RATIONALIZATION OF LAB TESTS FOR MEASUREMENT OF INSOLUBLE CONTAMINANTS IN LUBE OIL

"The lube oil degradation can be the result of both physical and chemical actions"

- Hasanur Jamal Molla | Abdullah B. Samman | Saad H. Al-Dossary | Saad K. Omar | Ahmed F. Albutayshi

Lubricants essential and expensive of components machine systems and are 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. The determination of insoluble contaminants in lube oil is one of the parameters usually recommended for evaluating the condition of in-service lube oil. The present study provides a comparative evaluation of two different tests that measure insoluble contaminants in lube oil. The objective of this study is to compare existing tests and adopt the most effective test to be used for the measurement of insoluble contaminants in lube oil. The 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 efficiency 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. The condition of lubrication oil and its circulation system reflect the health status of the machinery and its components. Contamination in lube oil is the major cause of rotating equipment failures in industry. The impact of this contamination is exponential on equipment reliability over time.