Our advanced oil analysis offerings give our customers the opportunity to dig deeper into potential problem areas. Experienced oil analysis users request these tests as a regular part of their maintenance programs or as a result of a recommendation from one of our labs.

Using the results of a Fluid Life Series 1 analysis as a road map, the following tests can be "triggered" (*see note below) to provide you with the most comprehensive knowledge about your lubrication system.

The sediment test measures suspended particulate contamination in industrial or hydraulic lubricants in order to determine whether contaminants are entering from an outside source or being generated internally. Fluid Life provides a photo of the sediment present on the filter patch and flags the results based on the type and amount of particulates.

Fluid cleanliness is critical to a lubricating system’s success. When setting goals for keeping your industrial fluids clean, routine particle counting is a crucial step in achieving the cleanest fluid possible. The ISO particle count determines size ranges and concentrations of solid particulate found in industrial fluids. Fluid Life reports the ISO Code cleanliness in the latest >4/6/14 micron format.

Read more about ISO Particle Counts

ISO Particle Count Brochure.pdf

Understanding ISO Particle Counts.pdf

Recommended ISO Cleanliness Levels.pdf

Varnish Potential

Read more about Varnish Potential

Varnish Potential Testing.pdf

OPC is one of the most current and effective analysis methods available and can determine the presence of wear metals and contaminants in a lubricating system. A maintenance professional can then ascertain if the equipment is operating properly or if preventive maintenance is required. Optical Particle Classification combines the standard oil analysis techniques of particle counting and advanced shape classification.

Read more about Optical Particle Classification

Optical Particle Classification.pdf

This test is a quantitative analysis of magnetic iron particle concentrations in a lubricant. The test focuses on ferrous particles and ignores alloys, rust and contaminants that would be detected by other testing. Fluid Life reports results in ppm(parts per million) down to a concentration of <4 ppm.

Read more about Total Magnetic Iron

Total Magnetic Iron.pdf

Analytical Ferrography

Read more about Analytical Ferrography

Analytical Ferrography.pdf

An acid number in a lubricant context provides a measurement of oil degradation. This degradation is expressed by the change in acidity of a used sample as compared to its new, original state. Typically acid number is a good barometer of when industrial oils (hydraulics, compressors, gear oils, etc.) need to be changed.

Read more about Acid Number Testing

Acid Number Brochure.pdf

The base number describes the reserve alkalinity remaining in the lubricant, which is indicative of the oil’s ability to counteract acid formation. This test is well suited for monitoring diesel engine oils.

Often triggered by the Series 1 screening test, the Karl Fisher Water Titration method provides a quantitative determination of the actual water content present in the sample.

Read more about Karl Fischer Water Titration

Karl Fischer Water Titration.pdf

The Rotating Pressure Vessel Oxidation Test (RPVOT) measures a fluid’s long term oxidation stability. This test is appropriate for evaluating the useful life of a lubricant in large reservoir applications such as turbines, press lube systems, paper machine oils among others. As RPVOT requires a larger than normal sample volume, Fluid Life provides special test kits for sample preparation.

Provides quantitative and qualitative elemental composition. X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) does not have a particle size cutoff and can be used to measure particles of any size. This provides our customers with critical large particle detection and identification that could predict failures in advance of other methods.

Read more about X-ray Fluorescence

X-ray Fluorescence.pdf

Other tests available at Fluid Life include:

• open and closed cup flash tests
• copper corrosion
• demulsibility
• density
• foam test
• infrared test (differential)
• interfacial tension
• pentane insolubles
• specific gravity
• sugar
• sulphation and toluene insolubles