PEFTEC Conference & Exhibition – 2022 Posters

See below for our list of PEFTEC 2022 posters!

June 8-9, 2022

 

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Solid Lubrication in Machine Components for Dry Running Systems

Tribology is the study of the interaction between contact surfaces, which include properties like friction, lubrication, and wear. The reliability of industrial machinery and automobiles is affected by the force of friction on the mechanical parts. The force of friction leads to wear and an increase in the temperature of the machine which not only affects the efficiency but also affects the consumption of power of the machinery. To prevent this, a lubricant is usually applied to the surface. Traditional lubricants are mixtures of hydrocarbons derived from crude oil and various additives. It is then applied between two contact surfaces to alter the tribological properties, such as anti-wear and friction. An ideal lubricant has a low coefficient of friction, improves wear resistance, and works well under extreme pressure. Prominent solid lubricants include molybdenum disulfide and graphite. Research efforts understanding the solid lubrication mechanism offers further insights towards improving lubricant applicability range and effectivity in specialized or extreme industrial environments.
 

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Latest Advances in Lubricant and Grease Instrumentation for Oxidation Testing

Oxidation of oil occurs when there is a presence of oxygen air and heat. Atmospheric oxygen reacts with hydrocarbons which then form carboxylic acids. Over time, the concentration may rise and ultimately lead to corrosion of the machine to which the lubricant is applied. Thus, the lubricant would be doing more harm than good. antioxidant additives are included in formulations to protect the lubricants. Furthermore, the oil must be kept clean, dry, and as cool as possible in order to manage oxidation rates. To test this resistance of lubricating greases to oxidation, the testing method ASTM D942 is often utilized. A test using this method cannot predict whether grease will remain stable under dynamic service conditions, whether grease will remain stable when stored in containers for long periods, or whether films of grease will remain stable on bearings and motor parts. It should not be used to estimate grease types relative oxidation resistance. This poster will discuss the developments in oxidation testing of greases and how these newly developed methods have been utilized in a recent study.
 

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Importance of Measuring Water Content in Greases

Between frequently moving parts in machinery, lubrication is required to protect the part and increase efficiency. Parts such as bearings are lubricated with grease, including additives and thickeners, and water content contamination can cause oxidation in the grease and wear in the part. As some examples, water contamination in grease can sink up to 25 of the cost of wind energy production, and as little as 1 contamination can reduce the lifetime of a journey bearing by 90. With higher water content, the oxidation and production of acidic compounds will heavily contribute to the destruction of the parts, incurring significant replacement and maintenance costs. Along with rust, corrosion, and erosion, water contamination can increase vaporous cavitation bubbles in grease and hydrogen embrittlement pressure cracks in metal. For the improvement of lifetime and efficiency of machines and parts, it is imperative to perform testing on the greases resistance to direct streams of water, and resistance to water contamination within parts. Existing methods such as capacitance testing are simple but dont work well for many greases due to their low flow rates. In the poster, we will discuss two instruments used for testing grease resistance to water within and without parts, and the importance of this kind of testing in a controlled, repeatable environment, in a timely and convenient manner.
 

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Recent Advances in Tribology Testing for Lubricants and Greases

Tribology was originally focused on the design and effective lubrication of machine components in different industries. Since the start of tribology, this industry has grown exponentially. The focus of the industry has shifted from reliability to energy consumption and efficiency allowing room for creativity for the creation of more complex lubricants for complex problems, without failure in reliability. There are currently five parameters that are used to correctly identify which lubricants and greases are to be used for a component. These include, the type of motion, speed, temperature, load, and the operating environment. Due to the differences in each parameter a different lubricantgrease needs to be used for the component to work correctly. Without lubricants and greases, the friction of two moving surfaces in contact would cause many issues, such as loss of efficiency or equipment damage. With the right lubricants and greases, reductions in friction, wear, and corrosion can be made, along with increases in efficiency and productivity. Koehler Instrument Company has a strong focus in this industry through the development of instrumentation, such as the Benchtop Four Ball Wear and EP Tester, which are designed to conduct tests to determine and identify the correct data of the five parameters that are essential for selection and production of lubricants and greases.
 

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Evaluation of the Flow Properties of Greases at Extreme Low Temperatures

In the oil industry, some of the oil fields are found far up north where temperatures can reach as low as -30C and lower. When working with metal machinery it is important to have them constantly lubricated to prevent any damage to the components. Certain greases do not perform properly in low temperatures, especially at extreme negative temperatures. Greases are made from a base oil and that base oil determines how the grease performs under certain conditions as well as its operating temperature. Certain greases that use certain base oils to help them gain the ability to perform well at low temperatures, such as esters and perfluorinated polyether PFPEs, while other base materials are better suited for higher temperatures, such as mineral oil. Either way, it is important to test out how well the grease performs in low temperature settings and gain other valuable information about how the grease performs prior to being applied in the field and used in machinery. The K95300 Low Temperature Grease Flow Tester is designed to test greases and evaluate how greases perform in low temperature conditions. The Kesternich method DIN-51805 is applied in accordance with the instrument to test out how greases perform up to -50C, along with evaluating other properties of the grease at low temperatures. The following poster will go in more depth about the Kesternich method and the specifications, capabilities, and applications of K95300 Low Temperature Grease Flow Tester.
 

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Lab Test Methods for Lubes & Greases Used in EVs

Due to the rise of global warming awareness and greenhouse gases in the world, many people are looking for ways to reduce their carbon emissions to better the environment around them. One of the ways people have sought to resolve this issue is through the use of electric vehicles EVs instead of the conventional gasoline-powered vehicles. With the increase in demand for EVs, different types of materials are needed in order to produce such vehicles while maintaining their efficiency. Lubricants and greases serve this purpose by reducing friction, providing cooling to the electric motor and battery pack, and extending the lifetime of the EV. As mentioned before, there are special types of lubricants and greases that are needed in EVs that would not be used in a normal vehicle. Many properties must be examined using different lab test methods in order for it to be efficient within an EV motor. For this reason, many different test methods must be developed to determine if the lubricant is suitable for an EV. These test methods must also be in accordance with the American Society of Testing and Materials ASTM specifications. In this poster, we will explore the different lab test methods that will examine the different properties in lubricants and greases to find if they are suitable for EVs.
 

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Latest Technologies in Laboratory Corrosion Testing for Lubricants and Greases

Corrosion is a large problem which can cause severe and costly consequences that not only applies to the manufacturing industry, but also in industries that require large amounts of metal equipment to function, such as in petroleum and petrochemical processing. Lubricants, such as greases, however, can help prevent corrosion of the machine or instrument as well as ensuring the reliability of them. With these machines under constant exposure to corrosion through oxygen, hydrogen, and water, lubricants are a necessary expenditure to ensure the continuous function of the instruments. To predict how a lubricant grease functions while submerged though, in water or any electrolytic substance, is more difficult, as one must determine the greases water solubility, non-reactivity with water, prevention to corrosiveness, and other factors that may affect the grease in damaging conditions. With the use of the latest technology, specifically the K9445X corrosion tester, it is made possible to test the ability of these lubricants to protect against corrosion while surrounded by damaging environments. This poster will detail the instruments ability to standardize the method of testing the lubricant greases to ensure its performance to protect industrial components. 
 

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Effects of Air Contamination on Machinery and Lubricants

Air found in fluids has negative effects on lubrication, hydraulic systems, and reservoirs. The effect of air in lubricating oil depends on the quantity of air, its distribution, and its orientation. Lubricants and hydraulic fluids are often developed with a major focus on viscosity, oxidation resistance, and air involvement and discharge. Air can exist in lubricants in dissolved, entrained, and foam forms. These three types of air contamination have significant impacts on both the physical and chemical properties of the lubricant and system. The most common condition that causes excessive air contamination is water contamination. Other causes include too little or too much antifoam additives, suction leaks, poor reservoir design, or using the wrong viscosity. Air bubbles can decrease the fluids pressure transmission because air is more compressible than the surrounding fluid, which leads to poor component response and causes cavitation. Additionally, the temperature reduction and oxidation of the lubricant would result in oil degradation. In this poster, we will discuss the measurement of air quantities in oil and the determination of the ability of an oil to separate entrained air via ASTM D3427.
 

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Importance of Lubricant Performance Under Extreme Low Temperatures

The formulation of a lubricant ultimately determines how said lubricant will respond to low temperatures. Lubricant greases consist of a base oil blended with a combination of thickeners and other performance additives. Lower viscosity base oils tend to yield greases with enhanced cold-flow properties, while thickening agents boost low-temperature grease cohesion. As marine activity grows in the extreme cold climates of the arctic and sub-arctic regions, it is of utmost importance that a lubricant maintains performance in those temperatures. Failure to do so will result in cold-induced stiffening in the lubricant, resulting in under-lubricated components from the greases failure to circulate throughout the system as it enters an almost solid state. This would result in catastrophic damage to components of the machine, meaning hefty repair costs to return to an operable state. The US Steel Grease Mobility Method and the Lincoln Ventmeter Test are used for the development of greases for low-temperature applications, but are limited by the lack of standardization. The Kesternich Method DIN 51805 has been used to precisely evaluate the low-temperature properties of lubricant greases, while requiring smaller samples of the greases comparatively to other cold-flow measurement techniques. In this poster, we discuss the importance of low-temperature performance in lubricants and the use of a newly developed instrument to evaluate and compare the low-temperature properties of a wide range of lubricant greases following the Kesternich Method.
 

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Significance of Grease Water Resistance in the Determination of Lubrication for Industrial Machinery

Grease is a ubiquitous form of lubrication with a variety of uses for machinery. Many components that utilize grease operate in environments where water is present, and failure to lubricate a single component of a machine will often result in the breakdown of the entire machine. Thus, it is vital to evaluate resistance to water when considering the use of a grease for lubrication, as water contamination leads to degradation of grease performance and lifespan. Additionally, the discernment of water resistance characteristics upon addition of polymer or nanoparticle additives, for example, can be helpful in identifying optimal additives in order to enhance the functionality of the greases in terms of lubrication as well as anti-wear and extreme pressure properties. One of the primary testing methods for water resistance characteristics is the water washout method, standardized as ASTM-D1264. This method involves weighing a sample of grease, packing the sample into a bearing, and subjecting it to a steady washout with water. Consequently, the sample of grease is weighed again, and the loss of mass is calculated as a characteristic of water resistance. The K19201 Water Washout Tester manufactured by Koehler Instrument Company, Inc. is a device that conforms to ASTM standards D1264 and D4950, among others. The device utilizes the water washout method to determine characteristics of water resistance for a specific grease.
 

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Comprehensive Study of Capillary Viscosity & Recent Improvement in ASTM D445 Techniques for Petroleum & Petrochemical Products

Viscosity is a measurement of a fluids internal friction or put more simply how little or how much a fluid is able to flow. This concept, while seemingly simple, is a very complex and important idea to consider in many fields, especially when making petroleum products. The viscosity of a fluid greatly affects its physical properties and so determining the viscosity of a fluid would help in determining its physical properties. This is especially important when it comes to petroleum products as they are used in many different fields and play a huge role in our daily lives. Determining the viscosity of a fluid would allow researchers to figure out how useful a fluid actually is and whether or not they can improve it. This poster will talk about how the viscosity of fluids is determined, why the viscosity of a fluid is important, and how it affects petroleum products. The latest changes and improvements in ASTM D445 techniques for measuring and evaluating the kinematic viscosity of transparent and opaque liquids will be highlighted as well.
 

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Development of a Bench Scale Performance Test Method for Lubricating Oils to Evaluate the Wear and Extreme Pressure Properties of Lubes & Greases

In order to advance the industrial applications of lubricating oils, three parameters can be used to evaluate the friction and wear properties of lubricants. The coefficient of friction COF is a quantitative measurement of the lubricity between contact surfaces. Wear preventive WP characteristics refers to the ability to prevent progressive loss of material due to mechanical interaction between two contacting surfaces under load. WP additive works by reacting to deposit a protective barrier on the metal surface under extreme pressure. Extreme pressure EP additives are usually used at heavier loads, high temperatures, and low speeds to prevent catastrophic failure or device blockage. EP lubricating oil produces a sacrificial coating that is softer than the unprotected base metal. In reality, machinery operating under heavy loads, low speed, and high temperature conditions often require specially tailored lubricants and greases with exceptional anti-wear and EP properties to provide protection against adhesion and friction wear. The most common method of measuring lubricant properties is the four-ball wear test. Particularly, the Four Ball Wear and EP Tester K93170 is a reliable tool for assessing COF as well as WP and EP properties of lubricating oils. This instrument is designed as per ASTM standards to conduct tests that can be used as a tool for screening lubricating oils and narrowing down which gear oils should be further tested. The advantage of this instrument over the traditional dead weight loading technique is that the dynamic load control system with speed control can accurately control the load application and understand the Stribeck curve phenomenon. In this poster, we discuss how to use the Benchtop Four Ball Wear and EP Tester and general performance.
 

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A Deep Dive into Various Techniques for Flash Point Determination of Flammable Liquids

Determining the flash point of a combustible liquid is essential to ensure the liquid is handled, stored, and transported safely. The flash point is described as the lowest temperature at which the liquids vapor will ignite with the presence of an ignition source. At the flash point, the liquid will flash for a short amount of time and will extinguish once the ignition source is removed. For certain fuels, such as used oils, the flash point of the liquid can indicate certain unknown characteristics of the oil if the measured flash point varies from its true value. The Pensky-Martens test closed-cup flash point test is used to accurately measure a combustible liquids flash point. The K71000 Automatic PMCC Flash Point Analyzer is capable of performing flash point determination in accordance with ASTM D93. Testing for the flash point provides valuable information regarding the flammability limit of a desired combustible liquid. This poster will describe the Pensky-Martens closed-cup test and the specific properties of used oils that directly relate to changes in the flash point.
 

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In-depth Study Related to Cloud and Pour Point Determination of a Variety of Petroleum Products

Petroleum products must be thoroughly tested before they may be used to heat a building, generate electricity, or start an engine. Any liquid fuels cloud point and pour point are critical physical qualities. When a liquid is cooled under these certain conditions, the cloud point is the temperature at which a cloud of wax crystals emerges for the first time. On cold surfaces, the wax collects and creates an emulsion with water. As a result, the cloud point denotes the oils proclivity to clog filters or small orifices at low operating temperatures. However, the pour point of a petroleum product is defined as the lowest temperature at which it will continue to flow when cooled under certain standard conditions. It is a rough indicator of the lowest temperature at which oil can be readily pumped. Testing for cloud and pour point is necessary for determining the lowest temperature for optimal performance and storage of petroleum products, as well as to avoid clogging of fuel filters, unnecessary freeze jams, and failure of fluid flow that can result in downtime of the equipment. The K77000 Automatic Cloud and Pour Point Analyzer can be used to indicate the operating temperatures of a wide range of petroleum products in cold environmental conditions. This poster will further elaborate on the importance of cloud point and pour point determination and highlight the intuitiveness and ease-of-use of utilizing automatic test methods for the low temperature analytical testing of petroleum products.
 

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Evaluation of Boiling Point Ranges for Petroleum Products Using an Innovative Vacuum Distillation System as per ASTM D1160

Vacuum distillation is an advantageous method in the refining industry. It allows the separation of lighter hydrocarbons from heavier materials at lower temperatures than normal. This is done by using a vacuum to reduce the pressure of the system. The reduction of pressure results in lower boiling points, which can help prevent the possibility of thermal cracking occurring in the oil. Distillation at reduced pressures is possible with the Koehler VDS5000 Manual Vacuum Distillation System. The VDS5000 evaluates the range of boiling points for petroleum products at the reduced pressures. The instrument performs the standard test method for distillation at reduced pressure in accordance with the specifications outlined in ASTM D1160. Distillation occurs at reduced temperatures controlled by the instrument equivalent to one theoretical plate. The initial and final boiling point is evaluated with the instrument having a max temperature of 400C. The unit is accompanied by the K80320 VDS Vacuum Pump with a 5-liter stainless steel surge tank. The vacuum pump creates the lower pressure system, while the surge tank reduces pressure fluctuations. The poster discusses the applications of the VDS5000 in determining boiling point ranges based on ASTM D1160.
 

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Using Automated Flocculation Titrimetry to Reduce Fouling from Heat-Induced Deposition and Coking

Flocculation is a process in which flocs are formed by clustering together particles that are suspended in fluids and mixtures. These flocs are usually formed with an addition of a chemical called flocculants. This process is commonly used and known for cleaning and filtering dirty, contaminated water to make drinkable, clean water. We see similar concepts and problems in the petrochemical industry. Mixing incompatible oils can cause asphaltene precipitation. Polar asphaltene is suspended in crude oil, which has a lower polarity, by resins that have intermediate polarity. These suspensions can be deconstructed irreversibly by pyrolysis as the solvent is heated over 340 C. However, heating such solvents can cause undesired coke formation and fouling. Since the point at which coking begins cannot be predicted, refiners tend to stop the process short which causes a reduction in distillate yield. The Automated Flocculation Titrimeter, or AFT, is a useful tool to predict when coking and heat-induced fouling will occur and determine whether heavy oils are compatible for mixing. Compatibility of high- and low-grade crude oils is important to reach target specifications while using the minimal amount of high-grade crude oil. The AFT can be used to perform Automated Heithaus Titrimetry, as per ASTM D6703. This test method measures the state of the dispersed particle system and calculates predictive parameters for heavy oils. It can also be used to provide valuable information about the internal stability of heavy oils, the proximity of a pyrolyzed oil to coke formation, and to design blending protocols for oils mixtures to prevent asphaltene precipitation.
 

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Advancements in Biofuel Production to Limit Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Following the discovery of climate change in the early 19th century, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has been growing at a rapid pace. By May 2021, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was estimated to be approximately 419 parts per million, the highest that has ever been recorded. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions, processes have been developed to convert carbon dioxide into biofuels or electrofuels, with use of specific species of bacteria. Other methods convert carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons, such as synthetic methane, methanol, ethanol, or propanol fuels. Cleaner fuels must be tested with instrumentation that measures the percentage of biofuel content within fuel blends. With use of near-infrared technology, Koehler Instrument Company has developed a biodiesel analyzer that measures low less than 10 and high 10 to 30 biodiesel by volume. The Koehler Biodiesel Analyzer is portable, accurate, quick, and causes no degradation to samplesthus it is effective in testing gas, diesel, and biodiesel.
 

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Development of a Standard to Determine Tackiness of Greases

Greases are lubricating agents generally used to reduce friction within machinery to prevent corrosion and damage. Greases are typically formulated from a base oil, thickener, and other additives, all of which may influence their physical properties and applications. Tackiness may be defined as the measurement of a materials adhesive and cohesive properties, and its ability to form threads when pulled apart. Techniques, such as the finger test, produce a qualitative measurement of the tackiness of a grease, but create issues in standardization due to imprecise and non-quantifiable conditions. To standardize the measurement of a greases tackiness, instruments, such as the K95200 Tackiness Tester, can quantify the tackiness of a grease sample. This instrument standardizes the measurement of tackiness by measuring the exact force exerted on the grease sample when being stretched in a method that is reproducible. The data is collected and displayed in a quantified standard measurement that can be used to compare various greases. Being able to accurately compare greases in this manner is important to choosing the best-suited grease for the desired application. This poster will explore the Kesternich method of gathering standardized measurements of grease tackiness.