The pressure to increase fuel efficiency and reduce harmful emissions within automotive and industrial markets are driving the need for new and innovative grades of lubricating oil. Meeting these precise specifications for every single blend is the number one priority for lubricating oil production facilities.
XRF analysis is the industry-wide method for controlling and verifying the amounts of additives within the final blend. And the LAB-X5000 from Hitachi High-Tech provides the accuracy you need for reliable verification of lubricating oil specification.
The LAB-X5000 includes superior detection technology within a compact, rugged design. Engineered for 24/7 use, the analyzer is ideal for high-throughput testing in production facilities where tight quality control is essential.
Here are five reasons why the LAB-X is ideal for your lubricating oil blend facility:
The LAB-X can measure a wide range of elements added to lubricating oils, including magnesium (Mg), phosphorous (P), sulfur (S), chlorine (Cl), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn) and molybdenum (Mo). It meets the precision requirements of industry standard test methods, such as ASTM D6481 and D7751. The instrument parameters are optimized to automatically correct for variations in oil matrices, ensuring you get reliable results for every single blend.
The analyzer is designed with a high-resolution silicon drift detector (SDD) to reliably give you high accuracy and low detection limits. Most of the time, the measurements can be carried out in air, however the LAB-X has an option for using helium for when you really need it, such as when measuring low levels of magnesium in the blend. There is also built-in atmospheric variation compensation, which means the analyzer detects local changes in temperature and pressure and makes adjustments to the results accordingly. Without this feature, some of the results could be affected by atmospheric changes; the LAB-X ensures you get results you can trust every time.
The LAB-X5000 is rugged and reliable. It’s been designed to include features that prevent leaks or spillages on the major XRF components. For example, there’s a safety window and an automated turntable that moves the sample away from the detector as soon as the measurement has finished. It includes an industrial-grade PC and the design has been subjected to a series of robustness tests to maximise analyzer uptime.
The entire testing process takes just minutes: simply pour the oil to be tested into the sample cup, place in the analyzer and press Start. Within a single test, the analyzer presents a complete elemental analysis on the large, easy-to-read screen. This fast and simple process means you can check the composition of the oil at various stages of production, ensuring your in-house blending processes are under control and the final specification is being met.
The analyzer comes with a SmartCheck feature as part of the software. This allows you to set pass and fail criteria for every element you need to check, making it very easy to control product quality, as the analyzer will simply show pass or fail on screen after each analysis. It’s clear to the operator whether the batch passes internal quality requirements.
The LAB-X5000 is ideal for 24/7 use when quality can’t be compromised. For more information you can download the brochure here or get in touch.
