Tag Archives: turbine oil recycling

Industrial Oils and Purification

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Industrial oils are used as a lubricant reducing friction and wear of parts and components in various industrial machines.  The main functions of this type of oil is anti-corrosion protection, dissipation of heat from friction parts, removal of contaminants and reduction of foaming.

Industrial oils can also be used as the base for hydraulic fluid, as well as grease, that extends durability and service life of industrial equipment.

Despite the fact that practically all industrial oils are thoroughly tested in laboratories before dispatch to the user, the oils will become contaminated during use and operation.  Industrial oil, just as with any other oil, can become contaminated by atmospheric oxygen, water and particulate matter.  Interaction with aggressive media may accelerate oil oxidation that is accompanied by the accumulation of even more unwanted contaminants in the oil.

Saturation of oil by contaminants degrades the oil’s performance.  Due to aging and contamination,  industrial oils lose the ability to efficiently dissipate heat and protect equipment from corrosion.

It would seem that the aging process is natural and nothing can be done about it except replacing the used oil with new and disposing of the old oil.  A practical operator however, will be concerned by the additional costs of used oil disposal, as well as the frequent cost of oil changes.

Fortunately, aging of oil is not all that critical with the advent of modern additives and oil processing equipment.  The aging process therefore, can be significantly slowed and the service life of the lubricating oil can be significantly extended.

It is however, necessary to regularly take oil samples to know and understand the oil’s condition and to detect and identify the contaminants degrading the performance of the oil and to purify the oil in a timely manner.

GlobeCore is one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of industrial, turbine and dielectric insulating oil purification systems.

The CMM-CM type units and  CFU-M filter carts made by GlobeCore are successfully operated in more than 70 countries around the world.  They are efficient for the purification and regeneration of industrial oils.

The ability to purify and regenerate industrial oil was made possible by using modern technologies and maximizing and customizing the processing operations for the individual client.

The CMM-CM units are designed for removal for water and solid particles from oil by using a special zeolite sorbent and subsequent reactivation of this sorbent in the system.

The CFU-M filtration carts are designed for removal of solid particles from industrial oil.  These units can purify the product in one cycle.

Both types are simple in service and operation and facilitate a significant extention of industrial oil service life cycle.

Oil filtration

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During operation, transformer oil accumulate contaminants, which can form various chemicals. These substances reduce the oil’s performance and are, of course, undesirable.

Operation of the transformer becomes unstable. To prevent this, transformer oil is filtered and purified. Some of the methods are discussed in more detail below.

The first stage of transformer oil purification is mechanical. This is a superficial treatment to remove particulate matter and water. The next step is deeper purification performed in vacuum with heating.

The first two stages are, in fact, preliminary. The main process involves various chemicals.

One of the methods is purification of oil with a 98% sulfuric acid solution.

In comparison to other chemical purification methods, the use of sulfuric acid has a significant drawback. Beside reacting with the contaminants, the acid also adversely influecnes the structure of the oil, making it somewhat unstable. Additional processes are required to resolve that problem.

The nature of selective purification is evident from the title. Speical solvents are introduced into the oil to remove specific impurities.

De-waxing is another widely accepted process. In this process, oil is treated with special solvents: acetone, toluene, bensol etc, to remove solid contaminants.

It should be noted that chemical methods influence oil’s stability, but extend the oil’s service life at the same time.

It should also be remembered that any purification process should end with finishing purification, closing the cycle of oil processing and filtration. This is usually done by contact method.

This means that the oil is mixed with special materials, usually clay or bleaching earth. The materials are then mixed and heated. Heating facilitates acviation of all sorbents in the clay.

These absorbents capture contaminants. Deep filtration separates oil from the clay. When selecting adsorbent, it is necessary to pay attention to the content of moisture. It should be suffucient to make production efficient and to make processed oil compliant with specifications.

The most interesting technology today involves the use of bleaching clays (Fuller’s earth). Globecore manufactures a range of CMM type units for filtration of various oils with the use of Fuller’s earth. The advantages of the design are the ability of multiple reactivation of the sorbent, mobility, simplicity of operation and high quality of the output product.

Downtime is significantly reduced by the ability to reactivate the sorbent without the need for frequent replacement, thus increasing process efficiency.

Reincarnation of the hydraulic oil lifecycle

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The lifecycle of hydraulic oil depends on several parameters which can extend or shorten the cycle. Some of these are viscosity, acidity and the amount of additives. Contaminating particles, free water, unfavorable operating conditions (temperature, loads and other conditions) all contribute to aging of oil.

Oxidation is further accelerated at temperatures exceeding 60C or in contact with some other materials. Presence of solid particles, especially larger than 2 micron, promote oxidation.

Contaminants are present in all hydraulic equipment. When the units are operated, friction causes additional solid particles and dust to enter the oil.

Therefore, to maintain high quality of oil and is operational parametes, it is important to protect its chemical composition, avoid overheating and protect the oil from water, minimize the amount of solid particles in the oil.

Oil filtration schedule is important to any industrial business. Filter efficiency depends on pore size. Large solid particles are retained by the filter as the oil passes through it, the smaller ones pass through the filter. Most modern filters successfully remove 1 – 5 micron particles.

Relative amount of solids increases as the size of the particles decreases. This means the oil will still be contaminated after filtration. The amount of contaminating particles will increase during operation and oxidation will be accelerated further.

Using the experience of many companies, it can be inferred that the dominating reason for malfunctions of hydraulic systems is related to contamination of the oil by solid particulate matter. Therefore it is extremely important to remove such contaminants.

As mentioned above, filtration alone is not enough. Microscopic particles pass through fine filters. Besides, water and air need other removal methods.

This is specifically what the UVR systems were designed for. Mobile or stationary design, direct connection to hydraulic systems for oil processing are just some of the features of this regeneration system.

Several filters, special pumps, heating and absorption allow removal of the smallest particles, as well as water and air from hydraulic oil. The sorbent media is can be reactivated shortly after running purification cycle is complete.

Oil purity regulations, savings on new resources and storage, unification of purification and filtration equipment are just some of the benefits of using the UVR type hydraulic oil purification system.