Machinery Lubrication magazine published by Noria Corporation
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1475671
26 | July - August 2022 | www . machinerylubrication.com COVER STORY - LUBRICANT SELECTION Bennett Fitch | Noria Corporation Rationalization of Lab Tests for Measurement of Insoluble Contaminants in Lube Oil Lubricants are essential and expensive components of machine systems and need sampling, analysis and monitoring. Monitoring can be either performance testing or oil condition monitoring. Knowledge of the system's critical failure modes is essential for cost-effective oil and machinery monitoring. e deter- mination of insoluble contaminants in lube oil is one of the parameters usually recommended for evaluating the condition of in-service lube oil. e present study provides a compar- ative evaluation of two different tests that measure insoluble contaminants in lube oil. e objective of this study is to compare existing tests and adopt the most effective test to be used for the measurement of insoluble contam- inants in lube oil. e first test utilizes the gravimetric method through a filter (filter test) to measure the weight of insoluble contaminants, while the second test utilizes centrifugal forces at high speeds (ultra-centrifuge) for measurement. A total of 305 different lube oil samples were used in this study for both tests, where the results are critically analyzed and compared against each other. In addition, the tests are evaluated in terms of effi- ciency as well as safety. Introduction Lubrication oil is an important information source for early machine failure detection, just like the role of human blood sample testing in performing disease detection. e condition of lubrication oil and its circulation system ref lect the health status of the machinery and its components. Contamination in lube oil is the major cause of rotating equipment failures in industry. e impact of this contamination is exponential on equipment reliability over time. e lube oil degradation can be the result of both physical and chemical actions, internally generated or from extraneous contaminations. It should be remembered that lubri- cants are usually complex blends of chemical additives in a variety of base oils. Since these finished lubricants are often specifically designed for particular applications, exposure of lubricants to conditions and compo- nent materials for which they are not intended may accelerate lubricant deterioration and result in equipment damage. Contamination control is the paramount factor needed to ensure equipment reliability and preserve system integrity. erefore, it is critical to identify the presence of contaminants to eliminate poten- Hasanur Jamal Molla | Abdullah B. Samman | Saad H. Al-Dossary | Saad K. Omar | Ahmed F. Albutayshi OIL ANALYSIS "The lube oil degradation can be the result of both physical and chemical actions"