How Oil Degrades

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How Oil Degrades
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• When oil is used in a machine, the oil will
  degrade slowly during use over a period of time,
  depending on the type of lubricant, operating
  temperature, operating conditions and the
  physical environment.

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• Lubricant degradation has negative effects on
  system lubrication and for example, hydraulic
  system pressures these problems can result in
  serious consequences for the equipment
  performance and reduce reliability leading to
  breakdowns.

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• New lubricants are a formulation of base oil and
  chemical additives. Lubricant additives are
  present to counteract the majority of ill effects
  that contaminants cause.

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• Oil Refiners (Shell, Exxon-Mobil, etc.) produce
  base oils that can be categorised into groups
  which gives an indication of its oxidation
  characteristics. Where longer life is required,
  Group II, Group III and Group IV base oils are
  used by lubricant manufacturers.

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• The Group of oil used is determined by the
  Original Equipment Manufacturers recommendations
  to satisfy the OEM requirements for equipment
  service and warranty purposes.

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• Lubricant additives play a critical role in
  preventing lubricant degradation. The additives
  are essentially sacrificial in their role of
  protecting the base oil because the additives
  will degrade first while minimising any
  degradation to the base oil molecular properties.

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• After additive content is consumed by operational
  forces, the integrity of the hydrocarbon base oil
  becomes compromised because it is no longer
  protected by additives. At this point lubricant
  oxidation and the consequent tell-tale
  discolouration commences.

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• In short, the modern lubricant has been designed
  and formulated to meet the harsh operating
  environment of modern equipment. Contaminants can
  unbalance the lubricant and can result in less
  than optimum performance in its duty, increasing
  equipment damage which can ultimately lead to
  breakdowns.

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Types of lubricant additives include

• Antioxidants (anti-oxidation) Antiwear
  agents Viscosity index improvers
  Rust/corrosion inhibitors Demulsifiers
  Extreme pressure additives Antifoam agents
  Detergents/dispersants

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Additive depletion and oxidation

• Antioxidant additives are the key to extending
  your lubricants remaining useful life by
  significantly limiting lubricant degradation from
  occurring, but antioxidants are depleted in the
  process.

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• Being sacrificial, antioxidants deplete first
  before the base oil begins to oxidise and studies
  have shown that once 70 of the antioxidant
  additives in new oil have been depleted, physical
  changes within the lubricant begin to occur.

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• The resulting lubricant oxidation increases the
  lubricant viscosity, Total Acid Number (TAN) and
  the formation of sludge and varnish.

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• By monitoring the antioxidant content of
  lubricant, Biokem detects additive depletion in
  advance and prevents lubricant oxidation,
  thickening and acid and varnish formation.
• The additive depletion and oxidation reaction is
  accelerated by a number of factors, primarily
• High operating temperatures
• Moisture contamination
• Particle contamination

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High Operating temperatures

• High operating temperatures in the form of
  mechanical and thermal energy both produce heat
  which will accelerate lubricant degradation. Heat
  generated by operating equipment is unavoidable,
  but excessive heat will lead to increases in the
  consumption of antioxidant additives. The rate of
  lubricant oxidation doubles for every 10C rise
  in operating temperature above 100C.

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Moisture contamination

• Water contamination adversely affects the
  lubricants by acting as a catalyst for oxidation
  and causes rapid additive depletion. Water will
  react with many oil additives, fracturing the
  additive into two or more chemical fragments.
  Water also promotes rusting, corrosion and filter
  plugging. Common sources of water contamination
  are heat exchangers and seal leaks, condensation,
  inadequate reservoir covers and temperature drops
  that lead to dissolved water becoming free.

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Particulate contamination

• Particulate contamination occurs in many forms
  within in-service oil, causing abrasive wear,
  fatigue and erosion. Additional contamination is
  evident whenever dirt particles circulate through
  the system at high pressure and at high speed.

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• Airborne dirt particle contamination is a major
  contamination source. Light enough to float in
  air these particles can be introduced in exposed
  reservoirs as the oil level goes down. Oil
  reservoirs with levels that change frequently are
  most at risk to large amounts of dirt and
  airborne contamination. This is commonly how new
  oil delivered from oil companies becomes
  contaminated.

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• Particulate contaminated lubricant provides
  reduced lubricating properties and increases
  friction that results in heat generation.
• During oxidation, polymerisation causes sticky
  molecular structures, commonly referred to as
  sludge. Sludge is a resinous like substance
  that is darker in colour and leaves deposits
  throughout the entire lubrication system. Sludge
  is often why lubricant will darken during its
  time in use.

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• With sludge molecules being microscopic in size,
  the molecules are not removed by some traditional
  filter systems. Combined with their sticky
  molecular structure and corrosive effect,
  lubricant sludge will directly affect the
  reliability and efficiency of all systems it is
  found within.

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• Oxidation by-products cause more oxidation,
  starting a cycle where the more by-products are
  present, the faster oxidation accelerates.
  Quickly the level of oxidation will reach a point
  where the lubricant becomes destroyed by a change
  in its molecular structure and must be replaced
  with new oil.

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Preventing lubricant Oxidation

• Rapid lubricant degradation will occur when the
  additive quantity falls below critical level, at
  this point the rate of oxidation will increase
  due to the lubricant not having enough additives
  to counteract oxidation.

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• The PROPEL Oil Management process includes
  monitoring of active antioxidant additive to
  determine the level of lubricant remaining useful
  life ( RUL), moisture contamination and
  particulate cleanliness level.

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• By lubricant condition monitoring and renewal,
  additive levels do not deplete below critical
  levels, preventing lubricant degradation and
  waste. PROPEL Oil Management will renew lubricant
  to as good as new specification (or higher)
  before oxidation occurs, preventing costly
  lubricant replacement.

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• PROPEL Oil Management Professionally Renewed
  Oil Prolongs Equipment Life.

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• To know more information, visit us

http//www.biokem.com.au/