The situation:
Nissan Motor Co. needed to rectify oil contamination problems in one of their assembly plants.
Analysis showed that the contamination was coming from five specific areas:
- Contamination from the work space environment.
- Contaminants produced within the hydraulic system.
- Water from oil cooler cracks.
- Contaminants resulting from fluid decomposition.
- Contamination from additive decomposition.
In fact, concentrations of all these contaminants exceeded acceptable limits.
As the hydraulic fluid carried the contaminants, a variety of problems resulted, including:
- abrasion
- clogging of narrow passageways
- oxidation
These problems were responsible for the malfunction of many different components, including:
- pumps
- directional-control valves servo-valves
- actuators
It was concluded that these contaminants caused 85% of hydraulic equipment failures!
The solution:
To confirm that Triple R filters would provide the continuous oil cleaning system that would be required to keep Nissan’s hydraulic equipment operating optimally, Nissan conducted in-depth field test studies in the most troublesome area, the Carrosserie Shop.
The Carrosserie Shop is an automated area that assembles press-worked panels by inserting them into a jig. They are then formed by hydraulically powered equipment and welded by robots.
Almost all of the equipment involved is hydraulic, and the 26 welding robots and auxiliary equipment produce an abundance of weld spatter.
We incorporated various Triple R filtration systems into 8-month field tests by implementing them into all hydraulic power units in the Carrosserie Shop.
During the tests, hydraulic fluid contamination was carefully documented and breakdown rates and maintenance problems were closely monitored.
The results:
Final results of the year-long study showed that installing off-line filtration systems reduced hydraulic breakdowns by 86.7% failure of servo-valves by 92.4%
In fact, Nissan was so impressed with the results that they now specify this type of filtration system on all new hydraulic machinery equipped with servo-valves.
Removal of contamination | 93.3%
Reduction in machinery breakdowns | 86.7%
