Sampling Lubricants in Turbines

A new ASTM International guide will help people who take lubricant fluid samples from in-service gas and steam turbines – and related equipment – at power plants.

“In-service fluid samples can be taken in a variety of ways that are not always representative of the active lubricating fluid,” says ASTM International member Bernie Hall of Checkfluid Inc. “The new standard provides guidelines as to where and how to take best-practice samples that are both representative and repeatable in a turbine operation.”

The standard (D8112) was developed by ASTM International’s committee on petroleum products, liquid fuels, and lubricants (D02).

According to Hall, samples consistently collected from an “active zone” provide a strong basis for accurate reporting, trending, and decision-making related to the equipment and the lubricant and hydraulic fluid within the equipment.

The standard aims to help reliability managers improve the value of existing oil analysis programs by making it easier to safely collect representative, repeatable samples that can be accurately trended and acted upon as required.