Oil Analysis

Oil analysis is a routine activity for analysing oil health, oil contamination and machine wear. The purpose of an oil analysis program is to verify that a lubricated machine is operating according to expectations. When an abnormal condition or parameter is identified through oil analysis, immediate actions can be taken to correct the root cause or to mitigate a developing failure.

Why Perform Oil Analysis

An obvious reason to perform oil analysis is to understand the condition of the oil, but it is also intended to help bring to light the condition of the machine from which the oil sample was taken. There are three main categories of oil analysis: fluid properties, contamination and wear debris.

Fluid Properties

This type of oil analysis focuses on identifying the oil’s current physical and chemical state as well as on defining its remaining useful life (RUL). It answers questions such as:

Does the sample match the specified oil identification?
Is it the correct oil to use?
Are the right additives active?
Have additives depleted?
Has the viscosity shifted from the expected viscosity? If so, why?
What is the oil’s RUL?

Contamination

By detecting the presence of destructive contaminants and narrowing down their probable sources (internal or external), oil analysis can help answer questions such as:

Is the oil clean?
What types of contaminants are in the oil?
Where are contaminants originating?
Are there signs of other types of lubricants?
Is there any sign of internal leakage?

Wear Debris

This form of oil analysis is about determining the presence and identification of particles produced as a result of mechanical wear, corrosion or other machine surface degradation. It answers questions relating to wear, including:

Is the machine degrading abnormally?
Is wear debris produced?
From which internal component is the wear likely originating?
What is the wear mode and cause?
How severe is the wear condition?

You need to know if any actions should be taken to keep the machine healthy and to extend the life of the oil. Oil analysis for machines can be compared to blood analysis for the human body. When a doctor pulls a blood sample, he puts it through a line-up of analysis machines, studies the results and reports his conclusions based on his education, research and detailed questions asked to the patient.

Likewise, with oil analysis, careful oil samples are taken, and elaborate machines yield the test results. Laboratory personnel interpret the data to the best of their ability, but without crucial details about the machine, a diagnosis or prognosis can be inaccurate. Some of these important details include:

The machine’s environmental conditions (extreme temperatures, high humidity, high vibration, etc.)
The originating component (steam turbine, pump, etc.), make, model and oil type currently in use
The permanent component ID and exact sample port location
Proper sampling procedures to confirm a consistently representative sample
Occurrences of oil changes or makeup oil added, as well as the quantity of makeup oil since the last oil change
Whether filter carts have been in use between oil samples
Total operating time on the sampled component since it was purchased or overhauled
Total runtime on the oil since the last change
Any other unusual or noteworthy activity involving the machine that could influence changes to the lubricant

Interpreting an oil analysis report can be overwhelming to the untrained eye. Oil analysis isn’t cheap, and neither is the equipment on which it reveals information. Every year, industrial plants pay millions of dollars for commercial laboratories to perform analysis on used and new oil samples. Unfortunately, a majority of the plant personnel who receive these lab reports do not understand the basics of how to interpret them.