By Jim Fitch
Practicing Oil Analysis Magazine
Introducing glycol into lubricating oils exposes your machines to a powerful and poisonous mixture of chemicals. Unlike other harmful contaminants such as water and dirt, the destructive potential of glycol can progress to massive failure of machine components in a narrow window of time.
There could hardly be a more important role for the oil analyst than the routine screening of lubricating oils for the presence of glycol. One large oil analysis laboratory that specializes in heavy-duty fleet equipment deployed in mining and construction reported that glycol was found in 8.6 percent of motor oil samples over a period of years – about one in 12 samples.