Changing to New Formulated Turbine Oil

We at EPT Clean Oil received below message from a known Turbine oil manufacturer.

We developed New Turbine Oil products to meet performance levels of different OEMs. However, we want to be proactive and make sure we properly clean any system where these new products will be filled. We need to remove any potential varnish and other contaminants from the previous charge.

Here is EPT Clean Oil Answer on the technical question.

1/ The ideal method to remove varnish is to use the lubricant that created it.?Since varnish formation is caused when a lubricant becomes saturated with dissolved break-down products, the reaction can be reversed by desaturating the lubricant.?Our ICB filters ICB Ion-Exchange Filter | EPT Clean Oil has been engineered to carefully remove dissolved and insoluble breakdown products and returning the lubricant back to an unsaturated condition.?In this state, the lubricant will be in a state of disequilibrium which will then force any solid varnish deposits to be dissolved back into the lubricant, which would then be subsequently removed by ICB.?This process repeats itself in positive feedback loop until all deposits are removed.

2/ The desaturation occurs very quickly upsetting the equilibrium and removing varnish immediately.??MPC may even appear to increase as the lubricant removes the varnish deposits.?During this period monthly filter replacement is recommended to keep the lubricant in an unsaturated state so it is actively removing deposits.?While all systems are different regarding contamination level and varnish deposits, our standardized process is 3 months operating time, with 3 sets of filter changes.

The chemistry behind varnish formation and removal has implications for oil changes and flushes.

1/ Before a lubricant with high MPC is replaced, it is ideal to clean that oil so that the mechanical system can be cleaned before the oil is replaced.

1. Allows for a different brand or lubricant chemistry to be used.??Varnish can be difficult to remove when it was created from a different lubricant or when the lubricant chemistries are mixed.
2. Avoids the requirement for flushing in most situations.
3. This protects the new charge of oil, preventing any immediate additive loss when the new oil is added.

2/ We recommend that oil chemistries are not mixed.?In situations where the existing oil is discontinued, we recommend the existing oil and system are cleaned with ICB before the new oil is added.?This will facilitate removal of any existing varnish deposits before the chemistry is changed.?When oils are mixed we suggest compatibility testing per ASTM to make sure there are no issues.