I was asked by a maintenance manager of a large oil and gas company , how can you help us with our Turbo Machinery Oil Maintenance and Filtration?

I was asked by a maintenance manager of a large oil and gas company , how can you help us with our Turbo Machinery Oil Maintenance and Filtration?

I replied to him using ICML website content ( ICML - International Council for Machinery Lubrication (icmlonline.com) ) and the results of VIM exam results ;-)

I told him my certification has been covering below body of knowledge:

The Varnish and Deposit Identification and Measurement is an outline of concepts that one should have in order to pass the exam.

References from which exam questions were derived can be found in the Body of Knowledge below:

I. Problems Associated with Varnish and Deposits (20%)

??A. Flow restriction, starvation and filter plugging

??B. Restricted movement, stiction and silt lock

??C. Increased friction and effect on efficiency

??D. Impaired heat transfer

??E. Bearing operation

??F. Need to flush

??G. Accelerated lubricant degradation

??H. Lubricant performance properties

II. Varnish and Deposit Composition (24%)

??A. Lubricant Breakdown Products

????1. Oxidation overview

a. Mechanism and breakdown products (discuss for base oils and additives)

b. Nitration

????2. Hydrolysis overview

a. Mechanism and breakdown products (discuss for base oils and additives)

????3. Thermolysis overview

a. Mechanism and breakdown products

??Adiabatic gas compression (including dieseling)

??Hot wall carbonization (coking and inorganic deposits)

??Electrostatic discharge (coking)

??Bulk thermal degradation

??Combustion from engines

??B. Contamination

????1. Coolants

????2. Process chemicals

????3. Combustion product/gas blow-by (soot etc.)

????4. Cross-contamination (incompatible lubricants, additive precipitation)

????5. Vapor phase inhibitor

????6. Leached metals

????7. NOX Ingression (compressor applications)

??C. Radiological contamination in nuclear plants

III. How Breakdown Products/Contaminants Become Deposits (24%)

??A. Solubility of breakdown products:

????1. Laws of solubility

????2. Polarity.

????3. Effect of temperature.

????4. Micelle (CMC)

????5. Agglomeration

????6. Soluble – insoluble equilibria, saturation and impurity-holding capacity (IHC).

IV. Oil Analysis Techniques that can be used to Gauge Breakdown and Propensity Towards Deposit Formation (32%)

??A. MPC Varnish Potential

????1. Test description

????2. Importance of sample preparation (omit light, heat 24 hours, incubate 72 hours)

????3. Case Studies

??B. Acid Number

????1. Detects oxidation products and hydrolysis products (esters)

????2. Varnish precursor and promoter of accelerated breakdown

????3. Decrease may indicate additive depletion (spent additives may lead to deposits)

??C. FTIR

????1. Detects oxidation products (varnish precursors)

????2. Soot

????3. Nitration

????4. Sulfation

????5. Oxidation

????6. Additive Depletion

??D. RULER

????1. Quick evaluation of remaining antioxidant package

??E. TOST/RPVOT

??F. ISO 4406

????1. soft particle detection

??G. Panel coker test

??H. Ultracentrifuge

??I. Blotter spot test

??J. Sample physical inspection

??K. Inspection methods

??L. OOT/OIT (oxidation )

At the end of I mentioned to him to study about EPT Clean Oil and their history ;-)

About EPT Clean Oil

It all began in 1992, when Peter Dufresne Sr discovered the step change benefit of using exchange purification technology on turbine lubricants – a result of his intimate familiarity and experience with lubricants and lubricant related failure. Successfully adopted fleet wide on 100 gas turbine compressor packages, Peter’s exchange purification began to garner further attention. When the request came from the US Department of Defense to demonstrate exchange purification on the US Navy’s carrier fleet in 1994, the possibilities for his innovation were placed on the map. This marked the beginnings of EPT Clean Oil and the launch of the?ICB? filter.