Practicing Oil Analysis September 1998

Featured Article

Jim Fitch, Noria Corporation

I suppose we could refer to used oil, when put under the lens of a microscope, as a book waiting to be read. It is loaded with revealing bits of information that tells a pictorial story about the...

Alan Schnuir, Duhva Opencast Services

Duhva is an opencast mine operating in the Mpumala District of South Africa. Every year the mine is responsible for delivering 9.8 million tons of crushed coal to a 3600 megawatt power...

Soot is a natural enemy of diesel crankcase oil, resulting from incomplete combustion of the fuel during service. Its presence at high levels can threaten or impair the reliable operation of the...

Robert Brockway, Southern California Edison

Southern California Edison Big Creek is a large hydro-generating facility in the Sierra mountains of Southern California. About three years ago, it was apparent to management that the forces of...

Noria Corporation

Aggressively controlling particle contamination in lubricants and fluids is one of the best strategies for extending machine life. Use this calculator to get an idea of just how much longer...

Dr. Thomas G. Dietz, ExxonMobil; Eric Linxweiler, DSG

Because you understand the importance of lubrication to the overall success of your maintenance program, your plant has invested in oil analysis equipment and testing, high quality lubricants and...

Stephen Cuppett, Ameren UE

ASTM Committee D-2.C Turbine Oils has been recently working on a pair of standards that provide guidance on monitoring and analysis of lubricating oils. While these standards were written for power...

As a commercial oil analysis laboratory, Pittsburgh-based UEC dates back 35 years when its parent company U.S. Steel first began analyzing lubricating oils. For nearly as long, engineers from all...

Peter G. Ball, Machine Reliability Services Pty Ltd, Australia

Total Base Number (TBN) and Total Acid Number (TAN) were originally developed for quality control monitoring of new oils. However, their common use in the monitoring of used lubricants can...

Drew Troyer

Moisture, when it contaminates hydraulic and lubricating oils, has a degrading effect to both the lubricant and the machine. Some additives adsorb to the water and are removed when the water...