Residue Analysis on RPVOT Test Samples for Single and Multiple Antioxidants Chemistry for Turbine Lubricants

Abstract

Abstract Antioxidant chemistry is playing an important role in meeting the longer-life and higher temperature performance criteria of modern generation turbine lubricants. Oxidative life assessment is therefore an important parameter as part of today's turbine oil diagnostic services, where methods such as RPVOT, FTIR, and RULER are being applied. With this paper, we will discuss how RPVOT (per ASTM D 2272) testing of turbine lubricants with single antioxidant systems have much better reproducibility and repeatability than comparable RPVOT testing of oils with complex, synergistic mixtures of antioxidants. Both new and used turbine oils obtained from gas and steam turbines were used to assess the effects of antioxidant chemistry on the RPVOT results. In the first part of this research program, we present the analytical results for the residues remaining at the completion of the RPVOT tests of single component antioxidant oils. The RULER, varnish potential index (VPI), FTIR, AN, and viscosity analyses of the residues are very similar indicating that the residues contain no remaining antioxidants and have elevated levels of VPI, AN, viscosity, and FTIR oxidation, i.e., all of the RPVOT residues of the single antioxidant oils are highly oxidized when the test is ended based on oxygen uptake. In the second part, we present the analytical results for the RPVOT residues of complex mixture antioxidant oils. In contrast to the single antioxidant oils, the analytical tests of the complex antioxidant RPVOT residues indicate that the concentration of antioxidant and the level of oxidation varies with antioxidant formulation when the test is ended based on oxygen uptake. The results presented in this paper indicate that the effects of antioxidant chemistry on the residue content of RPVOT tests help explain the poor reproducibility of the RPVOT tests for turbine oils containing different types of antioxidant systems. Consequently, RULER analyses to characterize the antioxidant systems of the turbine oils before and after RPVOT testing would be very valuable in interpreting the RPVOT results and in improving the reproducibility of the RPVOT technique for making oxidative life assessments of modern generation turbine lubricants. VPI assessments of the turbine oils would further improve the oil diagnostic services of turbine lubricants by providing insight into the capability of the lubricants to solubilize the oxidation products of the antioxidants and the highly-refined base-oil.