ASTM D6224 Standard Practice for In-Service Monitoring of Lubricating Oil
ASTM D6224 Standard Practice for In-Service Monitoring of Lubricating Oil for Auxiliary Power Plant Equipment
1. Scope
1.1 This practice covers the requirements for the effective monitoring of mineral oil and phosphate ester fluid lubricating oils in service auxiliary (non-turbine) equipment used for power generation. Auxiliary equipment covered includes gears, hydraulic systems, diesel engines, pumps, compressors, and electrohydraulic control (EHC) systems. It includes sampling and testing schedules and recommended action steps, as well as information on how oils degrade.

NOTE 1 - Other types of synthetic lubricants are sometimes used but are not addressed in this practice because they represent only a small fraction of the fluids in use. Users of these fluids should consult the manufacturer to determine recommended monitoring practices.

1.2 This practice does not cover the monitoring of lubricating oil for steam and gas turbines. Rather, it is intended to complement Practice D4378.

1.3 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

2. Referenced Documents
2.1 ASTM Standards:
D92 Test Method for Flash and Fire Points by Cleveland Open Cup
D95 Test Method for Water in Petroleum Products and Bituminous Materials by Distillation
D96 Test Method for Water and Sediment in Crude Oil by Centrifuge Method
D257 Test Methods for D-C Resistance or Conductance of Insulating Materials
D445 Test Method for Kinematic Viscosity of Transparent and Opaque Liquids (and the Calculation of Dynamic Viscosity)
D664 Test Method for Acid Number of Petroleum Products by Potentiometric Titration
D665 Test Method for Rust-Preventing Characteristics of Inhibited Mineral Oil in the Presence of Water
D892 Test Method for Foaming Characteristics of Lubricating Oils
D893 Test Method for Insolubles in Used Lubricating Oils
D943 Test Method for Oxidation Characteristics of Inhibited Mineral Oil
D974 Test Method for Acid and Base Number by Color-Indicator Titration
D1169 Test Method for Specific Resistance (Resistivity) of Electrical Insulating Liquids
D1298 Practice for Density, Relative Density (Specific Gravity), or API Gravity of Crude Petroleum and Liquid Petroleum Products by Hydrometer Method
D1401 Test Method for Water Separability of Petroleum Oils and Synthetic Fluids
D1500 Test Method for ASTM Color of Petroleum Products (ASTM Color Scale)
D1533 Test Methods for Water in Insulating Liquids (Karl Fischer Reaction Method)
D1744 Test Method for Water in Liquid Petroleum Products by Karl Fischer Reagent
D2272 Test Method for Oxidation Stability of Steam Turbine Oils by Rotating Bomb
D2276 Test Method for Particulate Contaminant in Aviation Fuel by Line Sampling
D2422 Classification of Industrial Fluid Lubricants by Viscosity System
D2668 Test Method for 2,6-Ditertiary-Butyl Para-Cresol and 2,6 Ditertiary-Butyl Phenol in Electrical Insulating Oil by Infrared Absorption
D2896 Test Method for Base Number of Petroleum Products by Potentiometric Perchloric Acid Titration
D2982 Test Method for Detecting Glycol-Base Antifreeze in Used Lubricating Oils
D3427 Test Method for Air Release Properties of Petroleum Oils
D3524 Test Method for Diesel Fuel Diluent in Used Diesel Engine Oils by Gas Chromatography
D4052 Test Method for Density and Relative Density of Liquids by Digital Density Meter
D4057 Practice for Manual Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products
D4378 Practice for In-Service Monitoring of Mineral Turbine Oils for Steam and Gas Turbines
D4739 Test Method for Base Number Determination by Potentiometric Titration
D5185 Test Method for the Determination of Additive Elements, Wear Metals, and Contaminants in Used Lubricating Oils and Determination of Selected Elements in Base Oils by Inductively-Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES)
E 1064 Test Method for Water in Organic Liquids by Coulometric Karl Fischer Titration

2.2 ISO Standard:
ISO 4406 Hydraulic Fluid Power-Fluids-Method for Coding Level of Contamination by Solid Particles

3. Significance and Use
3.1 This practice is intended to assist users, particularly power plant operators, in maintaining effective control over their lubricating oils and lubrication monitoring program. This practice may be used to perform oil changes based on test results rather than on the basis of service time or calendar time. It is intended to save operating and maintenance expenses.

3.2 This practice is also intended to assist users in monitoring lubricating oils and guarding against excessive component wear, oil degradation, or contamination, thereby minimizing the potential of catastrophic machine problems that are more likely to occur in the absence of such a monitoring program.

3.3 This practice does not necessarily reference all of the current oil testing technologies and is not meant to preclude the use of alternative instrumentation or test methods which provide meaningful or trendable test data, or both. Some oil testing devices (typically used for screening oils which will be tested according to standard methods) provide trendable indicators which correlate to water, particulates, and other contaminants but do not directly measure these.