Additives and Trace Elements in Lubricating Oils

Lubricating oils, such as motor oil and engine oil, are used for lubrication of combustion engines in a multitude of tools and vehicles. The primary purpose of lubricating oils is to reduce friction in moving parts of engines, but lubricating oils also contain additives to help engines remain clean, reduce corrosion, etc. These chemical additives include organic and inorganic compounds as their active ingredients. Various performance and composition standards require the determination of the inorganic additive elements in order to control the blend to achieve the desired performance and properties. The elements of interest in the blend control process include magnesium (Mg), silicon (Si), sulfur (S), phosphorus (P), chlorine (Cl), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), barium (Ba), and molybdenum (Mo). Additionally, quality control of lubricating oils requires the analysis of wear elements such as iron (Fe), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb).

Analysis of Additives and Trace Elements in Lubricating Oils with Benchtop XRF
Analyzing lubricating oils is an essential part of quality and performance control for all lube oil producers. A modern and compact polarized beam XRF system such as Benchtop XRF is the perfect tool for the job. Excellent for elemental analysis in blending plants, Benchtop XRF is cost effective, fast, sensitive and accurate, providing precise analysis of the additive elements Ca, Zn, P, Mo, as well as Mg, Si, S, Cl, K, Fe, Cu, Pb, and Ba. All of these elements can be analyzed simultaneously in any lube oil sample. Benchtop XRF takes on the most complicated analytical challenges with ease, such as the accurate analysis of magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (P) in a sulfur matrix. With a detection limits such as = 0.8 ppm Mo (molybdenum) and = 0.3 ppm P (phosphorus), Benchtop XRF provides some of the lowest limits of detection and best accuracy of any EDXRF system on the market. Feature-rich and easy-to-use, Benchtop XRF represents the best value in XRF for the analysis additives and trace elements in lubricating oils.