Oil infiltration and leakage from equipment not only waste resources, but also contribute significantly to environmental pollution, making complete cleaning difficult. If it is severe, it may affect normal production. This article analyzes the causes of oil infiltration and leaks in equipment and proposes solutions.
1. Oil leakage caused by unreasonable design and selection, leading to oil seal failure
Different equipment operates in different environments and uses different types of lubricating oil, which contain different chemical components. The chemical composition of the oil used was not considered during the design and manufacturing process, and seals made from common materials were used.
After installation and use, these seals quickly fail due to chemical corrosion, causing oil leakage. Replacing them is very time-consuming and laborious. During equipment maintenance, the operating environment and lubricating oil must be fully considered, and suitable oil seals must be selected for replacement to extend its service life.
2. Oil leakage caused by poor manufacturing precision or improper maintenance
During machining or maintenance of shaft components, the bearing installation position generally receives more attention, often neglecting the machining of the oil seal installation position. This can lead to uneven machining or inadequate maintenance, causing local damage. When the equipment is working, the body problem causes the edge of the oil seal to quickly fail and leak oil.
Therefore, during machining or maintenance, the precision and roughness of the oil seal working area must be strictly controlled to ensure the quality of machining in this area, which can maintain the effective operation of the oil seal in the long term.
3. Unreasonable configuration of the exhaust cap, there is positive pressure gas in the oil reservoir or equipment box
This problem is mainly due to irrational design and manufacturing. As the equipment works, friction generates heat, raising the temperature and causing the lubricating oil molecules to vaporize. If the gas is not discharged timely and reasonably from the oil reservoir or box, it will form positive pressure and cause oil to seep into weak sealing points.
Generally, an exhaust cover is installed on the top of the equipment. However, due to irrational temperature selection and calculation during design, the exhaust cap does not discharge all the gas generated from the box in time, causing positive pressure inside the box.
The solution is to enlarge the exhaust hole on the exhaust cover, allowing the positive pressure gas to be discharged in a timely and reasonable manner. Another situation is that the lubricating oil leaks through the exhaust cap along with the gas. In this case, the exhaust cover duct must be lengthened, allowing the oil-gas mixture to cool sufficiently before returning the lubricating oil to the box, instead of discharging it with the gas.
4. Unreasonable design of bearing cover oil return hole
For self-lubricating equipment, designers have considered how to supply sufficient lubricating oil to the bearings, but have not fully considered how the lubricating oil returns to the oil reservoir.
The oil that lubricates the bearings cannot return to the oil reservoir in time, it accumulates in the space between the bearing and the cover and flows out as the shaft rotates.
The solution is to enlarge the oil return hole and configure a reasonable oil guide groove, returning the oil in a timely and reasonable manner to the oil tank body.
5. Irrational configuration of oil inlet and outlet pipes causes oil leakage
For equipment with circulating oil lubrication, the oil supply pipeline is generally smaller and the return pipeline is larger. When installing the oil return pipeline, it should have a certain downward slope and minimize bends.
Otherwise, the oil return will not be smooth and excessive oil accumulation at the lubrication point will form positive pressure, causing oil infiltration or leakage.
6. Improper operation causes oil leakage
The normal operation of equipment with a lubrication station must first heat the lubricating oil to a certain temperature before activating the oil pump for lubrication. This is extremely important in cold northern regions in winter. The viscosity of the lubricating oil increases with decreasing temperature and its fluidity worsens.
At this time, if the oil pump is operated for lubrication, the oil supply pressure increases, causing oil leakage; damage the oil seal; and damage oil supply equipment. In cold northern regions, it is better to heat and insulate oil supply and return pipelines to facilitate the smooth flow of oil.
7. Failure of static sealing of upper and lower box bodies
Generally, there are two reasons for this situation:
① Damage to the local matching surface of the box body or local damage to the sealing gasket during assembly or overhaul.
② The sealing gasket has been used for a long time and appears to be intact during overhaul and has not been replaced, causing the sealing failure. The solution is to disassemble the equipment, discover the existing problems, repair them and reseal them.
8. Oil leak at the oil pipe joint
This problem is generally caused by the oil pipe not being firmly fixed, and the vibration of the equipment during operation causes the oil pipe joint to loosen. It should be noted that the oil return pipeline is usually close to the ground in most cases, so it is necessary to reinforce and protect it to prevent it from being stepped on by personnel and causing oil leaks.
The above mentioned are eight main aspects, and there are some other problems, most of which are interrelated and just manifest themselves in different forms. As long as each equipment manager carefully analyzes different situations and takes corresponding measures, existing equipment infiltration and oil leakage problems can be solved.
