NEWS Glass Expansion Newsletter | February 2011 | Issue 24
GE NEWS
APPLICATION SPOTLIGHT
COMPARISON OF ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY
ICP APPROACHES FOR ENGINE OIL ANALYSIS
Jerry Dulude
(Glass Expansion Inc., USA)
Scott Bridger
(Glass Expansion, Australia)
Introduction
The measurement of metals in used engine oils provides valuable information about the
engine and the state of the lubricant, information which can be used to increase the efficiency
of the equipment in which the engine resides and lower the cost of maintenance. Table 1 lists
the metals which are typically of interest and their sources (1-4). The presence of wear metals
is important because it can pinpoint a specific component for maintenance. For example,
copper is an indication of bearing wear while lead may come from bushings and chromium
from piston rings and seals. Other elements such as calcium, magnesium, and zinc are
added to the oil to produce a “soap” to protect engine components. So it is important to
ascertain that these metals remain at an optimum concentration. Also, dirt may contaminate
the oil which would be evidenced by the presence of elements like silicon and sodium.
Pittcon 2011
A wide selection of Glass Expansion
products will be on display at Pittcon 2011,
Atlanta, Georgia, USA, March 13 – 18,
2011. The display will include nebulizers,
spray chambers, torches, RF coils, ICP-MS
cones and accessories. You will also
be able to see a demonstration of the
new Assist syringe-driven ICP sample
introduction system. Glass Expansion
specialists will be on hand to answer your
questions and assist you to choose the
optimum components for your ICP. Please
visit us at Booth 2947.
New ICP Chemist
Our customer support team has been
strengthened by the appointment of
Dr. Ryan Brennan to our USA office.
Ryan has a PhD in analytical chemistry
from The George Washington University
and has recently been working at the
Analytical Chemistry Division of the
National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST). Throughout his
career, he has focused on solving difficult
analytical problems with ICP-MS and ICP-OES.
When he joins us on March 7, he will
enhance our ability to help ICP users to get
the best possible analytical performance.
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Application Spotlight 1 – 5
• GE News 1
• New Products 6 – 7
• Instrument News 7
- From Bruker
- From Spectro
Despite the importance of these
measurements, the need for fast analysis
(high volumes of samples) and the
undemanding accuracy requirements (trend
determination only is required), speed of
analysis is often one of the most critical
requirements of the industry. In this paper,
we will compare two methods of oil analysis,
one using off-line dilution followed by high
speed analysis, and the other employing
in-line dilution and analysis with a single high
productivity system. The preference of one
approach over the other will depend more
upon the individual laboratory’s operational
set-up than on anything else.
Experimental
All work was performed on a Varian
Vista Pro radial ICP-OES system
(Agilent Technologies, Melbourne,
Australia) configured with a Twinnabar
spray chamber (20ml internal volume
with baffle), a ceramic VeeSpray modified
Babington nebulizer, and a single piece
quartz torch with 0.8mm bore injector
(all from Glass Expansion, Melbourne,
Australia). Organometallic standards were
used throughout (Conostan, Ponka City,
OK). The elements selected for monitoring
and the associated wavelengths of
measurement are listed in Table 2. The
plasma conditions are listed in Table 3.
Wear Metal Contaminant Additive
Copper Boron Calcium
Iron Silicon Phosphorus
Lead Sodium Zinc
Cadmium Potassium
Aluminum
Table 1: Significance of metal determinations in used engine oil
Element/wavelength
Ag 328.068 Fe 238.204 Pb 220.353
Al 309.215 K 766.491 S 181.972
B 249.678 Mg 285.213 Sb 217.582
Ba 493.408 Mn 257.610 Sn 283.998
Ca 317.933 Mo 202.032 Ti 336.122
Cd 226.502 Na 588.995 V 292.401
Cr 267.716 Ni 231.604
Cu 324.754 P 177.434
Table 2: Element wavelengths selected
Parameter Setting
RF power 1.40 KW
Coolant gas flow 18 L/min
Auxiliary gas flow 2.25 L/min
Nebulizer gas flow 0.75 L/min
Replicate read time 2 s
Number of replicates 2
Table 3: ICP operating parameters
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