ERASPEC OIL Gains Automatic Reference Measurement

Lubrication is vital for machinery operation. Early detection of lube oil degradation is essential for timely replacement to avoid engine wear. It helps to avoid unnecessary maintenance while reducing the risk of breakdowns. ERASPEC OIL uses the economic infrared (IR) analysis test method to deliver specific information about the chemical condition of the lubricating oil.

For IR measurements always two measurements are needed: One for the reference and one for the actual sample. In many cases this reference measurement is performed without a sample cell in the beam path of the spectrometer against air.

For a fully integrated measurement system like ERASPEC OIL removing the measurement cell manually is no option. Therefore, in such system usually the background measurement is done using a solvent that fills up the measurement cell. The need of such a chemical means additional operating costs and can be a challenge in the supply chain for remote locations such as mines.

With our latest upgrade ERASPEC OIL does not need a solvent for the background measurement anymore. Instead we integrated a movable reference cell that is used for the background measurement. This offers the big advantage that the reference measurement can now be performed automatically whenever needed. The instrument decides by itself when a new reference measurement is needed and can be used directly whenever the operator needs it.

The parameters monitored include contaminants like soot, fuel, antifreeze agents and water. ERASPEC OIL also monitors degradation parameters like oxidation, sulfation and nitration of the lubricant. The depletion of antiwear and antioxidant additives is monitored as well and can calculate the percentage of remaining additives if the fresh oil is known to the analyser. Using databases in the background ERASPEC OIL can also calculate complex parameters such as TAN, TBN and viscosity from the measured spectrum.

Each parameter can be plotted directly on the large color touch screen against operating hours of an engine or driven kilometers of a vehicle. Visually tracking the change of a parameter often gives more insights than only looking at the pure numbers, helping the operator to take a decision on the quality of the lubricant in a timely manner.

The combination of our on-screen trending graphs and the automated reference measurement make ERASPEC OIL a straight forward instrument to be used by untrained personal. Additionally, alarm messages alert the user if one or more parameters are out of predefined limits within two minutes after the measurement is started.

Summing up oil condition monitoring got another notch easier and more feasible for remote locations with ERASPEC OIL. It allows to detect issues with the lubricant before wear sets in causing expensive machinery downtimes directly on site. No more waiting for measurement results to come back from centralised used oil labs.