7/25/2016 QuenchantFundamentals:ConditionMonitoringofQuenchOils

QuenchantFundamentals:Condition
MonitoringofQuenchOils
G.M.Webster,G.E.Totten&AssociatesLLCG.E.Totten,G.E.Totten&AssociatesLLCD.A.Wachter,Engineered
Lubricants
Tags:oilanalysis
PracticingOilAnalysis(1/2003)

Quenchoilservestwoprimaryfunctions.Itfacilitateshardeningofsteelbycontrollingheattransferduring
quenching,anditenhanceswettingofsteelduringquenchingtominimizetheformationofundesirablethermal
andtransformationalgradientswhichmayleadtoincreaseddistortionandcracking.

Whenusingquenchoiltocoolhotmetal,avaporblanketisplacedaroundthehotmetalwhenitisfirst
immersedintotheoil.Thestabilityofthevaporlayer,andthustheabilityoftheoiltohardensteel,is
dependentonthemetalssurfaceirregularities,oxidespresent,surfacewettingadditiveswhichacceleratethe
wettingprocessanddestabilizethevaporblanket,andthequenchoilsmolecularcomposition,includingthe
presenceofmorevolatileoildegradationbyproducts.

Uponfurthercooling,thevaporblanketcollapsesresultinginnucleateboiling,whichisthefastestheat
transferregion.Thepointatwhichthistransitionoccursandtherateofheattransferinthisregiondependon
theoilsoverallmolecularcomposition.

Whenthetemperatureofthehotoilsteelinterfaceislessthantheoilsboilingpoint,nucleateboilingwill
ceaseandconvectivecoolingwillbegin.Heattransferinthisregionisexponentiallydependentontheoils
viscosity,whichwillvarywiththedegreeofoildecomposition.Increasingoildecompositionwillresultinitially
inareductionofoilviscosityfollowedbyincreasingviscosityasthedegradationprocessincreases.Heat
transferratesincreasewithlowerviscositiesanddecreasewithincreasingviscosity.

Oildegradationisoftenaccompaniedbysludgeandvarnishformation.Thesebyproductstypicallydonot
adsorbuniformlyonthesteelssurfaceasitisbeingquenched,resultinginsurfacecoolingratevariationsand
increasedthermalgradients.

Anothersourceofnonuniformheattransferisquenchoilcontamination.Forexample,watermaybe
introducedintothequenchoilthroughaleakintheheatexchanger.Water,becauseitisnotcompatiblewith
oilandpossessesdifferentphysicalpropertiessuchasviscosityandboilingpoint,willcauseincreasesin
thermalgradients.

Toassureoptimalquenchprocesscontrol,itisnecessarytomonitorqualityvariationsthroughouttheoils
lifetime.Thisisaccomplishedwithquenchbathmaintenanceprocedures.

PhysicalPropertiesofQuenchOils
Quenchoilcharacterizationisnecessarytoensureoptimalquenchprocesscontrol.Quenchoil
characterizationisreadilyperformedbymeasuringaseriesofphysicalpropertiesincluding:viscosity,water
content,neutralizationnumber,precipitationnumberandflashpoint(Table1).Inadditiontophysicalproperty
characterizationprocedures,coolingcurveanalysisshouldalsobeperformedwhenneeded.

ClickheretoseeTable1.

Therearenumerousspecificphysicalpropertycharacterizationproceduresthatmaybeusedwhenevaluating
quenchoils.Thefollowingareexamplesoftestingproceduresthatmaybeusedandareaimedatproviding
someinsightintothemeaningoftheresults:

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Viscosity
Aspreviouslydiscussed,aquenchoilsquenchingperformanceisdependentonitsviscosity.Dueto
degradation,oilviscositychangeswithtime.Forprocessmonitoringandtroubleshooting,theheattreater
shoulddevelopanhistoricalrecord,similartothechartshowninFigure1,ofviscosityvariationinhistank.
Viscosityshouldbemonitoredperiodicallyat40CusingASTMD445.

Figure1.ViscosityofaMartemperingOilasaFunctionofTime

WaterContent
Waterfromoilcontaminationordegradationmaycausesoftspots,unevenhardness,staining,andworstof
all,fires.Whenwatercontaminatedoilisheated,acracklingsoundmaybeheard.Thisisthebasisofa
qualitativefieldtestforwaterinquenchoil.Themostcommonlaboratorytestsforwatercontaminationare
eitherKarlFisheranalysis(ASTMD6304)ordistillation(ASTMD95).Automatedmoisturedetectorsshouldbe
usedwithcautionbecausemanyoftheseinstrumentslowersensitivitylimits(typically0.5percent)arehigher
thanthemoisturecontentallowedforquenchoils(typicallylessthan0.1percentasdescribedinASTM
D6710).

FlashPoint
Flashpointisthetemperatureatwhichtheoil,inequilibriumwithitsvapor,producesagasthatisignitable
butdoesnotcontinuetoburnwhenexposedtoasparkorflamesource.

Therearetwotypesofflashpointtestproceduresclosedcuporopencup.Intheclosedcupmeasurement
(ASTMD93),theliquidandvaporareheatedinaclosedvaporconfinedarea.Tracesoflowboiling
contaminantsmayconcentrateinthevaporphaseresultinginarelativelylowvalue.Whenconductingthe
opencupflashpoint,therelativelylowboilingbyproductsarelostduringheatingandhavelessimpactonthe
finalvalue.ThemostcommonopencupflashpointprocedureistheClevelandOpenCupprocedure
describedinASTMD92.Theminimumflashpointofanoil,undernormaloperatingconditions,shouldbe90C
(160F)abovetheoiltemperaturebeingused.

AcidNumber
Asoildegrades,itformsacidicbyproducts.Chemicalanalysiscanidentifyandmeasurethesebyproducts.
Theacidnumber(AN)isthemostcommonmethodemployed.TheANisdeterminedbyatitrationprocedure
usingpotassiumhydroxide(KOH)andisreportedasmilligramsofKOHpergramofsample(mgKOH/g).Oil
oxidationmayalsobemonitoredanddetectedbyinfraredspectroscopy.Figure2illustratesthespectral
changesthatoccurfromoildegradation.

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Figure2A.IRSpectraofaNewvs.ModeratelyDegradedQuenchOil

Figure2B.IRSpectraofaNewvs.SeverelyDegradedQuenchOil

SludgeFormation
Oneofthegreatestproblemswithquenchoilsissludgeformation.Althoughthevariousanalysesabovemay
indicatethataquenchoilisusable,thepresenceofsludgemaycausenonuniformheattransfer,increased
thermalgradientsandincreasedcrackinganddistortion.

Sludgemayalsoplugfiltersandfoulheatexchangersurfaces.Thelossofheatexchangerefficiencycan
causeoverheating,excessivefoamingandfires.

Sludgeiscausedbyquenchoilthermalandoxidativedegradation.Theoxidationreactionsleadto
polymerizedandcrosslinkedmolecules,whichareinsolubleintheoil.Therelativeamountofsludgein
quenchoilmaybequantifiedbytheprecipitationnumber.TheprecipitationnumberasdefinedinASTMD91is
foundbyaddingnaphthatotheoilanddeterminingtheprecipitatevolumeaftercentrifuging.

Theremaininglifeofanoilcanbeestimatedbycomparingtherelativepropensityofsludgeformationinnew
vs.usedoil.Experimentalprocedures,suchasConradsoncarbonnumber,hotpanelcokertestandtherotary
pressurevesseloxidationtest(RPVOT)mayalsobeused.

ElementalAnalysis
Whenorganometallicadditives,suchasmetalsalts,areusedasquenchrateaccelerators,theirdepletionby
processessuchaschemicaldegradationanddragout(masstransfer)canbequantifiedbyperformingadirect
metalanalysis.Oneofthemostcommonproceduresisinductioncoupledplasmaspectroscopy(ASTM
D4951orD6595).Atypicalelementalanalysisreportformetalsaltscontainedinaquenchoilisshownin

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Table2.

CoolingRateCharacterization
OneoftheoldestteststoquantifythequenchseverityofanoilistheGMQuenchometer(NickelBall)test
whichisconductedaccordingtoASTMD3520(Figure3).

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Figure3.GMQuenchometerTestApparatus

Inthistest,a7/8inch(22mm)nickelballisheatedto885C(1625F)andthendroppedintoawirebasket
suspendedinabeakercontaining200millilitersofthequenchoilat21Cto27C(70Fto80F).Atimeris
activatedastheglowingnickelballpassesaphotoelectricsensor.Ahorseshoemagnetislocatedoutsidethe
beakerascloseaspossibletothenickelball.Astheballcools,itpassesthroughtheCuriepointofnickel
(354C,670F),thetemperatureatwhichitbecomesmagnetic.Atthispoint,theballisattractedtothe
magnet,activatingasensorthatstopsthetimer.Thetimerequiredforthenickelballtocoolfrom885Cto
354C(1625Fto670F)isrecorded.Table3providessomeillustrativeGMQuenchometertimesfordifferent
quenchants.

AlthoughtheGMQuenchometerhasbeenusedtoclassifyquenchoilsforapproximately40years,itisof
limitedvaluetoday.AsillustratedinFigure4,theGMQuenchometerdoesnotprovideanyinformation
regardingthecoolingpathway,whichmustbeknownifthequenchoilsabilitytohardensteelistobe
determined.

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Figure4.ComparisonoftheGMQuenchometerTest
withCoolingCurveAnalysis

Inviewofthiscriticaldeficiency,GMQuenchometerquenchoilcharacterizationisincreasinglybeingreplaced
bytheISO9950orASTMD6200coolingcurveanalysisproceduresforquenchoils.Figure5illustratesthe
useofcoolingcurveanalysistoidentifycoolingvariationsofaquenchoiloxidationovertime.

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Figure5.EffectofQuenchOilOxidationonCoolingRates

Figure6illustratestheeffectofvaryingamountsofwateroncoolinganonacceleratedquenchoil.

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Figure6.EffectofWaterContaminationonaNormalSpeedQuenchOil

Itshouldbenotedhowever,thatwhilecoolingcurveanalysisprovidesaninvaluabletoolformonitoringand
troubleshootingquenchoilperformance,physicalpropertycharacterizationisstillrequiredtoidentifythe
causesofthecoolingbehaviors.

References

1. Totten,G.E.,Bates,C.E.&Clinton,N.A.(1993).HandbookofQuenchantsandQuenching
Technology.MaterialsPark,Ohio:ASMInternational.
2. vonBergen,R.T.(1991)HeatTreatmentofMetals(Vol.2),pp.3742.

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