KEYWORDS

Contamination, Turbine Oils, Oxidation Products, Molecules, Membrane Filters

A STATE-OF-THE-ART COLORIMETRIC PATCH ANALYZER

In 2013, ASTM announced ASTM D7843 for analyzing oil contamination by color using commercially available colorimetric spectrometers, which use reflecting light only. Contaminants in turbine oils are mostly oil oxidation products of molecular sizes. When warm turbine oil is filtered through a membrane filter, the color of the membrane filter may be white. However, when the same oil is filtered after being cooled at room temperature for 3-4 days, the color of the membrane filter sometimes becomes brown. When we examine such an almost-white membrane filter with black light, we will notice brown color of oil oxidation products. This paper discusses a newly developed colorimetric patch analyzer to detect contaminants collected on the surface by reflecting light and those trapped inside a membrane filter by using transmitting light.

AUTHORS

Akira Sasaki, Maintek Consultant, Yokohama-Shi, Japan, Kenji Matsumoto, Honda R&D Co., Ltd., Utsunomiya, Japan and Tomomoi Honda, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan