A rare earth magnetic filters range, specifically developed for the quench and lubricating oil industries, aims to extend the life of pumps and components and further extend the life of filter elements, says industrial equipment supplier ISO-Reliability Partners CEO Craig FitzGerald.

As a result, ISO-Reliability Partners’ range “essentially reduces the total cost of ownership as related to machine wear, useful oil life and our class-leading microfine filtration solutions”, FitzGerald explains.

The filter range achieves fluid cleanliness through incremental improvements to contaminant removal and exclusion from lubricating systems. Traditionally, micron-sized iron fillings or ferrous magnetic contaminants pass through a pump, after which they may or may not be caught in a filter, he elaborates.

With ISO rare earth magnetic filters placed on the suction side of a pump, any ferrous magnetic contaminants are pulled onto the magnetic separator prior to going through the pump, which immediately translates to longer pump and filter element life.

“ISO-Reliability’s oil cleanliness solutions are an essential inclusion in any modern-day lubricating system. Fluid cleanliness directly translates to production efficiencies and ISO-Reliability has [re-written] in-operation fluid cleanliness standards,” FitzGerald says.

From its origin in the beneficiation of iron-ore, the magnet has played a prominent role in the separation of ferrous solids from fluid streams. Magnetic separation and filtration technology has also found a niche in the control of contamination from in-service lubricants and hydraulic fluids.

In magnetic technology, rare earth magnets are permanent magnets composed of rare earth element alloys. A rare earth magnet has a much higher performance than ceramic and alnico magnets. Rare earth magnets typically have a remanence exceeding 1.2 Tesla and are the strongest among permanent magnets, FitzGerald explains.

He elaborates that ISO’s range of rare earth magnetic filters have achieved particle quantifier (PQ) values of zero. The PQ value is a physical count of magnetic contaminants present within a sample. Magnetic PQ contaminants are highly abrasive and lead to the rapid wear of pumps and lubricated components.

“After extensive research and development, it was established that the only effective way to achieve PQ levels of zero was [to use] neodymium magnets, combined with ISO micro-fine filtration. The magnet weighs only a few grams but has the ability to lift an object a thousand times its own weight,” explains FitzGerald.

In addition to its rare earth magnetic filters range, ISO-Reliability Partners is an original-equipment manufacturer of “class-leading micro-fine oil filtration solutions, vacuum dehydration systems, automated water removal for compressed air and high efficiency industrial air scrubbing”, he concludes.