THE BENCHMARK FOR HYDRAULIC OIL CLEANLINESS

AUSTRALIAN MINING SAT DOWN WITH DONALDSON TO DISCUSS THE CHALLENGES LINKED TO HYDRAULIC OIL CLEANLINESS AND THE METHODS MINING COMPANIES HAVE EMBRACED TO OVERCOME THEM.

Hydraulic fluid cleanliness may not sound glamorous, but it is one of the most vital considerations for machine availability across mining and construction sites.

Dirty oil creates havoc for hydraulic systems, causing excessive component wear and higher maintenance costs. In severe cases, contamination can cause catastrophic failure, resulting in costly downtime and repairs.

Mining companies and contractors that proactively adopt advanced filtration methods by implementing high-efficiency filtration systems are more likely to increase machine availability and meet their production targets as a result.

Revered for its filtration systems in mining and construction industries, Donaldson has launched new hydraulic elements that help achieve the fluid cleanliness levels demanded by systems operating at high pressures.

Donaldson found that in some hydraulic applications it was common to encounter cleanliness codes around 22/20/17, meaning that you could anticipate somewhere between two and four million particles at four microns or larger in every 100ml of hydraulic fluid.

To compound this, some mining applications have tanks and systems that hold thousands of litres of oil. The volume of contamination being pumped through tight tolerance components at extreme pressures can be overwhelming.

High efficiency filtration should be utilised wherever practicable.