MBC information
Bacterial Contamination in Oil Systems
Microbe Monitoring.
In oil technology, microbes can be defined as comprising bacteria, yeasts and moulds. All these, when present, can attack additives in the oil and change them chemically so that they no longer function in the way intended and simultaneously there is a reduction in the quantity of additives present. In addition to the chemicals present in the oil emulsion, extra food can be provided by the addition of leakages of any fluids draining into the system. This additional food causes the microbes to multiply more quickly. Quick identification of the presence of bacteria will mean that the problem can be treated before the oil is degraded. Bacterial degradation can lead to corrosion, quality of machining/cutting, blockage problems and ultimately in ships, mechanical breakdown. When testing with dipslides in oil, dip the slide where possible into the water phase of the oil or preferably the oil/water interphase.
Aerobic
These exists mostly as small rods. They would almost certainly always be present in sumps and bilges. They are detected by the Aerobic Yeast & Mould Dipslide. The colonies are easily seen.
Yeast and Moulds
These are less common than bacteria, but are one hundred times larger than bacteria and, therefore, only 10,000 yeasts will attack the chemicals as much as 1,000,000 bacteria. They are more resistant to biocide attack than bacteria and it is necessary that the biocide used in the oil will kill these as well as bacteria. Ease of use and a wide range of applications make the Tektrak Dipslide range the ideal answer for service engineers and busy laboratories where speed and repeatability are primary requirements