Continued from page 8
Head-to-head comparison The USNS WATSON was one of two USNS ships asked to perform a head-to-head comparison of the traditional one-test-at-a-time kits versus portable instruments that operate on the same principles as laboratory instruments. To evaluate the performance of the kits versus portable instruments, WATSON personnel were asked to perform a specified number of tests in triplicate - once on a test kit, one on a portable instrument, and also by sending a sample to a lab on shore.
Substantial time savings
Figure 1. Testing air compressor oil using the Q1000.
“The first thing we noticed was that Spectro Inc.’s instruments greatly simplify the process of measuring oil conditions,” Maus said. “The instruments are light and don’t require any chemicals or extra steps so you can carry them to the machinery and perform the analysis on-site. Another benefit is a major reduction of the quantity of oil required for testing and no generation of HAZMAT requiring disposal. The FluidScan Q1000 measures the full range of oil condition parameters in about five minutes, the same time that is required to measure a single parameter with a test kit. The result is that it takes 5 minutes to take a sample of oil from a diesel generator, five minutes to measure critical parameters on the oil condition analyser at the generator, and five minutes to measure the viscosity for a total of 15 minutes, less than half the time required with test kits.”
“When we are sitting in port and not operating a lot of equipment, we save about 10 hours per week,” Maus said. “When we are underway the savings are approximately 15 hours per week. The responsibility for oil analysis is assigned to a licensed engineer with many other responsibilities, so these time savings make his job much easier and allows more efforts to be focused on maintenance and repair throughout the ship.”
Improved Accuracy
A key part of the head-to-head assessment was comparing the accuracy of the portable instruments to the test kits. Testing by an independent laboratory showed that the portable instruments were consistently accurate over the full range of measurement parameters. The accuracy of the test kits, on the other hand, varied from good to poor depending on the specific test and the care taken by the person running the test.
For example, problems were identified in the measurement of total base number (TBN) with the test kits. This measurement is used on diesel engine oil to measure additives used to neutralise acids produced as a byproduct of combustion. The test kit measurement is based on and requires entry of the original TBN in the oil. Ship’s engineers entered this value based on the specifications provided by the oil manufacturer; however, the accuracy of these specifications was in doubt. The FluidScan Q1000, on the other hand, accurately measures TBN without being dependent on manufacturers’ specs. The portable instruments also provide many additional measurements at no additional cost or time.
Figure 3. Testing oil viscosity with the Q3000.
Figure 2. USNS WATSON (T-AKR 310) underway. Continued on page 12 10 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.128 AUGUST 2015
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