New Kinematic Viscometer System From PerkinElmer Automates and Simplifies Measurement of Used Oil Viscosity

PerkinElmer, Inc., a global leader in Health Sciences and Photonics, launched a new, automated viscometer for high-volume used oil analysis laboratories at PITTCON^® 2007, Booth 843, further broadening PerkinElmer’s range of offerings for used oil analysis. The qVisc 4320 AX Autosampler Viscometer is designed to help increase throughput and work seamlessly with other used oil analysis instrumentation.

“This analyzer with fully integrated autosampler can run an unprecedented 200 samples unattended to dramatically increase laboratories’ throughput,” said Michael DiVito, Thermal and Elemental Analysis business unit manager, PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences. “Customers have the added peace-of-mind that the viscometer comes with PerkinElmer’s global network of service to help support their research and testing.”

The measurement of viscosity is typically the first analysis made by a used oil laboratory. From the viscosity value, the laboratory can identify different chemical levels in the oil and quickly determine if a potential problem exists with the sample. If a problem is detected, further analysis of the sample can readily be made, using other instrumentation to determine the root cause of the problem.

The viscometer adheres to ASTM method D445, the common industry standard for analyzing oil, which requires that the oil flow under gravity through a glass capillary tube held at a constant temperature in a bath. In addition, this advanced system automatically adds solvents as needed and maintains the cleanliness of the glassware to reduce operator intervention and increase uptime.

“The viscometer ensures high sample throughput even when contaminants build up on the inside of the tube,” said DiVito. “It constantly measures potential buildup of soot, suspended solids, oxidation and nitration products and other compounds. It also alerts the operator when buildups are present and automatically takes a problem tube offline while redirecting samples to tubes that are not experiencing buildup, saving valuable time.”

Samples are analyzed as rapidly as up to 64 per hour at a single temperature and up to 47 samples per hour using two temperatures. During the analysis, the system’s software performs quality control checks and monitors all critical functions. For laboratories with a lighter sampling load, the model HSV 802 Viscometer provides a high level of performance without the autosampler capability.

PerkinElmer is marketing, selling and servicing Fluid Life kinematics viscometers, including the qVisc 4320 AX Autosampler Viscometer, under a distribution agreement with Fluid Life Corp.

Other PerkinElmer instrumentation that is used in used oil analysis include Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) instruments for testing oil contamination and the durability of oil, gas chromatography instruments for testing oil dilution and leak detection, and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) instruments for testing metals in oil and determining how oil was formulated.