Water Contamination in Oil
Ankrish Kapur
Director of Sales @ Kleenoil Filtration | Marketing Degree, Sales Management Head of Sales @ KleenCup
Your lubricating systems' accumulation of contamination is the main reason for lubricant failure, which in turn causes equipment failure. Contamination is the number one enemy of operating equipment, whether it is the contaminant itself that is causing the problem (for example, a particle gets trapped between two surfaces, causing a crack on the surface) or the contaminant that is causing the oil to prematurely degrade (water ingress can cause the oil to oxidise, which leads to oxidation, the formation of sludge and varnish, and can cause significant changes in the oil's viscosity).
Off late the number of accidents in manufacturing facilities on leakage of water into oil have been increasing due to old and unmaintained equipments.
Standing by our claim that in-depth filtration is the best and safest method of removing water from the oil we have also come to find that when there is large amounts of water which has either been dissolved or emulsified in the oil, the low vacuum dehydration technique is simply just more cost effective due its no consumable running method.
PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
Contaminated oil is drawn into the Kleenoil Low Vaccum Dehydration machine by a vacuum of 600 millibars. The oil passes through the in-line low watt density heater where the oil is heated to an optimum temperature of 66°C-70°C (depending on oil flash point capacity.
The oil then enters the distillation column where it is exposed to the vacuum using special dispersal elements.
This increases the exposed surface area of the oil
and converts the water to vapor form, which is then drawn through the condenser by the vacuum pump.
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The water-free oil falls to the bottom of the column and is removed by a heavy-duty lube oil pump. This pump forces the dry oil though a final particulate removal filter. Clean oil passes out of the unit, back to the reservoir – and into the system.
Effects of Water Contamination
Water is one of the most common contaminants in a fluid system and one of the most damaging. When water contaminates a system, it can cause serious problems such as:
Free water occurs when oil becomes saturated and cannot hold any more water. This water is usually seen as cloudy oil or puddles of water at the bottom of an oil reservoir. Water which is absorbed into the oil is called dissolved water. At higher temperatures, oil can hold more water in the dissolved stage due to the expansion of oil molecules. As the oil cools, this ability reverses and free water will appear where not visible before. In addition to temperature, fluid type also determines the saturation point for your system (see chart above).
properties, additive precipitation, and oil oxidation
Effect Of Water in Oil on Bearing Life
The LVDH is the only system, which can remove, water dissolved oil, thus restoring oil to its original properties.
It removes water/moisture to below 50% of the saturation point in oil at low temperature. (44-600C) Remove free, emulsified, and dissolved water by vacuum distillation & mass transfer – achieve overall content as low as 20 PPM
Remove entrained air and dissolved gases by vacuum distillation.
Though in depth filtration is the safest way to remove water from the oil, the non consumable factor in the LVDH is highly recommended for a cost effective solution.