Lubricant analysis is a key component of condition monitoring programs. It involves analyzing lubricant samples to monitor both lubricant condition and the condition of equipment. Key tests include particle counting to detect wear debris, spectroscopy to identify contaminants and wear metals, and ferrography to determine wear particle sizes, shapes, and causes of wear. Together, these tests provide early detection of equipment issues before failure occurs.

1. Oil Analysis Fundamentals
Lubricant Condition Monitoring
Wear
Particles
Lubricant
Contamination
Lubricant
Degradation

2. Functions of a Lubricant
Friction control --- Separates moving surfaces
Wear control --- Reduces abrasive wear
Corrosion control --- Protects surfaces from corrosive
substance
Temp control --- Absorbs and transfer heat
Contamination control --- Transport particles and other
contaminants to filters/separators
Power transmission --- In hydraulics, transmits force and
motion

3. 3
What is a lubricant?
• Selection of Base Stock is
crucial for lubricant
performance
• Mineral Oil
• Synthetic blend oils
• Synthetic Oils
• Additives enhance or suppress base
stock properties

4. 4
Function of Basestocks
• Provides viscosity for Control of Friction
and Wear
• Heat Transfer
• Additive Carrier
• Corrosion/Oxidation Resistance

5. 5
Function of Additives
• Enhance Base Stock Properties
• Adds new properties
• Reduces undesirable Base stock
properties

6. 6
Types of Additives
Viscosity Improvers
Pour Point Depressants
Defoamants
Anti Oxidants
Corrosion Inhibitors
Mild Friction Modifiers
Extreme Pressure Packs
Detergents And Dispersants
Stabilizers

7. Vibration and lubricant analysis are two key
components of any successful condition-
monitoring program
These are predictive and proactive tools to
identify active machine wear and diagnose faults
occurring inside machinery
Introduction to Lubricant Monitoring

8. Both vibration analysis, lubricant analysis provide
direct and early information on wear modes and the
machine’s condition
Lubricant Analysis is a leading indicator of active
machine wear
Lubricant analysis has certain advantages in
monitoring low-speed machinery (less than 5 rpm),.
Advantages of Lubricant Monitoring

9. The lubricating oil circulating round within an
operating engine or machine is similar to the blood
circulating within the living human body.
Just as samples of the blood can be extracted and
examined in a quest to identify the health state of
the blood owner, samples of lubricating oil
circulating round within a machine can also be
indicative of the health of the machine.
Lubricant Analysis as Blood Examine

10. Lubricant Analysis can be used for following
two purposes:
1) Monitoring the condition of a Lubricant
2) Monitoring the condition of an Equipment
Purpose of Lubricant Analysis

11. Used Lubricant analysis is both proactive and
predictive.
Following are the aims of Condition Monitoring of
Lubricants
1) Determine Lubricant Condition / Quality
2) Identify and quantify contaminants
3) Optimize lubrication change interval
4) Verify equipment abnormal condition
5) Enhance scheduling of repairs
6) Enhance trouble-shooting
7) Monitor / Verify maintenance activities
8) Develop complete profile history
9) Assistant in the equipment performance and
replacement evaluation
1) Condition Monitoring of Lubricants
1)ConditionMonitoringofLubricants

12. A combination of spot testing and laboratory testing
is recommended.
A) Spot testing:
• Visual test
• Odour test
• Viscosity comparison
• Blotting test
• Crackle test
Lubricant Test
1)ConditionMonitoringofLubricants

13. A) Visual Test
Appearan
ce when
taken
Appearance
after 1 hr.
Reason Action to be taken
Clear Clear None None
Opaque Clear Foaming Cause of foaming to be sought
Clear with
water layer
Unstable
emulsion
Check centrifuge function
Opaque Stable emulsion Check centrifuge function,
Send for Lab test
Dirty Solids
separated
Contamination Check filter or Centrifuge,
Send for Lab test
Black (with
smell)
No change Oil oxidized Send for Lab test
1)ConditionMonitoringofLubricants

14. 1. Both foams (mixture of air and oil) and emulsions
(mixture of water and oil) render the oil opaque
2. Foaming is generally mechanical in origin, being
caused by excessive shaking, impingement of high-
pressure return oil.
3. If no mechanical reason can be found for excessive
foam generation, it is necessary to change the oil.
4. Not only water is liable to cause lubrication failure, but
it will also cause rusting; the presence of finely divided
rust tends to stabilize emulsions.
5. In a dark oil, solids can be seen by inverting the bottle
and examining the bottom.
Visual Test
1)ConditionMonitoringofLubricants

15. Odour Test – Oxidized or biodegraded oil has bad
smell
Viscosity comparator – Compares the viscosity
with new oil
Blotting test –To check the Water and Dirt
presence
Crackle test –To check the Water presence
There are a number of ways to measure the presence of
water in oil, but most of them are complicated,
expensive or difficult to use in the field. An easy way to
detect the presence of free and emulsified water, the
most dangerous forms of water in oil, is with the hot-
plate crackle test.
Other Spot Tests
1)ConditionMonitoringofLubricants

16. Depending on the lubricant, relatively few small
bubbles indicate approximately 500 to 1,000
ppm (0.05 to 0.1 percent) water.
Significantly more bubbles of a larger size may
indicate around 1,000 to 2,000 ppm water,
An audible crackling sound indicates moisture
levels in excess of 2,000 ppm.
The Crackle Test is sensitive only to free and emulsified water.
Crackle Test
1)ConditionMonitoringofLubricants

17. B) Laboratory Testing of Physical properties of Oil
Test Type of oil Action level
Kinematic VISCOSITY at
400C
Lub Oil 15% increase from new
oil value
Kinematic VISCOSITY at
1000C
Automotive
Grade
15% increase from new
oil value
Water by distillation %
volume
All 200 ppm
Flash Point Auto / Hyd 1800C min
TAN (Total Acid Number) All 1 + TAN of new oil
TBN (Total Base Number) Automotive 4.0 Minimum
Sediment (% wt) All 0.01 Maximum
1)ConditionMonitoringofLubricants

18. 1. Change oil if viscosity has increased by 15% as a result of
degradation. Where increase or decrease is caused by
contamination with miscible liquid or topping up with wrong
grade of oil, much greater changes can be tolerated and
limits have to be chosen to suit particular cases
2. Acidity develops as a result of oxidation; the oxidation
reaction is auto-catalytic so that once it has started it
proceeds at an increasing rate. The acids formed are not
corrosive to material of construction, but measurement of
acidity gives a useful guide to the condition of the oil
Laboratory Testing
1)ConditionMonitoringofLubricants

19. This involves monitoring the wear particles &
contaminants in the lubricant and determining
their concentration, thereby monitoring the
condition of the equipment.
There are three techniques which are widely used.
A. Particle Counting
B. Spectroscopy
C. Ferrography
2) Monitoring the condition of an Equipment
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment

20. Particle Counting determines the number
of wear particles and contaminants in
different size categories.
Standard Counts Sizes (micron)
ISO 4406 Cumulative 2, 5, 15
NAS 1638 Differential 5, 15, 25, 50, 100
A) Particle Counting
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment

21. The ISO code used two sizes of greater than 5
micron and greater than 15 micron because it
was felt that
1. The concentration at the smaller sizes (5 micron)
would give an accurate assessment of the
SILTING condition of the fluid. These particles
reduce the service life of the components and
the systems.
2. While the population of the particles (15 micron)
would reflect the presence of WEAR catalysts.
These particles have direct effect on the
functionality of the system. It may result even
into a break down.
Particle Counting: ISO 4406
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment

22. Monitoring of 22 elements associated with metal wear,
lubricant contamination and additive depletion can be
done.
Wear metals include: iron, copper lead, tin, chromium,
aluminum, silver, nickel, magnesium and vanadium.
Lubricant contaminants include: silicon, boron,
aluminum, sodium lead, potassium.
Additive depletion includes: phosphorous, zinc,
calcium, barium, boron, sodium, molybdenum,
magnesium and silicon.
Spectro analysis testing is an effective method for
monitoring small particles.
Severe wear particles larger than 10 microns cannot be detected
accurately.
B) Spectroscopy: Spectro Analysis
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment

23. ELEMENTS TYPICAL SOURCES
Iron (Fe) Cylinders, Crankshaft, water
Aluminium (Al) Dirt, Pistons
Silicon( Si) Defoamants, Air
Lead (Pb) Bearings, Grease, Paint
Phosphorous (P) Additives, Coolants, Gears
Copper (Cu) Bearing, bushing, Bronze
Sodium (Na) Coolant, Additive, Dirt
Vanadium (V) Catalysts, Fuel oils, Valves
Nickel (Ni) Shafts, Gears, Rings
Spectro Analysis
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment

24. Ferrography: not only determines the concentration
of wear particles and contaminants ranging in size
from 1 to 250 microns, providing an early indication
of abnormal wear,
It also analyzes the wear particles to determine the
wearing component, the cause and severity of
wear.
Ferrography has two components:
1) Direct-Reading Ferrography
2) Analytical Ferrography
c) Ferrography
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment

25. The Direct Reading Ferrography obtains two-(2) sets of readings:
Direct Large (DL) >5um
 Direct Small (DS) ≤5um particles
1) Direct Reading Ferrography
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment
Direct Reading Ferrography measures large and small ferrous particles
(courtesy Analyst, Inc.)

26. When the ratio of DL to DS increases, it is
an indication of a greater generation of
large particles, which is a precursor to
potential catastrophic wear.
A ratio of DL to DS in excess of 5:1 calls
for further investigation with analytical
ferrography.
Direct Reading Ferrography is also an excellent tool
for trending ferrous wear particles.
Direct Reading Ferrography
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment

27. Progression of Wear Condition
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment
The goal of every predictive maintenance tool is to provide an early-warning
system before equipment faulure

28. Direct Reading Ferrography
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment

29. The developed ferrogram is monitored under Ferroscope
which is a bichromatic microscope, indicates the size and
shape of the particles.
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment
Developed Ferrogram

30. WPC also indicated the severity of wear.
Different types of wear particles generated by specific kind of
wear have distinctive shapes and characteristics, which reveals
the cause of wear.
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment
Wear Particle Concentration (WPC) and Shape
There are four Criteria for Evaluation
• Size
• Shape
• Composition
• Concentration
The size of the wear particle indicates the severity of wear.

31. 2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment
Wear Particle Shapes

32. 2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment
Wear Particle Shapes

33. Particle Types with their Sources
2)MonitoringtheconditionofanEquipment

34. Properties Guidelines for rejection
K.Viscosity change @ 100oC ( ASTM- D
445)
+1 SAE Viscosity grade or 4 cSt
from the new oil
Total base Number(TBN) (ASTM D-664) 2.5 min or ½ of new oil
Water Content (ASTM D-95) 0.2% max
Fuel dilution nil
Potential Contaminants
Silicone ( Si) 15 ppm increase over new oil
Sodium (Na) 20 ppm increase over new oil
Boron (B) 25 ppm increase over new oil
Potassium (K) 20 ppm increase over new oil
Soot 1.5 % mass of used oil , Max.
Used Oil Analysis for Engine Oil

35. Guidelines on sample collection are as follow.
•Collect sample during normal operating condition
•Preferable to collect sample while equipment is in
operation
•If not possible, collect sample within 15 minutes of
the equipment being put out of operation
•Preferable to collect sample before in-line filters
•If collecting from tank, collect sample from the middle
and not from the bottom
Guidelines on Sample collection: