Oil contamination by water and methods for its removal

where does the water in oil systems come from?

There are many ways for water to penetrate the oil. New oil may contain water as a residue from tanker cleaning or improper storage of drums and tanks. Sources of water in oil systems can include leaking cooling systems, water entering the oil system in cleaning or evaporation processes of equipment, penetration through actuator pistons or condensation, depending on ambient conditions and humidity, as well as absorption of moisture from the environment.

oil change or drainage?

Replacing failing oil with new oil involves incurring costs caused by the purchase of new oil, disposal of used oil, carrying out the replacement itself, and the need to take the equipment out of service. In order to reduce these costs, it is worth considering cleaning and treating the oil currently in use.

oil dehydration by centrifugation

Removing water from oil by centrifugation involves separating contaminants from oil using centrifugal force. For this purpose, devices called oil centrifuges are used.

Typowy moduł wirówki zbudowany jest z wirówki, pompy dozującej i pompy szlamowej, połączonych z systemem sterowania. The contaminated oil is pumped into a centrifuge drum rotating at high speed. Under the influence of centrifugal force, solid particles are pushed toward the walls of the drum and directed into the sludge tank, while liquid contaminants such as water are separated from the oil by density differences. The resulting light and heavy phases are separately discharged from the system.

oil dehydration using vacuum

When the removal of free water from the oil is insufficient, it is necessary to turn to methods of oil system care through vacuum dehydration.

Unlike other methods of water removal, vacuum dehydration allows both separated water and oil-bound water to be expelled from the oil system. Vacuum dehydration removes 100% of free and emulsified water and up to 90% of dissolved water. In addition, it also removes 100% of adsorbed gases and up to 80% of dissolved gases in the oil.

how does the vacuum drain the oil system of moisture?

In low-pressure conditions, such as high in the mountains, water boils at temperatures below 100°C. This is because as the pressure drops, the temperature of its boiling point drops. This physical phenomenon has been used in the technique of vacuum oil care and effective removal of water from oil.

The use of professional care units equipped with powerful vacuum pumps (working vacuum up to -0.9 bar) allows to effectively remove water from oil systems. Systems with working mediums with viscosities as high as 700 cSt remain within our scope of implementation.

1. 1. Initial water content in the oil system.
2. 2. Oil saturation point – maximum possibility of dehydration of the system by centrifuges, etc.
3. 3. The concentration of water we achieve through vacuum dehydration.
4. 4. After the oil cools down (e.g., after passing through a heat exchanger or after stopping the system), the water concentration achieved by vacuum dehydration, still remains below the oil saturation point, which prevents the formation of free water.
5. 5 After cooling the oil, without the use of vacuum dehydration, the amount of free water in the oil can significantly exceed the saturated state and appear in the most harmful forms (emulsified water and free water).

advantages of vacuum dehydration:

• Wysoka efektywność usuwania wody, a także dodatkowo gazów i cząstek stałych,
• Increase the reliability of the device and prevent unplanned shutdowns due to failures,
• Extend the life of the applied working fluid,
• Eliminate/minimize corrosion phenomena in the oil system,
• Reducing operating costs.

Oil conditioning is a permanent part of the Total Fluid Management service, comprehensively offered by the Ecol Company. These services are also performed on individual calls at locations not covered by the overall lubrication service. We provide customers with world-class solutions, performing water removal services with modern equipment, innovative technologies based on almost 30 years of experience in the industry.