You are on page 1of 2

GE Energy MID-TD-0000-6

GE Aviation May 2012

Appendix A6
Lubricating Oil Guidance for GE Aero Engines

This document provides the requirements and site-by-site basis is a requirement for
application guidelines for selection and use of some GE Aeroderivative products as
lubricating oils in GE Marine and Industrial specified in the applicable operation and
Aeroderivative applications. maintenance (O&M) manual.

NOTE: Industry standards are moving toward the A6-2 Applicable Documents
improvements offered by SAE AS5780. This
broadens the fitness criteria definition to include The following documents form a part of this
the improvements in traceability, change control, specification to the extent defined herein. Unless
and bench test standards. a particular issue is stipulated, the latest revision
shall apply.
Oil products continue to evolve and improve.
Customers should consult with oil suppliers A6-2.1 Oil Specifications
regarding the details of their product offerings.
MIL-PRF-23699 - Lubricating Oil, Aircraft
A6-1 Oil Specifications Turbine Engines, Synthetic Base

As a starting point, oils conforming to the specifi- MIL-PRF-7808 - Lubricating Oil, Aircraft
cations listed in Section A6-2.1 are candidates for Turbine Engines, Synthetic Base
use in GE aircraft derivative gas turbines. Please SAE AS5780 - Specification for Aero and
note, each of the specifications contain sub- Aero-Derived Gas Turbine Engine Lubricants
classes that differ in their performance goals. Fur-
thermore, oils conforming to the same specifica- A6-3 Recommendations
tion and sub-class are not necessarily identical in
every aspect of performance. For example, an oil A6-3.1 Oil Mixing
may be superior with respect to coking, but show
a relatively poor compatibility with O-ring mate- Oil mixing is discouraged because it creates a
rials, while passing the specification require- condition that has not been thoroughly evaluated
ments. Meanwhile other approved oils may be by testing and can create conditions that
superior in both respects. adversely affect lubrication.
As such, there are many factors that deserve con- NOTE: MIL-PRF-7808 oils are not compatible
sideration in order to narrow the selection. They with either MIL-PRF-23699 or SAE AS5780 oils.
include, but are not limited to:
A6-3.2 Material Compatibility
A particular oil product needs to be
listed on the Qualified Product List Oil specification MIL-PRF-23699 includes high
(QPL) for the specification. thermal stability (HTS) oil formulations designed
to resist degradation over extended periods at
GE prefers the 5 cSt grades conforming higher temperatures. The SAE AS5780 specifica-
to MIL-PRF-23699 STD or SAE tion includes high performance capability (HPC)
AS5780 SPC over the 3 cSt grade of oils. Service experiences with some HTS/HPC
MIL-PRF-7808. Approval by GE of oils in GE Aviation Products have demonstrated
use of oil to MIL-PRF- 7808 on a excessive swelling and softening of traditional

Change 7 A-35

GE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION - Subject to the restrictions on the cover or first page.

81&21752//(':+(135,17('2575$160,77('(/(&7521,&$//<
MID-TD-0000-6 GE Energy
May 2012 GE Aviation

AMS-R-83248 (FKM) elastomer seals used in the c. Corrosion issues


lube systems. The level of degradation caused by
some HTS/HPC oils is linked to service pressure d. Oil Property Stability and Perfor-
and temperatures. mance

Reference 1 provides an excellent description of 2. The oil manufacturer should show evi-
the chemistry and physics of this well-known dence of suitability for anticipated per-
industry issue. formance beyond 25,000 hours to
demonstrate to their prospective cus-
GE Aeroderivative engines continue to use tradi- tomers that these requirements have
tional AMS-R-83248 (FKM) seals. HTS/HPC been met.
oils being considered for use in GE Aeroderiva-
tive products must be reviewed by the operator Engine boroscope inspections, partial engine dis-
and oil supplier for compatibility with these assembly, used oil analyses and O-ring condition
materials in the particular engine type, environ- evaluation may be required to demonstrate that
ment, and type of service for which usage is being the above requirements are met.
considered.
The following oils have been widely used in GE
Aeroderivative Products with general customer
A6-4 Fitness Criteria satisfaction:
In order for oils to be considered suitable for use
in GE Aeroderivative applications, the following AeroShell 500TM (AS5780 SPC)
criteria must be met. AeroShell 560TM (AS5780 SPC)
At a minimum, the oils must be: BP 2380TM (AS5780 SPC)
1. Approved to MIL-PRF-23699 or AS5780. Mobil Jet Oil IITM (AS5780 SPC)
OR Turbonycoil 600TM (AS5780 SPC)
2. Approved to MIL-PRF-7808 (for exist-
BP 2197TM (AS5780 HPC)
ing successful applications. Not recom-
mended for future applications). Mobil Jet Oil 254TM (AS5780 HPC)

AND have demonstrated the following: The above list is not intended to be comprehen-
sive and does not imply any GE endorsement.
1. The Oil Manufacturer should demonstrate Ultimately, the operator and oil supplier are
suitability to the operator by evaluation of responsible for lubrication selection.
the oil for a minimum of 25,000 hours
under appropriate operational and cli- A6-5 References
matic conditions. Suitability should be
demonstrated with respect to: 1. SAE Technical Series 2001-01-2974, Fluo-
roelastomer Compatibility with Advanced
a. Seal material compatibility parity to Jet Engine Oils. E.W. Thomas (available at
MIL-PRF-23699 STD or AS5780 http://papers.sae.org/)
SPC class oils specifically relating to
AMS-R-83248 (Viton A) elastomer
seals
b. Coking

A-36 Change 7

GE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION - Subject to the restrictions on the cover or first page.

81&21752//(':+(135,17('2575$160,77('(/(&7521,&$//<

You might also like