Removing moisture from lubricating oils

Removing Moisture from Lubricating Oils

BioKem Oil Services have the manpower and equipment to perform turnkey hot oil flushing (HOF) and filtration services anywhere in Australia.

BioKem has the equipment and the know-how to perform on-site oil flushing and oil rejuvenation services. Are you having trouble achieving OEM Turbine or Compressor Start-up specifications?

Routine Filtration and High Velocity / Hot Oil Flushing Services after shutdowns and before commissioning are an important part of preventive maintenance for all rotational equipment and systems.

The damaging effects of particulate contamination have been well documented with regards to premature component wear and failure. One way to ensure optimal system cleanliness is to perform periodic flushing.

By circulating hot oil or a flushing fluid through the piping of a system at a very high flow rate, turbulent flow can be achieved, which dislodges particles that would otherwise cling to the walls during laminar flow.

The benchmark is a Reynolds number of 4000 or greater, essentially significantly greater than laminar flow for the oil.

Whilst the removal of particulates is an obvious solution, the removal of moisture and maintenance of a moisture-free environment for your close tolerance machinery also adds significant life to that equipment.

Moisture can resolve itself in lubricating systems creating unwanted side effects such as corrosion, varnishing, and impingement. Corrosion is selfexplanatory and need not be addressed here, whereas the creation of varnish is an entire subject on its own.

In general, varnishing of internal components of a lubrication system can decrease tolerance clearance, cause valves to stick, and ultimately gum up lube channels and pathways with a significantly detrimental effect. The effect of varnishing is estimated to cost industry billions in lost time and maintenance.

Moisture can also be destructive in other ways, causing micro-impingement as it is compressed by the surrounding oil and responds by momentarily turning to super-heated steam. This steam has the effect of etching the surfaces of the very surface it should be protecting.

Either way the presence of moisture in lube oils is not wanted.

BioKem oil Services has a range of service and static solutions to remove moisture and particulate matter from oil. Vacuum dehydration is very effective as warms the oil, and increases the surface area of the oil under a vacuum to flash off the unwanted moisture.

The process will also remove unwanted entrained and dissolved gasses. Through this process the oil is not stressed and retains the valuable as extreme pressure (EP) and extreme wear (EW) additives.

What Next?

Should you require a professional service to filter or HOF your circuitry, spools, coolers, lube tanks, manifolds then contact BioKem Oil Services www.biokem.com.au