Oil, Fuels, and Petrochemistry

Lubricants are crucial for reducing friction, protecting against wear and corrosion, and suspending soot in engines. However, they degrade over time through reactions with oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, which can negatively impact their performance.

Standards for analyzing lubricants ensure that measurements and results are consistent, reproducible, and meet regulatory requirements. This standardization is vital for accurately assessing lubricant performance.

Regular testing and diagnosis of in-service oils are necessary to:

• Prolong engine life.
• Avoid sudden and unforeseen engine damage.
• Ensure peak performance of mechanical parts.

Following norms, among others, are supported by using Bruker FT-IR equipment:

•  DIN 51452/51453 Condition monitoring of in-service lubricants
• ASTM E2412 Condition monitoring of in-service lubricants
• ASTM 7414 Monitoring lubricant oxidation
• ASTM 7624 Monitoring lubricant nitration
• ASTM 7415 Monitoring lubricant sulfation
  

Biodiesel is a more sustainable option with the potential to replace regular, fossil diesel. It's made up of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) created from vegetable oils using base-catalyzed transesterification. FAMEs are clear yellow liquids with a viscosity similar to diesel. On top of that, biodiesel has several benefits over regular diesel, including better lubrication, lower emissions, and higher biodegradability.

As low-quality blends might cause irreversible damage to engines and fuel injection pumps, FT-IR spectroscopy is used to monitor and maintain the quality of FAME and Biodiesel blends. For this analysis, international standards like ASTM D7371, ASTM D7806 and DIN EN 14078 give guidelines for accurate and compliant measurements using FT-IR spectrometers and ATR or Transmission measurements.

The discharge of oil and grease into the environment can have dramatic consequences. It causes ecological damage to aquatic organisms, plants and animals and is also mutagenic and carcinogenic to humans. 

To monitor water pollution, the ASTM approved method D7575 offers a convenient approach using infrared spectroscopy. The water samples are simply passed through a solid phase extractor and immediately analyzed for their oil and grease content. This analysis allows a direct assessment of the amount of oil contamination and its origin.

With this solution, Bruker is making an important contribution to environmental protection by closely monitoring the condition of freshwater sources, thus improving the quality of life of people in the catchment area of oil production projects.

Insulating oil is important for keeping high voltage transformers safe from high temperatures. Over time however, the oil starts to degrade due to thermal stress and oxidation. To slow down this degradation, antioxidants like DBPC and DBP to the oil.

These antioxidants don’t last forever either, so they need to be topped up now and then. The recommended amount of antioxidants in the oil should be between 0.3-0.4%. If the level drops below 0.15%, more should be added.

It's important to regularly check the levels of antioxidants in the oil and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) is a quick and effective way to measure how much DBPC and DBP are in the insulating oil. Bruker offers ready-made calibrations for the quantification of DBPC in transformer insulating oil according to ASTM D2668 and DIN EN 60666”