Advanced Lubrication Concepts

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• Requirements
• Requirements
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• Overview
• Overview
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• Body Of Knowledge
• Body Of Knowledge
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• Domain Of Knowledge
• Domain Of Knowledge
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• Requirements for Recertification
• Requirements for Recertification
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To become certified, an interested individual must meet the following requirements:

• Education and/or Experience - Candidates should exercise their judgment, along with input from instructors and/or employment supervisors, as they assess their proficiency and competence with respect to the ALC Body of Knowledge from an educational and experiential point of view. There are no specific requirements for on-the-job experience.

• Training:

• Candidates are required to have ten (10) hours of formal, documented training as outlined in the ALC Body of Knowledge.

OR

• Complete a General Lubrication Concepts (GLC) five (5) hour training class AND complete an additional five (5) hours of formal, documented training as outlined in the ALC Body of Knowledge. Online or recorded training, exercises, practice exams, and review exercises may be included in the training but shall not exceed one hour of the required course time. Candidate shall be able to provide a record of this training to ICML that shall include the candidate’s name, the name and signature of the instructor, the dates of the training, and the number of hours spent in the training.

ICML does not require, recommend, endorse or authorize any specific training course as official or approved. It is the responsibility of each candidate to research training options available in his/her area and make a decision relative to the training options of his/her choice. ICML recommends the outline of any course of study be compared to the ALC examination's Body of Knowledge. It is in the person's best interest and their responsibility as an ICML candidate to ensure they are training and learning in the same subject areas in which they will be tested. ICML's ALC Body of Knowledge is of the public domain and may be utilized by companies in the development of courses, as well as by any prospective candidate, for evaluating the appropriateness of chosen training.

• Examination - Each candidate must successfully pass a 70-question multiple-choice examination that evaluates the candidate's knowledge of the topic. Candidates have two (2) hours to complete the closed-book examination. A score of 70% is required to pass the examination and achieve certification.

Advanced Lubrication Concepts

This examination intends to validate the knowledge and understanding of team leaders and members who require deeper, more comprehensive expertise in machinery lubrication and oil sampling/analysis to most effectively serve in their operational and production-related support capacities. Business leaders and select individual contributors, without technical backgrounds, will benefit from a greater understanding of lubricants, machinery lubrication and lubricant sampling/analysis best practices to seamlessly oversee and contribute to machinery-centric production environments. ICML recognizes that lubricant knowledge training and certification opportunities have been historically limited for non-technical team members from C-suite executives and middle management to administrative support. The ALC examination certification provides additional, critical support in developing a deeper understanding of:

• Lubrication strategies: lubricant types, functions and failure considerations
• Lubricant types and properties, including viscosity and performance characteristic changes based on operating conditions, additives, etc.
• Establishing/refining lubrication intervals, automated lubrication systems
• Lubricant sampling and analysis program development and refinement to maximize data density
• Contamination identification, impacts, and testing/diagnostic techniques
• Inventory management as well as environmental, health and safety (EHS) considerations

These team members must demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of machinery lubrication and oil sampling/analysis. While individuals pursing the ALC certification may not have a technical training or experiential background – and may not routinely have direct contact with machinery or participate in sampling and testing processes - they do have a direct and significant influence over and often play critical roles in the maintenance and reliability of business-critical machinery assets.

The ALC Body of Knowledge is an outline of concepts that one should have in order to pass the certification examination. References from which exam questions were derived can be found in the Domain of Knowledge.

I. Lubrication Strategies (16%)

a. What lubricants do and how they do it

i. Lubrication condition types: Hydrodynamic, Elastohydrodynamic, Boundary, Mixed

1. Lubricant film conditions

2. Choosing task-specific lubricant

ii. Lubricant functions

1. Oil v. Grease

2. Maintaining cleanliness

b. Maintenance strategies

i. Cost/benefits of CBM, RTF, proactive, predictive, etc. approaches

c. Friction and wear

d. Failure analysis

II. Lubricants & Lubricant Selection (24%)

a. Lubricant properties

i. Types

1. Oil, Grease, Solid

2. Grades and applications

ii. Viscosity impacts and changes

b. Additives

i. Types and specific applications

ii. Additive depletion and replenishment

c. Lubricant Selection

i. Operating Conditions

1. Wear

2. Temperatures

3. Contamination

ii. Wear and friction considerations

d. Health, Safety & Environmental

III. Lubricant Applications (10%)

a. Tools and techniques for lubrication application

i. Limiting risks of contaminant ingression

b. Automated application systems

c. Conditions influencing lubrication intervals

IV. Lubricant Sampling/Analysis (24%)

a. Adjusting sampling frequency, establishing sample locations,

i. Programs, processes and tools

ii. Maximizing data density

b. Analysis

i. Submission details to support the laboratory analysis

ii. Contamination identification

V. Lubricant Condition Monitoring (20%)

a. Contamination

i. Contamination impacts to lubricants/lubrication

ii. Contaminant testing techniques

iii. Identifying contamination

VI. Lubricant Storage Best Practices (6%)

a. Lubricant handling systems, transfer processes and storage requirements

b. Lubricant management systems

i. Preventing cross-contamination

c. Inventory management, shelf life and stock rotations

d. Health, Safety and environmental considerations

i. Safety Data Sheets (SDS)

Domain of Knowledge

• Bannister, K. (2007) Lubrication for Industry, Industrial Press, Inc., New York, USA.
• Bloch, H., Bannister, K. (2017) Practical Lubrication for Industrial Facilities, - 3rd Edition. The Fairmont Press, Lilburn, Georgia, USA.
• Landsdown, A. (1996) Lubrication and Lubricant Selection. Mechanical Engineering Publication, Ltd., London, England, UK.
• Scott, R., Fitch J., & Leugner, L. (2012) The Practical Handbook of Machinery Lubrication, Noria Publishing, Tulsa, OK USA
• NLGI, (2017) Lubricating Grease Guide, 6th ed., The National Lubricating Grease Institute, Kansas City, MO USA
• Ludema, K. (1996) Friction, Wear, Lubrication: A Textbook in Tribology. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
• Pirro, D. M., & Wessol, A. A. (2016) Lubrication Fundamentals, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, USA
• The Lubrication Engineer's Manual, (2010) Association of Iron and Steel Engineers, Pittsburgh, PA USA
• Troyer, D., & J. Fitch (2010) Oil Analysis Basics. Noria Publishing, Tulsa, OK USA
• ASTM D4378, Standard Practice of In-Service Monitoring of Mineral Turbine Oils for Steam and Gas Turbines
• ASTM D6224, Standard Practice for In-Service Monitoring of Lubricating Oil for Auxiliary Power Plant Equipment
• Denis, J., J. Briant, & J. Hipeaux (2000) Lubricant Properties Analysis & Testing. Editions TECHNIP, Paris, France
• Toms, L.A., & Toms, A.M. (2008) Machinery Oil Analysis. Co-published by STLE, Park Ridge, Illinois, USA

ALC Certification is valid for three (3) years from the date of issue. Individuals certified in Advanced Lubrication Concepts (ALC) must recertify this credential every three years.

The purpose for recertification is to ensure that certified individuals keep their skills current and up to date.

Recertification must be achieved by a points system. To recertify by points, individuals must accumulate 15 recertification points over the three-year period and submit a completed application to ICML. Points may be claimed using the following criteria:

Category	Points	Maximum	Documentation
Conference Attendance	1 point per conference day	6 points	Proof of attendance (certificate, badge or letter from conference organizer in its letterhead) and copy of program
Employment	4 points per year	12 points	Letter from employer, on company letterhead, with title of signer shown
Publication or Presentation	2 points per work	6 points	Copy of publication, table of contents of the book, proceedings, magazine or journal in which it was published. Proof of conference presentation
Training	1 point per day	10 points	Proof of attendance (certificate, badge or letter from conference organizer on its letterhead) and copy of program

Criteria of Acceptability

• Conference Attendance - Topics related to oil analysis, lubrication or other topics important to effective equipment maintenance and management.

• Employment - Employment must be in a role supporting industrial lubrication and/or oil analysis.

• Publication/Presentation - Publications (articles, journals, magazines, books, proceeding, etc.) and presentations about a topic within the body of knowledge for oil analysis, lubrication or equipment maintenance or management. May be a co-author. Presentation may be related to a functional discipline support capacity related to maintenance and reliability tasks.

• Training - Topics related to oil analysis, lubrication or other topics important to effective equipment maintenance and management.

All points must be earned during the time the certification is in effect. Points earned before or after the certification period will not be accepted. Points may be applied to multiple ICML certifications held by the individual, assuming that the points are applicable and approved for each individual recertification.

If a candidate’s only source of recertification points is employment, the extra points required may be earned via participation in employment-related “best practices” activities, as per below criteria:

• Documented participation on cross-functional teams related to lubrication program development and execution. May include business development, marketing, sales and administrative tasks.
• Development support of lubricant-related work management systems, purchasing or the like.
• Lubricant program auditing task (supply chain, financial, etc.) support.

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