[6A2] Varnish in oil: the true amount
R Cutler
Oil Analysis Laboratories, UK
Varnish (aka lacquer) is a significant problem in lubrication, brought about by lubricant manufacturers being driven by ever-increasing demands to improve lubricants’ longevity, forcing them to use ultimately pure base oils, which lack the ability of group one oils to dissolve oxidised oil and spent additive products. These sticky materials form a varnish-like deposit on moving component surfaces, leading to expensive downtime and machine failures.
Lubricant varnish potential (the likelihood to form these deposits) has proved to be one of the most difficult parameters to measure in used oils. Official methods exist, but to date, none can measure the true amount of varnish present in used oils. More importantly, none can detect soluble varnish; they can only estimate the amount of insoluble varnish. Hence, they cannot truly measure the total amount of varnish present.
This PowerPoint presentation will explain this problem and show how a new technique not only measures varnish accurately in terms of the mass of varnish present but can also measure soluble and insoluble varnish independently and known collectively as Lubewear SAIL (Soluble And Insoluble Lacquer).
Lubricant varnish potential (the likelihood to form these deposits) has proved to be one of the most difficult parameters to measure in used oils. Official methods exist, but to date, none can measure the true amount of varnish present in used oils. More importantly, none can detect soluble varnish; they can only estimate the amount of insoluble varnish. Hence, they cannot truly measure the total amount of varnish present.
This PowerPoint presentation will explain this problem and show how a new technique not only measures varnish accurately in terms of the mass of varnish present but can also measure soluble and insoluble varnish independently and known collectively as Lubewear SAIL (Soluble And Insoluble Lacquer).
