Sometimes it is hard to cost justify using sterile oil sample bottles especially when the ISO cleanliness targets are not very low. But to ensure that the lower cost bottles are as clean and particulate free as possible, we use canned air (computer/keyboard cleaner) to clean the bottles. A couple of blasts to the bottle and lid just takes a couple seconds and has proven to work very well, giving consistently clean bottles. (Jerry Baker, Lube Technician, Tate & Lyle)

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Book Bits: How Hard is Soot?

From "The Oil Analysis Handbook"

Soot is abrasive. Intuitively one might think of carbon black as being relatively 'soft', however soot particles, in any form, are harder than steel. Engine oils are formulated with additives that keep soot in suspension and stop it from agglomerating but, as with other additives, they are sacrificial. Once a certain level of soot loading is reached (typically around 3 percent by mass for most engine oils), the soot particles will no longer be able to be carried by the oil and sludgy deposits will form. Not only is soot abrasive but it also causes the viscosity of the oil to increase.

More information about "The Oil Analysis Handbook"

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Question: Name common causes of lubricant oxidation.

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"What is the industry "best practice" for removing water from the oil reservoir of a piece of equipment? For example, routine oil analysis reveals 3,000 ppm of water in a gearbox oil reservoir of 15 gallons."

Several technologies exist for removing water from oil, including vacuum dehydration, centrifugal separators, jet-dry devices, headspace dehumidification, aggregate adsorption media and hygroscopic polymer impregnated filter media.

The oil type, volume of water, size of the reservoir and several other factors dictate what technology should be employed for a given situation.

At ~0.30% water in a 15 gallon sump, you have approximately five to six ounces of water either dissolved and/or emulsified in the oil. Given the application, I would either use a portable vacuum dehydrator or a hygroscopic polymer impregnated media filter.

Filter the machine offline, preferably while it is operating (be sure that the plumbing in your decontamination rig is full of new oil - the type used in the gearbox). Before filtering, open the drain valve to get rid of any FW (undissolved and unseparated water that can settle to the bottom of the sump). If you have some FW in the bottom of sump, you will need to estimate the volume of FW and add it to the estimate of five to six ounces.

You can do this by estimating the volume in the sump below the lowest point of the drain port (L x W x H). If the drain port is at the lowest point in the reservoir, the volume will be zero. However, most gearbox drain valves are set slightly above the bottom. If you employ hygroscopic polymer media elements, you need enough water-holding capacity to get rid of the dissolved and emulsified water, plus the FW that will become suspended during decontamination.

You will probably be drawing from the drain port, so this will suspend the water, plus drying the oil will lead to FW being pulled into the dry oil via osmosis.

Of course, in addition to removing the water, perform root cause analysis to find its source. Breathers, seals and new oil are common culprits.

Drew Troyer, Noria Corporation

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