In steel and aluminium production, water ingress into gear oil and incorrect additive concentrations in rolling oil directly cause equipment damage, surface defects, and costly scrap. FluidInspectIR® detects these events in real time — where standard lab analysis arrives too late to prevent the damage.
In steel rolling, water ingress into gear oil causes rapid lubricant degradation and equipment damage. Standard lab analysis cannot detect water break-in events in real time — leaving critical equipment exposed between sampling intervals.
In aluminium cold rolling, additive concentration is time-critical for producing top-quality product. Outsourced lab sampling took too long — delaying additive top-up decisions and consuming valuable technician time on routine sampling instead of value-add activities.
Water ingress in steel rolling gear oil can destroy equipment within hours. A lab sample taken weekly cannot catch an event that happens between intervals.
Outsourced lab turnaround takes days. By the time additive depletion is confirmed, production quality is already compromised and costly scrap has been generated.
Valuable human assets are tied up collecting and shipping samples instead of performing higher-value maintenance and process improvement tasks.
Manual sampling near rolling mills and hot oil systems exposes maintenance technicians to significant H&S risks — risks that inline monitoring eliminates entirely.
FluidInspectIR® detects water in gear oil up to 30% concentration in real time and can trigger automated water removal systems — catching every water break-in event that lab sampling would miss entirely.
FluidInspectIR® matches laboratory accuracy (R²=0.99) for additive concentration measurement in rolling oil — delivering real-time data that enables timely top-up decisions and opens the path to full automation.
Continuous inline data feeds directly into automated additivation systems — eliminating the need for manual sampling and enabling closed-loop concentration control for consistent product quality.
Inline monitoring eliminates routine oil sampling from the technician's schedule — freeing skilled maintenance staff for higher-value inspection, improvement, and reliability work.
FluidInspectIR® output can trigger automated process interlocks on water or contamination detection — stopping the mill before product defects or equipment damage occur.
Monitor viscosity, TAN, water and oxidation in mill gearboxes and drive systems continuously — detecting degradation trends that would be invisible between quarterly lab samples.
Steel and aluminium customers typically deliver four or more of these pillars simultaneously — driving returns across fluid cost, equipment protection, quality, and safety.
Condition-based oil management in gear and rolling oil systems replaces conservative fixed-interval changes. Additive top-up is data-driven rather than schedule-driven — reducing additive consumption and waste.
Real-time water detection in steel rolling gear oil prevents the rapid lubricant degradation that leads to mill gearbox failure. Each avoided unplanned shutdown saves £100,000+ in lost production and repairs.
Tight oil condition control in gearboxes and drives reduces internal wear rates — extending component life, reducing rebuild frequency, and lowering capital replacement cost.
Maintaining correct rolling oil additive concentration in real time ensures consistent surface quality and reduces scrap rates — a direct bottom-line benefit in aluminium and steel production.
FluidInspectIR® inline data feeds automated additivation systems — enabling fully closed-loop rolling oil management without manual intervention and freeing technicians for higher-value work.
Manual oil sampling near hot rolling mills and gear oil systems carries significant H&S risk. Inline monitoring removes this exposure entirely — reducing incidents, PPE costs, and regulatory risk.
Detect water break-in events in steel rolling gear oil up to 30% concentration in real time — entirely impossible with standard lab sampling.
Lab-equivalent (R²=0.99) real-time additive monitoring in aluminium and steel rolling oil — enabling timely top-up and closed-loop automation.
Monitor viscosity in gear and rolling oil systems — detects contamination, thermal breakdown, and oil mixing in mill drives.
Rising TAN in gear and hydraulic oil indicates oxidative degradation — critical for long-life lubricants in heavy mill drives.
Tracks oxidation in gear oil over time — projects when OEM limits will be reached and enables condition-based oil change decisions.
4, 6 and 14 µm particle counts for hydraulic and gearbox circuits — detects wear debris and contamination ingress in mill drives.
Tracks emulsifier level in water-mix rolling fluids — each water break-in event is captured in the concentration chart, enabling rapid investigation.
MIR spectroscopy provides a complete chemical fingerprint of rolling and gear oil — equivalent to a full lab analysis report, delivered in real time.
Steel rolling — automated water detection: In steel rolling operations, FluidInspectIR® detected water ingress events in real time — capturing each event in the emulsifier concentration chart. Total saving over 9 months exceeded £100,000. Real-time water detection of this type is entirely impossible with standard lab analysis.
Aluminium cold rolling — additive monitoring: FluidInspectIR® matched laboratory accuracy and delivered additive concentration data in real time — enabling timely top-up decisions, freeing technician time, and opening the pathway to fully automated additivation in the future.