gear tooth as
low as 2-3 microns.
Time Based Lubrication
• Bearing companies have formulas for greasing volumes and frequencies.

• Equipment suppliers often recommend lubrication schedules based on hours of
operation.
• These are subjective and often not efficient for
long life of the bearing.
ARE YOU SURE? Adding The Right Amount? The Right Time?
• Is it better to:
• ASK YOUR TIME SHEET? OR ASK YOUR BEARINGS?
Condition Based Lubrication…
• Ultrasound devices can let you know when and how much.
• Can tell you when the bearing needs grease.
• Can let you know how much is needed.
• Can let you know If the bearing is over greased
• Lubricating the bearings as per the condition
Bearing Sound Greasing
What Ultrasound Can tell us during greasing?
Is it about listening only?

The Questions Now Is?
When To Lubricate? How Much Grease?

Start With A Baseline
• Setting a baseline is the point where we start our CBL program
• Setting baseline will allow you to trend your bearings condition and to set
alarms for Lubrication or taking further actions
Setting Up the Base Line for Trending by using:
1. COMPARITIVE
2. DURING LUBRICATION
3. HISTORICAL
Use the action dB Levels for Re-Greasing the Bearings
After Setting Base Line ?
When & How Much?
• Follow the Action dB Levels
8dB
8dB………………………… Lubrication
…………………………Lubrication
16dB ………………………Damage/Visual Faults

16dB………………………Damage/Visual Faults
in FFT
in FFT
35dB+
35dB+…………………… Extreme Damage
……………………Extreme Damage
What is the Ultrasound approach?
Procedures
Follow Action
Setting a Lubricate when
Levels – CBL &
baseline required
Trending
Case Study 1 Motor bearing
During Lubrication
• After Adding 7
strokes of grease,
dB value dropped Initial dB Value = 46 dB
to 39 dB from
initial value of 46
dB.
After Greasing = 39 dB
Case Study 2 Motor bearing During
Over Lubrication
Initial dB Value = 27 dB
After Greasing = 30 dB
• After Adding 4 strokes of grease, dB value

Increased to 30 dB from initial value of 27 dB.
Case Study 3 Inaccessible
Bearing Using RAS
Monitoring Cooling Fin Fan Bearing
• Bearing Number: 2203
• Running Speed: 600 RPM
Case Study Inaccessible Bearing
Using RAS
Case Study Inaccessible Bearing
Using RAS
Customer Feedback
• All the fans suffering premature bearing failure at one time or another.
• Strategy used is Time based Maintenance because of the inaccessibility of

bearings.
• Bearing Lubrication is time based lubrication.

Solution Using Remote Access Sensors
• Using UE Ras we will be able to

mount the sensors permanently
on the inaccessible Bearings
• Using UE SYSTEMS Ultraprobes

to Monitor frequently the Fan
Bearings and to used it during
greasing in order to avoid Lack
of Lubrication and sudden
Failures.
Ultrasound FDE Readings During Apr.2018
4/16/2018 14:30
UE RAS SENSOR
Lubrication is applied with the assistance of Ultrasound Technology till the the TWF is
damped to OK conditions, once the sound is damped stop greasing to prevent friction due to
overgreasing.
After Mounting the RAS in the Bearing DE & NDE we were

able to trend and manage the lubrication program
Switch Box connected to RAS

Time Based VS Condition Based
Lubrication
Time Based Lubrication Condition Based Lubrication
1- Over Lubrication May Occur 1- Over lubrication will Give you a
2- Lack of Lubrication May sign of dB increase
Occur 2- Lack of lubrication will increase
3- Lubrication Frequency as per friction = Higher dB level
the manufacture 3- Lubricating as per the bearings
Recommendations demand
4- Lubricating Blindly 4- Listening and monitoring friction
5- What if there are other levels during lubrication
problems wrong with the 5- Let us know if there are other
bearing that lubrication is not problems with the bearing
the solution for?
What equipment should be
used?
• Using a standard hand-pump style grease gun, preferably a
metered grease gun
• In the Best Case Scenario, the Ultraprobe 401 Digital Grease
Caddy would be used to establish routes, establish baseline dB
readings, and alarm levels
• It’s Recommended to use Ultraprobe 10000 OR 15000 in
conjunction with a Grease Caddy, as the Ultraprobe 10000 or
15000 Having the ability of sound recording would be the main
data collection device, and greasing would be done solely with the
Grease Caddy
Ultraprobe 201 Grease Caddy
Ultraprobe 401 Digital Grease Caddy
LED
Amplitude
indicator
Route
Information
Machine Name
& Point Name Baseline dB
dB Input the
number of
pumps of grease
Ultraprobe 201 Grease Caddy Ultraprobe 401 Digital Grease Caddy
Route
Information
Machine Name Baseline dB
& Point Name
Input the
dB
number of
pumps of grease
Reporting & Documentation
Configure
UE 4Cast
Low Alarm
High Alarm
Lubrication
Specific Fields
Reporting & Documentation
Trend of dB readings,
baseline dB, & Alarm
Level dB
Actual number of
pumps vs. Planned
number of pumps
ROI Return on Investment
• Short Term ROI $$$
• Long Term ROI $$$

Long Term ROI
• Long-term protection of equipment.

• Accurate lubrication.
• Reduced maintenance costs.
• Increased profitability.
• The right lubricant volume per point.
• Increased Asset Reliability
• Increased Asset Availability
Culture change!
• Adding Ultrasound technology will help you a lot to get out the most
of your resources and decrease downtime and increase bearings
reliability and availability
• BUT if you still following the same Culture your money will be wasted
• Successful organizations have learned that they have to do more

than dealing with just the technical barriers. They came to the
conclusion that a healthy lifestyle is way better than just going on a
diet in order to lose weight!!
Key Points to fulfill the Culture
Change:
• Cleanliness / Avoid Contamination
• Select the proper grease with the correct viscosity for the application.
• Grease equipment while its running
• Calibrated or metered grease gun
• Remote access sensors must be used if there is no direct access to the bearing housing when the asset is
inaccessible due to guarding or distance
• Repeatability
• Making contact in the same location
• Using the same frequency setting
• Using the same contact method
• Select the right person & make sure that:
• They are trained
• They understand the importance of proper lubrication to the reliability of the assets
• They have been given clear instructions and procedures for how the assets will be greased and how the ultrasound
instruments are used
• Consider updating/rewriting lubrication PM’s to reflect the use of ultrasound
Conclusion…
• Proper lubrication extends bearing life, so it is important to make sure you are
applying the appropriate amount. Ultrasound can help you do this, and it is
also very good for finding early-stage premature bearing failures. There is
significant overlap between ultrasound and vibration analysis. Vibration is
better at detecting misalignment and unbalance. To know which technology
to apply, you must understand how your assets can fail, and you must know
which technology can find which types of failure.
• Adding ultrasound monitoring to a plant’s current lubrication practices can
help prevent failures due to over lubrication and under lubrication. This leads
to extended bearing and equipment life, a decrease in the amount of
lubricant used, more time for productive PMs, extended MTBF, and increased
asset availability.
QUESTIONS?
CONTACT
Ahmed Moataz - Manager of Middle East & North Africa
Region
YOUR SOURCE FOR

ULTRASONIC DETECTION EQUIPMENT AND PLANT RELIABILITY! www.uesystems.com

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Condition Based

YOUR SOURCE FOR

• Focused on Research and • Regional Head Office- Hyderabad, India

• Continued Support from National and • Technical and Application support

• Online and Onsite Training

• Level One/Two Certification Courses

• P-F: checking your blood cholesterol on a

• The I-P region is the only part of the reliability

1 10 100 1000 10 000 100 000

Ionization – Impacting – All

• The average lubrication film

• Bearing companies have formulas for greasing volumes and frequencies.

What Ultrasound Can tell us during greasing?

Is it about listening only?

When To Lubricate? How Much Grease?

16dB ………………………Damage/Visual Faults

• After Adding 4 strokes of grease, dB value

• Strategy used is Time based Maintenance because of the inaccessibility of

• Bearing Lubrication is time based lubrication.

• Using UE Ras we will be able to

• Using UE SYSTEMS Ultraprobes

After Mounting the RAS in the Bearing DE & NDE we were

Switch Box connected to RAS

• Short Term ROI $$$

• Long Term ROI $$$

• Long-term protection of equipment.

• Successful organizations have learned that they have to do more

YOUR SOURCE FOR

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