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Spot Performance: Lubricant Chemistry |
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The problem: The customers of a well respected lumber products supplier complained bitterly about receiving products with reddish brown “spots”. These spots were undetectable before shipment but would mysteriously appear sometime before shipments reached the job site. The persistence of the problem and the fact that the problem tended to arise in widely dispersed shipments was damaging the manufacturer’s reputation within the architectural community.
The customer, deeply concerned about their image, felt that their commercial success depended on finding the root cause and curing the problem. Two years and thousands of dollars in testing at several other analytical labs failed to produce a solution, so the customer contacted ICI TechDirect to bring a fresh approach.
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The methods: A cooperative effort between the customer and the TechDirect staff identified materials and the process steps most likely involved in spot formation. After carefully reviewing the steps of the manufacturing process, the customer then provided the potential contaminants - any one of several lubricants - for later comparison to the material found in the spots. Unknown chemicals were extracted from the “spots” and compared with the “knowns” using molecular weight analysis by GPC, FT-IR microscopy and elemental analyses by SEM/Energy Dispersive X-ray. |
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The results: By comparing the chemistry of the lubricants with chemistry of the “good” and “bad” extracts, the technical experts at TechDirect discovered that the material extracted from the “spots” had the same GPC molecular weight distribution and FT-IR spectrum as one of the lubricants used in the process; they also discovered that iron was a persistent constituent of the spots.
Drawing years of experience and their understanding of their customer’s process, ICI TechDirect scientist’s identified the exact step when the contamination occurred and concluded that the delayed appearance of the spots occurred because of the time required for the iron bits captured in the lubricating oil to oxidize. Recommendations were made to the customer about how to better control the process to avoid unwanted, spurious contact of the lubricant with the finished product.
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For further information on ICI TechDirect's chromatography services so that you can create your own success story, click here. |
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For further information, contact C. Michael Neag:
Voice: 440-826-5318
~ Fax: 440-826-5233
Strongsville Research Center (SRC)
16651 Sprague Road
Strongsville, Ohio 44136
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