Extended Range of Portable FT-IR Spectrometers for On-site Lubrication Analysis

A2 Technologies (USA) announces important new enhancements to its
product line. Designed for on-site lubrication analysis of turbine
generators, diesel engines, compressors, gearboxes and hydraulic
systems in the power industry, the PAL systems are now able to accurately and precisely quantify the level of water in these oils in the range of 50 – 5000 ppm with accuracy of better than 5%. This advance now permits the PAL systems to be as analytically effective as the gold standard Karl Fischer titration for measuring water in
the aforementioned concentration range. The FTIR method is far less time
consuming, requires no hazardous or expensive reagents and can be
carried out on-site. The details of this procedure can be viewed online on their website in an application brief entitled “On-site, Low Level
Quantitative FTIR Analysis of Water in Oil Using a Novel Water Stabilization Technique (patent pending)”.
In addition to measuring the water level in lubricants, the PAL system
immediately yields the amount of oxidation and nitration by-products
present and the amount of antioxidation, anti-wear and extreme
pressure additives that remain in the lubricant. With this information,
lubrication specialists and equipment maintenance personnel can make
on-the-spot decisions about the condition of the all-important
lubricating fluid.
Also, the PAL Series Microlab software has new features including
the ability for users to overlay spectra for quick comparison of different oil samples and the ability to store the spectrum of unused oil as a reference for comparison to in-service oil as it ages. The Microlab software provides quantitative readouts for key lubricant
parameters, allowing personnel to make immediate decisions about
when oil needs replacing or refreshing.
FTIR has been an important technique for analyzing the condition
of lubricants, but in the past it was necessary to collect samples and
then transfer them to an off-site commercial testing laboratory for
analysis. Results might take days or even weeks to obtain while all the
time the critical machinery could be subjected to wear from continuing
lubricant breakdown. The revolutionary A2 Technologies` PAL on-site
FTIR systems remove the need to analyze samples off-site and
represent a significant advance for proactive maintenance of high
value equipment.