Practicing Oil Analysis January 2003

Advancements in gas turbines have made them the technology-of-choice for new power generation projects for the past two decades. The advancements, however, place higher demands on turbine oils....

A fluid’s viscosity is one of its most important physical properties. Significant change in an oil’s viscosity is meaningful and should not be ignored. Therefore, it is a mistake to underestimate...

Quench oil serves two primary functions. It facilitates hardening of steel by controlling heat transfer during quenching, and it enhances wetting of steel during quenching to minimize the formation...

Contamination is without doubt the most common problem affecting the reliability of industrial machinery. A study conducted by the National Research Council of Canada found that on average, 82...

Survey participants: Joel Mountain, Laboratory Operations Manager, Analysts, Inc.; Les Boake, Sales Manager, and Paul Hetherington, Manager of Technical Training and Education, The Fluid Life...

Most used oil analysis labs offer a shopping list of tests from which the user is expected to select a test slate appropriate for his equipment. However, unless the correct oil analysis test slate...

It is almost certain that some amount of water is present in hydraulic and lubrication systems. Because of its destructive potential, hydraulic and lubrication systems are best operated with no...

The order in which oil analysis tests are run affects the quality of results. Achieving accurate measurement requires great care in sample handling at each step in the process, including...

I encountered an unusual situation during my career as a maintenance inspector for a large regional airline that flew mostly turboprops. Oil analysis on turbine-powered aircraft flying...