Development of ISO Standards for Contamination Control Continues

The U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for contamination control (TC 131/SC 6) met in June to continue its ISO standardization work in fluid power filtration. More than 30 NFPA TAG and SAE filter test engineering experts attended the three-day meeting. Both NFPA and non-NFPA members, representing many fluid power-related companies, were in attendance. Participants ranged from media suppliers (such as H&V and Lydall) to filter manufacturers (such as Donaldson, Mann+Hummel, Kuss, Pall, Parker, and Cummins) and test system manufacturers to independent test labs in contamination control.

There are 33 published ISO standards and nine projects in various stages of development under the direct responsibility of the contamination control subcommittee. In the international arena, the U.S. TAG develops and advocates for the U.S. position in each of these standards. Here is a sample of the projects currently under development:

ISO 11171, Calibration of automatic particle counters for liquids.

Discussions continue between the international experts on the best possible path forward to publish an updated document, taking into consideration the new and future SRM2806d test fluids currently being developed by NIST. A technical report will also be published to explain the methodology behind the updates needed in ISO 11171.

ISO 4405, Determination of particle contamination level by gravimetric method.

Over the last several months, seven U.S. labs have been conducting an inter-laboratory test to validate and improve the gravimetric analysis. These results will be shared with their international counterparts to assist the working group in updating the technical aspects of the standard.

ISO 23369, Filter multi-pass test under cyclic flow conditions.

During the last ISO meeting, the experts discussed and felt that both fine and medium dust should be used in the testing procedures. It was also agreed upon that a wider filter rating was needed to accommodate the end users’ needs. A world-wide round robin will be initiated soon to update the standard. The U.S. is taking the lead in developing the protocol and reporting out the analysis results.