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Professor Gill's Lab at M.I.T. |
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Industrial and scientific historians have traced the first use of lubricants (fats and greases) to Egypt, around 1650 B.C. However, it was the "Age of Steam Power," beginning approximately 1850 that spawned real demand for engineering advancements in lubrication and tribology. This gave rise to a need to characterize the physical and chemical properties of fluids used as lubricants.
If one had to define a precise time when oil analysis begin, it was perhaps with the experiments conducted by Sir Isaac Newton around 1687 that formed the basis for his hypothesis on viscous flow that evolved to fluid-film lubrication. But these were primarily scholarly investigations. It was not until 1831 when Charles Dolfuss demonstrated a vessel filled with a fluid with a small hole in its base, noting the time taken by the lubricant to leave the vessel, that the first test instrument for viscosity (and perhaps oil analysis) emerged. He referred to this time as the "index for its liquidity." He later called the instrument a "viscometre." By the 1880s Redwood, Saybolt and Engler had advanced similar viscometers deploying short-tube capillaries.
During this same period other lubricant analytical methods were also commonly used including; flash point, specific gravity and friction testing. Fueled by the industrial revolution, the surge of interest in oil and lubricants led to formalized studies and research programs in the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Before long, a throng of papers and books began to emerge into the technical literature dealing with lubrication, friction devices and physical properties analysis. One book in particular, published by Augustus H. Gill in 1897, entitled, "A Short Hand-book of Oil Analysis," is regarded as the seminal work on the subject.
Although a professor at MIT for nearly all his career, Dr. Gill's passion for oil and lubrication led him towards practical applications rather than theoretical pursuits. He is credited as being the first person in the United States (perhaps the world) to offer formal instruction in the analysis of gases and oils. During his tenure at MIT literally thousands of students attended courses on the subject from him.
It was because of Professor Gill's pioneering work in oil analysis and interest in disseminating practical knowledge through education and publications that the ICML chose to honor him by offering an annual award in his name. The inaugural Augustus H. Gill Award was presented at the Practicing Oil Analysis 2002 Conference and Exhibition in March.