A Method for Controlled Oxidation of Lube and Hydraulic Oils and Investigation of the Effects on Oil Parameters: OilDoc 2015 Conference, Germany

A controlled laboratory set-up for oxidation of oil has been applied in order to gain reference measurements for oil degradation by FTIR spectroscopy. The method is presented for accelerated oxidation of three different base oils. The technique controls the factors triggering oil oxidation by adding heat, a catalyst in the form of an overwound carbon and copper steel wire, oxygen and water to the oil under the degradation process. The reference measurements are correlated with absolute parameters (TAN and viscosity) used in oil quality assessment in order to obtain a reference frame for oil quality estimation. The effect of the oxidation and nitration is studied from the knowledge of the absorption bands as well as indirectly from additive (oxidation inhibiter) absorption bands. We show how to estimate oxidation as well as TAN and viscosity with PLS from an oil sample using FTIR as reference set.