Drop of knowledge #6

Ecol laboratory – what happened in June?

1. 1. Effect of water on oil degradation 🡪
2. 2. Ecol diagnostic report – what is worth knowing? 🡪
3. 3. Upcoming conferences we are participating in 🡪
4. 4. Element of the month 🡪

1. Effect of water on oil degradation

Water in petroleum products – hazards

Water in petroleum products is regarded as a particularly harmful contaminant. Its effect of corroding metals or significantly impairing lubricating properties is highly undesirable. It should be remembered that water can accelerate the degradation of the oil base, also deactivating additives. Water present in electrical insulating oils adversely affects their puncture resistance.

Although petroleum products are considered immiscible with water, in practice it is impossible for a working oil to be completely water-free. Oil systems are never perfectly watertight, even though they may appear to be so. An important source of oil unreliability is the absorption of water vapour from the air. Water vapour tends to condense on the metal surfaces of machine components when they are subjected to varying temperatures, and this is also how it gets into the oils. The presence of water in oil from the cooling system or precipitation is of concern.

The safe water content of oils in properly functioning equipment, depending on the type of application and operating conditions, can range from a few to several hundred ppm for hydrocarbon-based oils (mineral or synthetic poly-alphaolefin-based) or even several thousand ppm for oils based on polyalkylene glycols.
 

Forms of water in oil

• Dissolved water – its content is below the saturation point, the oil remains clear and retains its properties. It is not considered a risk to equipment.
• Emulsified water – a turbidity of the oil is observed, which can range from a slight haze through a milky appearance to the formation of a mayonnaise-like substance. Due to the limited stability of the emulsion over time, particularly during standstill when the mixing effect of the equipment ceases, phase separation can be observed.
• Free water – tends to settle at the bottom of tanks, forming sludge and also accumulating inside spigots and other inaccessible areas of the oil system.

2. Ecol diagnostic report – what is worth knowing?

A new article on interesting elements of diagnostic report components has appeared in the knowledge base on ecol.eu. The article can be found at the link:

➡️ Ecol diagnostic report – what is worth knowing?

We also encourage you to check out the other entries in our knowledge base.

4. Element of the month

Sodium (Na, Latin Natrium) is a very common metal in nature. It accounts for more than 2% of the mass of the Earth’s crust, but is not found in the elemental state due to its high chemical reactivity.

In lubricant technology, sodium compounds are sometimes used as thickeners for plastic lubricants or corrosion inhibitors.

An increase in the sodium content of oils in service is a worrying phenomenon – a syndrome of contamination by coolant, salt water or mineral dust from outside.