TECHNOLOGY BRIEF

RU ULER R vs s RPV VOT

Remaining Useful Life L determination of Mod dern Turb bine Oil Formula ations
Turbine Oils Oxidative Resista ance is Key Turbi ine oils are prim marily comprise ed of highly ref fined basestoc cks. Appro oximately one percent of the eir composition n is comprised d of the additive a system m. The additives that largely determine d the life and performance p o the turbine oil of o are the antioxidant packag ge. Thes se typically con nsist of primary y antioxidants that fall into two t general families: ph henols and amines. Turbi ine oils resist tance to oxidi ize and degra ade over time is argua ably one of the e most importan nt characteristi ics of turbine oils. o There efore, measuri ing this proper rty is critical in n establishing an appro opriate conditio on monitoring program p for turb bine oils. RPVO OT A Legacy y in Turbine Oil O Analysis The RPVOT (prev viously known as Rotating Bomb Oxidation Test, RBOT) test be ecame an AST TM Standard in the mid-60s and a has enjoyed e severa al decades of high h profile use in helping en ndusers s determine the e remaining use eful life of turbi ine oils. RPVOT T Interpretation is more com mplex today There has h been a risi ing concern by y oil analysts in n attempting to o interpre et RPVOT res sults when it is run on mo odern lubricant formula ations. Todays s turbine oils contain complex, synergistic c antioxid dant systems which impact ts the precisio on of RPVOT T testing. The precision n of the test in practice varie es compared to o the pre ecision stateme ent in the AST TM standard. (ASTM D2272 2 states a repeatability of 12% and a reproducibility of 22% for oils s with values less than 1,000 minutes.) Practically y speaking, the e repeata ability and repr roducibility of th he test is gene erally accepted d to be somewhere s bet tween 30-50% %. A recently co onducted minirobin at a an interna ational standards institute reported 39% % reprodu ucibility. The recognized poor repe eatability and d reprodu ucibility of the RPVOT R test ha as made it muc ch more difficult for data a analysts to int terpret. The fig gure below illu ustrates the challenge c in determining d an n appropr riate end-point t with some ty ypes of turbine e oils. RPVOT T results are calculated d based on the e amount of tim me required to o realize a pressure dro op of 25 psi fr rom baseline. There is not a universal consensus as a to when the e proper determ mination of the e end-poi int is reached, even though ASTM A stipulates the end-point is reac ched when the pressure of f the vessel is reduced to o 175kPa a. The gradual sloping seen n in Oil 2 ver rsus the sharp p break seen s in Oil 1 makes interpretation of the e results more e challeng ging. Oil 2 still l has remaining life after the e official end of test and d depending up pon the analys st, Point B or Point P C may be e reported d. This is one of o the contributing factors to the decreasing g reliabilit ty of RPVOT te esting.

RPVOT Chart C

RPVO OT accelerates s the oxidation of turbine oils by exposing it t to an oxygen-pressur o red vessel in the presence of water and d a copper catalyst coil at 150oC. Th he test was de esigned to quic ckly meas sure turbine oi ils resistance to oxidation and a the results s of the in n-service fluid are a compared to t the results of o the unused oil. o

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Turbine Oil Oxidation Research

Understanding How Turbine Oils Degrade Oil analysis has been the primary tool to detect incipient lubricant failure for the last half century. The first step however in determining an appropriate test slate for turbine oil is understanding its mode of failure. Fluitec personnel were part of a research project during which five turbine oils were circulated in immersion heated baths at 120oC for 8 weeks (ASTM Paper JAI100465). A wide range of analytical tests were performed in order to better understand which specific testing methodologies would provide the highest value for detecting early signs of turbine oil degradation and the associated by-products which negatively impact lubrication systems. Below is a summary of results averaged from all 5 samples over the 8 week test. Summary of Oxidation Experiment The results of the experiment show that Viscosity, Acid Number and RPVOT show little change over the course of the 8-week experiment. However, there is a clear change in looking at the RULER results which measures the amine and phenol antioxidants. There is also a significant rise in the Membrane Patch Colorimetry test, which is measuring the accumulation of oil oxidation products. The summary of the experiment demonstrate the effectiveness in monitoring individual antioxidants in aged turbine oils and some of the challenges in using RPVOT and other testing methodologies. The experiment also illustrates the value in running RULER testing along with MPC testing.

15% 10% 5% 0% -5% -10% -15% 1

Test Startof TestValue Viscosity(cSt@40C) ASTMD445M AcidNumber(mgKOH/g) ASTMD664M RPVOT(mins) ASTMD2272 MembranePatchColorimetry DraftASTMStandard RULER Amines(%ofnew) ASTMD6971 RULER Phenols(%ofnew) ASTMD6971

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
2
Endof TestValue 32.1 0.11 900 57 91% Insignificant.WithinTest Reproducibility. Insignificant.WithinTest Reproducibility. Insignificant.WithinTest Reproducibility. VerySignificant.Indicates highvarnishpotential. Significant.Close relationshiptoRPVOT values. Significant.MPC increasesasPhenols deplete.

MPC, Amines & Phenols are plotted on the right hand axis.

Viscosity AN RPVOT MPC Amines Phenols

4
Comments

31.7 0.10 945 2 100%

100%

17%

MPC Patch at End of Test RPVOT: 1850 Very high varnish potential.

MPC Patch at End of Test RPVOT: 217 Very low varnish potential.

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RULER Te esting for r Turbine e Oils

Immediate Insight t into Oil Cond dition The RULER test (ASTM D6971) is performed d quickly either r on site or at leading g oil analysis s companies. The test takes appro oximately 2 minutes m to run and uses the principles s of volta ammetry to me easure the type e and quantity y of antioxidan nt in the turbine t oil. As seen in the im mage to the rig ght, the RULE ER graph compares th he amount of amines a and ph henols in the used oil to o the amount in the new formu ulation. Since antioxidants are the fi irst additive in the oil to degrade when it is expo osed to therma al or oxidative stres ss, the RULER R measures the first change in i the oil che emistry. RULE ER testing allows users to understand the remaining use eful life of their turbine oils and a provides them sufficient time to make corrective actions prior to the fluid caus sing performance problems p at the eir plant.

RPV VOT or RULER R ? What is the most t appropr riate test? ?

Whe en it is appropriate to consid der RULER Testing T When using modern turbine oil W o formulations s, especially those e employing Gro oup II or III ba asestocks and using amine-type a antioxidants. If the turbine oil o has an initial RPVOT value e of 1,000 mins s or g greater. When timely results W r are req quired, such as a reactor coo oling pumps at nucle ear facilities. In applications s where varnis sh is of conce ern, the RULE ER provides significant benefit when run in conjunction with w MPC testing. T Testing the qu uality of incoming batches of turbine oil and d to understand wh hen changes ar re made to the oil formulation. RULER tests are a less expen nsive to run th han RPVOT te ests. T results pro The ovide higher va alue while savi ing money in your y c condition monitoring program m.

When it t is appropriat te to consider r RPVOT Testing: Old der formulations where the fluid f has been in service for r sev veral years and d the RPVOT va alues are less than 1,000. RPV VOT can prov vide some valu ue in testing a reservoir with h mix xed formulation ns or brands of o turbine oils to t evaluate the e current oxidative resistance r of th he fluid.

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