Moisture is an important factor determining the condition of lubricating oils. Water contamination reduces the performance of oil and increases the risk of corrosion, overheating, machine malfunction and other problems. Measuring and controlling the moisture in lubrication systems is essential to avoid costly failures. Careful monitoring of the moisture in oil helps to schedule service intervals and to prevent unscheduled downtime. The online detection is especially important in applications where the risk of water contamination is high, i.e., in power generation, pulp and paper, and marine applications.

A comprehensive maintenance program should include moisture detection as one of its key elements. Vaisala provides measurement solutions that indicate directly and online how moist the oil is, and thus helps to cut maintenance costs and avoid costly failures.

See the Vaisala News article "On-line Measurement of Oil Gives up-to-date information for Operators" for an example of shipboard moisture-in-oil monitoring.