I would like to know if is it possible to have a commercial lab working only as ferrography service provider. If not, what are the aditional minimum requested tests for this technology to be useful?

Duarte,

It is certainly feasible, as most commercial labs will offer their services cafeteria style, although typically it will be more expensive than if part of a larger package of tests. However, you need to ask the question first, what are the proper tests to be performed (test slate) for a given piece of equipment, environment, type of oil, etc? The first step in establishing an oil analysis program should be the creation of a critical equipment list, assignment of test slates, and a frequency matrix. Once that has been established, you can decide to adopt onsite analysis for some or all of the testing requirements, and utilize a lab or labs for the additional analysis. Most folks who outsource usually try to negotiate with the lab to lock in a long-term contract with specific test slates and prices for the packages. It is difficult to be cost effective when using multiple labs. In most situations, oil analysis is utilized to address three different aspects of lubrication: the presence of wear, the presence of contaminants (solid and liquid), and the condition of the lubricant's physical properties. Together, a test slate addressing these three areas will help you to address equipment reliability, identify the presence of contaminants and the effectiveness of measures to remove or exclude them, and the condition of the lubricant for further service (oxidation, viscosity, additives, etc.).

So the answer to your question, what are the additional minimum requested tests, is a function of the equipment you are testing, the environment you are running it in, and the type of lubricants you are using. Also, it is a function of your goals for establishing oil analysis for your facility. Do you just want to prevent unexpected failures? Do you want to merely extend oil changes for large reservoirs? Do you want to measure the effectiveness of your filtration systems? The answer to all these will aid in selecting an optimal program.
I would suggest first internally reviewing your goals for the program, and if there is not a high level of knowledge about lubrication and oil analysis, that training for you or your staff be the first step. Then, armed with that knowledge, clearly outline your company's goals for oil analysis. Then take that information and solicit a number of convenient labs for your location for proposals to meet those goals. If you do already have some internal capabilities, have the labs bid both an overall package, and one without the capabilities you already have. In this way, you can choose the most economical way to establish your program.

Hope this is helpful.

Rich Wurzbach
MRG Power Labs
rwurzbach_at_mrgcorp.com

Actually I didn´t make it clear that I am at an independent lab. That is my business, to manage a ferrography lab. There is another lab from this group which performs some physical/chemical analysis but I do only have ferrograpy testing in my lab. The question is if ferrography can be profitable without other oil analysis tests.

Duarte,

I really doubt that Ferrography alone is a viable business plan for a successful lab. My first laboratory was an in-house Ferrography lab only. But very quickly it became clear that numerous complementary tests were necessary to provide a clear picture of the oil's condition. Also, even if just focusing on machine condition, Ferrography is not really adequate for non-ferrous bearing systems, such as babbitted bearings. In the US, every lab I am aware of offers a wide range of analysis options. The idea is the most customers are interested in more than just the data. Rather, they want to be told what to do--what specific steps should be taken and when. Without Wear, Physical Properties, and Contamination monitoring technologies, it is difficult to provide the customer with the information they need.

Rich Wurzbach
MRG Power Labs
717-699-2908

Duarte

I have to agree with Rich. DMSI ran a "ferrography-centric" oil testing service for many years. We used DR and AF Ferrography as our central condition testing tool, along with viscosity, water and TAN/TBN. We found that we needed to run other tests (spectrograph, particle count, FTIR etc.) on many samples, and for some classes of assets (diesel engines, gearboxes, etc.) we needed to farm out those other tests on every sample. We eventually had to make the hard decision - grow the ferrography service into a "complete" lubricant analysis lab service or stop messing about.

Don't get me wrong, I still think ferrography is the most powerful weapon the fluid analyst has in his arsenal. However, its fairly labor-intensive, and even if you bill out the ferrography testing at a fairly profitable level, the costs of the other tests that you are going to have to do to cover the physical properties checks will bring you down to a break-even point pretty quickly. Most labs treat ferrography as a "boutique" or diagnostic service - and charge accordingly.

By all means, add ferrography to your organization's list of available tests, and if you can offer it your clients at a reasonable price, then more power to you. Trying to go it with ferrography alone, however, is tough - take it from one who tried.

Steve Reilly
DMSI

I´ve been told by a few sources that there is no way of becoming a ferrography and oil analysis provider with out complemental knowledge in mechanical and lubrication systems. Is it true? If so, can these knowledges be obtained by taking an oil analysis course and by reading, or pratical training is also needed?

Duarte our Company of Tecnica Attendance in Tribologia him can make the Analysis the Ferrografia Analitica, Count of Particulas, Metals in ppm... we are in Torreon, Cohauila, Mexico..not in which pais you are..but we can settle down a system of envio..saludos Doctor Ing. Tribologia Manuel Rojas Nadal
Email:tribologomrojas@gmail.com Email:tribologomrojas@yahoo.com.mx