Initial pH of In-Service Lubricants

Oxidative and thermal stress on a lubricant can produce many undesirable by-products that increase machine wear, and decrease tribological performance. Acids are some of the most impactful actors in the degradation of a lubricant, impacting the base oil and its additives. In oil and lubricant analysis, quantifying these acids can give insight into the net potential for oxidation and corrosion.

The most logical addition to the technicians’ toolkit for layering on additional analyses measuring risk potential associated with acids, is measurement of the lubricant’s pH. Measuring pH is a familiar procedure and metric for most technicians and analysts, even outside of scientific fields. The duality of acidity and alkalinity are ingrained as opposite ends of the pH spectrum, presenting seemingly binary information.

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