Oil Analysis

Trico’s The Journey of the Lubricant ® Oil Analysis Services

Think about The Journey of the Lubricant® in your facility – from arrival, to storage, to transfer, to application and life cycle – and all the ways contamination can get into your lubricant. Contamination threats and lubricant degradation are lurking at every stage. These undesirables get into your lubricant and can quickly compromise your equipment. Costly, stressful equipment downtime may follow. That’s why it pays to be vigilant against contamination and lubricant degradation. By following The Journey of the Lubricant® from arrival through its life cycle, you can see how every step offers an opportunity to implement preferred practices that mitigate risks. That’s where Trico can help. 

Implementing Trico’s the Journey of the Lubricant Oil Analysis Services

Trico’s oil analysis services at this stage are essential from a forensic standpoint. Without a reference sample, diagnosing problems later in The Journey of the Lubricant becomes more difficult because there will be more variables to eliminate. It is also important upon arrival to do analysis as it provides an indication of the condition and care your supplier has taken to ensure lubricant is proper and contaminant free.

Storage reference samples begin to identify how your practices are impacting your lubricant condition. This includes environmental ingression, cross-contamination of drum pumps, and improperly sealed or left open bungs that introduce water and particulate contamination into the lubricant. 

Transfer reference samples provide the best baseline for equipment test results. Any changes from storage to transfer is affected mostly by personnel interactions. This includes the use of cross-contaminated lubricant, and improperly sealed or open transfer containers. These factors can introduce contaminants and can cause the onset of chemical reactions compromising, the condition of the lubricant. 

Improper equipment configuration can allow contaminants into your system or cause the production of wear particles from inadequate lubrication. Oil Analysis offers the earliest warnings about things that could go wrong and spot signs of wear. 

The most effective maintenance programs incorporate on-going, routine oil analysis and data trending for continuous improvements and monitoring of lubricant and equipment condition.

Trico’s Oil Analysis Services helps you see the condition of your lubricant at every stage throughout The Journey of the Lubricant® and helps prevent equipment failure. We have a customized approach that includes a discovery process where we gain an understanding your practices, your application, and your environment. The results gathered are used to pinpoint the source of problems and highlight opportunities for improvement. The outcome is a tailored program for you to succeed based on The Journey of the Lubricant. From there, on-going oil analysis is used for continuous improvements and monitoring. Our analysts can detect failures in progress and point you straight to the root cause, providing you with sufficient lead time to schedule corrective maintenance before catastrophic failure with minimal disruption of your operations. 

Trico provides over 50 standardized laboratory tests for industrial lubricants, fuels, coolants and greases. Whether you are starting a fluid analysis program or improving an existing program, we will help you customize a test suite that will maximize the benefit of your predictive/preventive fluid analysis service.

Why Trico?

Trico has the highest number of dedicated staff with the best training and education in the business. Our experienced Lubrication Program Managers assist customers with oil analysis services to ensure an effective proactive maintenance monitoring program that includes:

  • Experienced laboratory and analytical staff ensuring high quality and timely information
  • State-of-the art laboratory instrumentation utilizing applicable ASTM and ISO standards for producing reliable test data
  • Customized testing programs optimizing the value of individual fluid condition monitoring services
  • On-site program set-up, support and oil analysis training seminars for maximum value of test and analysis information
  • High quality supplies and hardware for consistent, repeatable sample collection
  • A complete analysis report that includes all information relevant to the type of fluid tested. Each report contains ratings, recommendations, supporting text, tables, and/or an image providing a complete picture of a machine’s operating condition through Orbital
  • Easy-to-read, plain language reports that are easily deciphered throughout the organization
  • Easy-to-distribute PDF condition reports can be accessed from Trico’s password protected Orbital portal
  • ISO 9001:2015 certified and ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited to ensure proper quality control
  • Intensive quality assurance checks in-house and with external resources such as ASTM’s PTP program
  • MLT/MLA certified lubrication program managers assigned specifically to your account to assist you with your reliability program needs
  • Follow-up activity driven by Trico when maintenance is warranted


  • Evaluates the chemical contamination of the oil
  • Determines the usability of the oil
  • Determines the dissolved elements and concentration of additives
  • Estimates the usable life of the oil
  • Determines optimum oil change intervals
  • Time and labor costs saved due to extended oil change intervals
  • Improved reliability due to early warning and detection of faults
  • Peace of mind knowing that equipment is operating optimally

Trico is committed to providing quality oil analysis services. To meet this high level of quality our lab is ISO 9001:2015 certified and ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited which means we implement a quality system that is aimed at improving our ability to consistently produce valid results for our customers. ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is an International Standard designed for the accreditation of Testing and Calibration Laboratories. It includes quality management system requirements along with technical requirements to ensure that each laboratory is equipped to perform particular tests and calibration activities. The accreditation offers the following benefits:

  • Demonstration of a well-established quality management system producing reliable and competent test and calibration results
  • Reduction of the amount of regulatory assessments required
  • Competitive advantage in the marketplace
  • International recognition of test and calibration reports


Stop doing Oil Analysis . Start doing Oil Intelligence!

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