As production sites migrate from Europe to Asia and other regions, different base oil groups vie for market share and niches for specialty oils become narrower. In addition, the presence of well-established global and local players makes competition in the industrial lubrication business intense.

Products all have to meet specifications set out by the American Petroleum Institute, Technical Association of the European Lubricants Industry, International Organization for Standardization and German Institute for Standardization, as well as original equipment manufacturers and ever-stricter environmental regulations.

However, as Franz Novotny-Farkas, a senior expert for lubricants and lubrication at the Austrian Tribology Society, told a recent industry conference, whatever the conditions of the market are, there is one factor that must remain certain – the quality of the products.

The use of oils in specific industry areas is accompanied by official OEM approvals, stricter environmental regulations and technical demands and, finally, highly competent oil condition monitoring during the process of use, he told the RPI Industrial Oils and Metalworking Fluids conference in Moscow in May.

Condition monitoring uses an extensive range of sophisticated and repeatable analytical tools to check the performance of machinery and lubricants, much like drawing a sample of blood can help diagnose the health of a patient. These tests look at a number of parameters, including oxidation, water content, wear debris and color characteristics.

The machine condition monitoring market, of which oil conditioning is a part, will grow to an estimated U.S. $3.5 billion by 2024 from $2.38 billion in 2018, according to a report by research company Markets and Markets in February this year.

Consistent testing faces a key challenge. We have the existence of a wide assortment of old and new commercial industrial oils with a diversity of chemical natures in their base oils and additive formulations, Novotny-Farkas said, adding that
the abundance of industrial oil suppliers and lack of contemporary standards and scientifically accepted methods for reliable assessment of the quality of industrial oils is the biggest problem.

Industrial lubricants and greases are critical to the reliability, uninterrupted operation and service life of often high-cost machinery. They are made from a host of mineral and synthetic base stocks and are applied in a diverse range of equipment, including gears, compressors, conveyor belts, turbines and hydraulic systems. Like lubricants found in a car, they contain a host of additives, such as detergents, antioxidants, antiwear, pour point depressants, viscosity index enhancers and anti-foaming agents. Also like auto lubricants, they undergo physical and chemical changes throughout their usable lifespans that, if ignored, can cause significant damage.

During their lifetime, industrial oils undergo processes of deterioration and in due time lose their operational properties. The degradation [is] directly related with the working processes of the parts and mechanisms of the machinery and the conditions of their operation, he said. For example, lubricants used in a bottling plant can degrade faster due to the presence of moisture, whereas in a turbine, extreme load can cause deterioration in different way. Each scenario poses specific challenges.

The inevitable deterioration of the lubricating oil occurs over time, but is accelerated by oxidation, water penetration and the presence of products of wear and other mechanical impurities from the machine itself.

Novotny-Farkas pointed out that oxidation of oils is the most serious problem. What happens during this process is a change of the oils viscosity and an increase of the oxidative number, which leads to aggressive corrosion of the oil. Also, we have deterioration of the [oils] de-emulsification, antifoam and irrigation abilities, he said, adding that in the final stage, the oil loses its operational capabilities and has to be changed.

Other defects that occur are the growth of the kinematic viscosity, worsening color and odor, the formation of sludge or varnish and disintegration of the oil and its lubricating abilities. At this stage, it is more than certain that oils have to be changed, Novotny-Farkas said.

In order to avoid the overall deterioration of oil and to extend its life, condition monitoring is the only way to achieve higher effectiveness of the oil. The monitoring of oil quality is part of an in-depth analysis of the working oil. It brings an assessment and the degree of utilization the oil is going through. It detects harmful pollution, its content and source, Novotny-Farkas said, adding that condition monitoring also assesses the machinery and its mechanisms and parts.

He underlined the old proverb that the best treatment is prophylaxis; in other words, prevention is better than cure. Condition monitoring is a systematic quality analysis to detect changes in the operational properties of oil in proper time with the use of a comparative analysis of the key quality indicators, he said.

Also, condition monitoring can forecast and help in the prevention of potential problems related with the use of industrial equipment, as well as with assessing the working condition of different types and methods of regular quality control.

The Austrian Tribology Association also confirmed that condition monitoring of industrial oils is one of the most important tools for achieving better economic results, reliable use of equipment and constant uninterrupted operation by avoiding downtimes.