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Sodium contamination...(no not simple)

L lbdMember
Hi All

I have been involved with oil analysis for a number of years. I can usually find the cause of increased sodium levels in my sleep but...I have high sodium, 40 to 60 ppm (Only sodium nothing else)in a gearbox in a gold leaching plant. One of several identical boxes.
-It is not connected to any coolng systems or near corrosion inhibiters so Sodium from Glycol can be ruled out.
-We are nearly as far from the ocean as you can get on this planet, so sea water is ruled out.
-The lab samples are not touched by hand so that rules out salt from the lab techs fish and chip lunch.

Oil was changed and sodium was climbing again.

The only conceivable source is contamination from a break down of soduim cyanide from the process plant, some how. Has anyone else experienced sodium contamination like this before?

Look forward to any suggestions
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R renewaMember
I have seen high sodium in an industrial centrifuge with a screw style pump and a reservoir which held about 150L of hydraulic oil. In this case, it was a nickel processing plant with ammonium sulphate as one of the by products. It also contained fairly high levels of sodium.
The oil was filtered to remove some of the salt crystals and viewed under a microscope which showed crystalline structure. Also, the salt was extracted from the oil and dissolved to check pH - which was more on the acidic side in nature.
L lbdMember
Couple of good thoughts there, will have a microscopic look at a ample for crystal structures.

Doubt there would be cyanide vapour in the air as we work in this area, but dessicate filters would not be a bad idea to try. And I am in the process of making contamination control improvements, through out the company, with filtered breathers on the list any how.
R rttechMember
Hi LBD

We have seen the same and you can't manufacturer the Na out of thin air so must be from the plant,
fit a bladder bag breather to the breather vent and that will prevent the ingress,
And if the Na can get in then most likely dirt and debris are also gaining entry,
We have a written an instruction pdf of how to make bladder bag breathers and we have 10 year experience of attaching these breathers to drives and then monitoring after and they work 100% if you follow the rules.

email us on "lab@rttech.com.au" and request a copy and we'll pop it over to you.

Best Regards


Rob S
R robgundersonMember
I have run into this problem at our primary
crusher.The lab we use couldn't figure it out so
I did some research and found that we were
using Chevron Ultragear ISO 68.Ultragears' EP
additive package has Boron in it which is Borate.The Borate when it contacts metal creates
metal salts thus creating elevated sodium levels.We switched to a different oil with a
different additive without Boron and this problem went away.The oil we used was Chevron Gear Compound EP ISO 68.I hope this helps some,thanks , Rob G.
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