FRIESS EFR D8 Reduces Hydraulic Oil Particles by About 90% in Gearbox Production

Equipped with a FRIESS EFR D8 Hydraulic Oil Cleaner

A European automotive manufacturer operates three gearbox-production plants. At one site in Central Europe, various machines shared a total hydraulic-oil volume of approximately 10,000 litres.

Challenge

After three years of continuous operation, hydraulic failures had increased noticeably. The maintenance team investigated the cause and the in-house laboratory found substantially higher contamination levels in the hydraulic oil from the machines. Although several offline filtration systems were available and used regularly, the results were unsatisfactory.

Solution: EFR D8 Electrostatic Hydraulic Oil Cleaner

During an online search, the maintenance team contacted the local FRIESS GmbH representative. To determine whether an electrostatic hydraulic oil cleaner could improve the situation, a trial was agreed. For the test, 40 litres of used hydraulic oil were cleaned with an EFR D8 system.

Results

The test ran for 23 hours. Oil samples were taken at defined intervals and analysed in the plant laboratory. The particle counts produced the following results:

*The first oil sample was taken 10 minutes after commissioning the electrostatic oil cleaner.

Particle counting showed that particles larger than 4 µm fell by about 90% during cleaning. Because contamination particles cause roughly 70% of hydraulic failures, the result indicates that electrostatic oil cleaning can prevent an estimated 60–70% of those failures.
An MPC test (Membrane Patch Colorimetry) was also performed. For this test, 50 mL of oil was mixed with 50 mL of petroleum spirit and drawn through a 0.45 µm membrane, making oxidation products, ageing residues and sticky reaction products visible. The analyses showed a significant reduction in oxidation products, supporting reliable hydraulic-system operation.

For hydraulic-system operators:
FRIESS also provides on-site hydraulic-oil analysis and purification services. Equipment repairs and spare-parts supply are not included.