Contamination Control

According to industry experts, 70% - 80% of hydraulic failures and efficiency problems can be attributed to some form of system contamination. The three general catagories for contamination are built-in, ingressed and internally-generated contamination. A thorough understanding of the sources of contamination followed by best practices will lower the likelihood of a premature component failure and performance issues. This section attempts to provide the technician with some tools to head off contamination induced failures by describing the causes, effects and finally, the control of system contamination. The information provided in this section is nowhere near exhaustive and should be regarded as a secondary resource to the books and links provided on this site.

What qualifies as contaminaton?

It is any liquid, gas or solid that is built into a system, externally induced or internally-generated. Liquids introduced to a system can be water or solvents, both highly destructive as they alter the composition of the fluid medium. Gases typically include air ingression or vapor bubbles formed from the oil due to a low pressure condition. Finally, solids can be anything from silica, metals and even lint from rags.

As descriped above, the three general sources of contamination are catagorized are below. Click on each hyperlink for more information:

• Built-in
• External Sources
• Internally Generated

Contaminants can be in liquid, gas or solid form:

Liquids

• Water
• Chemicals
• Incorrect fluid medium

Solids

• Particles can be in the form of silica, dirt, lint, teflon tape, metal shavings,

Gases

• Aeration
• Cavitation
• Click here for more information on reservoirs and inlet conditions