The routine activity of analyzing lubricant properties and suspended contaminants for the purpose of monitoring and reporting timely, meaningful and accurate information on lubricant and machine condition.

Basically divided in three sections: 1 - analysis of oil properties 2 - analysis of contaminants 3 - analysis of wear elements from machinery

First used after the second world war by the US Railway Industry to monitor the health of locomotives.

In 1946 the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad research laboratory successfully detected diesel engine problems through wear metal analysis of used oils. A key factor in their success was the development of the spectrograph, a single instrument which replaced several wet chemical methods for detecting and measuring individual chemical elements such as iron or copper. This practice was soon accepted and used extensively throughout the railroad industry.

By 1955 oil analysis had matured to the point that the United States Naval Bureau of Weapons began a major research program to adopt wear metal analysis for use in aircraft component failure prediction. These studies formed the basis for a Joint Oil Analysis Program (JOAP) involving all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. The JOAP results proved conclusively that increases in component wear could be confirmed by detecting corresponding increases in the wear metal content of the lubricating oil. In 1958 Pacific Intermountain Express (P.I.E.) was the first trucking company to set up an in-house used oil analysis laboratory to control vehicle maintenance costs.

In 1960 the first independent commercial oil analysis laboratory was started by Edward Forgeron in Oakland, CA.

External links

• Practicing Oil Analysis Magazine

• Oil Analysis Directory

• Analysts Inc.

• SGS Vernolab UK.