Tag Archives: Lubricating Oil

What Does “Oil Filtration” Mean?

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At first glance, the question “What is oil filtration” seems to be easy to answer.  There are however, no hard and fast answers to this question  because of the great amount of variety of oil found on the world oil market.  If for a moment you were to put aside the broad variety of oils on the market, we can answer the question in the following way:

Oil filtration is a method of removing contaminants either in a suspended state either to protect the equipment, or to extend the service life of the oil.  

Let’s discuss it in more detail.

What does filtration mean?

There are two types of oil filtration:

  • Primary purification; and
  • Secondary purification;

Primary purification is used to protect equipment.  The filtering devices are mounted by the equipment producers. From a technical point of view, this type of filtration is realized with a by-pass valve that lets the oil flow past and through the valve.  This device removes impurities of more than 25 microns.

This kind of filtration is called “coarse” filtration due to the size of contaminants being filtered.  The primarily task of this kind of filtration is to prevent equipment damage by coarse particles.  The filtering devices are mounted in the lubrication circuit of the equipment or in the delivery line that leads to the lubrication point.  Sometimes they are be mounted in the return pipeline that goes from the lubrication point depending on the equipment manufacturer’s design and engineering concept.

Filters are usually made of porous materials.  The internal bypass valve opens when filters become saturated with contaminants and/or when pressure exceeds preset limits.   Non-filtered oil then flows out of the filter and is circulated into the equipment.

A secondary filtration is applied in order to extend the service life of oil through by purifying and restoring the oil’s performance characteristcs.  Often, a secondary filtration method is called “oil purification.”  The main benefit of this kind of filtration is that it extends the service life of the oil as well as the equipment.  Sometimes, producers provide equipment with a built-in secondary filtration system, but often secondary filtration is considered to be an optional pice of equipment.

The following are the most widespread methods of secondary filtration:

  • Centrifuge filtration;
  • Magnetic and vacuum cleanings;
  • Dehydration; and
  • Application of filtering materials.

Secondary filtration is able to clean oil to the lowest ISO purity class standard.  Even if seconday filtration systems are in place, it is not recommended to change or remove the the primary filtration system mounted by the equipment manufacturer.

GlobeCore has a wide spectrum of filtering systems designed and intended for the purification of lubricating oils and fluids.  These systems provide for the service life extension of oil as well as the oil-filled equipment.

Taking into consideration the high prices for oil filled equipment and the cost of oil changes as well as possible downtimes, it is reasonable to mount GlobeCore’s secondary filtration units on your existing equipment.

Recycling of Used Lubricating Oil

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Almost every production process results in waste products that can be used as raw materials for some other form of new production.  The diminishing supply of oil resources will result in the recycling of industrial wastes in order to get new raw materials.

Such a term as ‘used lubricating oil’ (ULO) can be found in scientific publications, but  what does it mean?

ULO is oil which previously had been in some type of industrial service and, as a result, became contaminated by physical and/or chemical impurities.   The main difficulty is that when the oil was in service, some contaminants (water, dirt, metal particles, and chemicals) made the lubricating oil unfit for use.

Nowadays, ULO is one of the most common technogenic wastes that can cause serious environmental problems.  The statistics show that the spent oil makes up about 20% of the total amount pollution found in surface water.

The recycling of used lubricating oil is of great importance because other ways (dumping or incineration of wastes) may lead to even greater environmental problems that result in great financial expenditures.

It is worth noting that the recycling methods must be chosen in such a way that they do not constitute threats to the biosphere.  If you have read publications, dedicated to recycling of used lubricating oil, you may come across various terms such as recycling, purification, or regeneration.

The term ‘purification’ means a continuous or periodic processing of  lubricating oil using such units as sedimentation tanks, filters, centrifuges, or adsorbers.  An important point is that the final product of the purification process does not always match the quality of fresh oil.  The purification may be followed by decoloration of used oil, but sometimes the performance characteristics may be below the acceptable range.  Creation of some circular contours may be necessary to purify used oil without its discharge from the oil filled equipment.  This procedure may be applied to engine, turbine, industrial as well as all kinds of transformer oils.

The term ‘regeneration’ usually means the procedures, aimed at reclamation of used oil’s performance characteristics to those of the initial product.

Regeneration is a set of more complex physical and chemical processes such as coagulation, adsorption, or sulfuric acid refining.

The de-sludging, filtration, centrifugation and vacuum processing are the major methods of the used oil reclamation process.  More complex physical and chemical methods are applied if the oil is very contaminated or very old.  The on-site regeneration of used lubricating oil can be very cost effective.

GlоbeCоre has developed and is still producing a variety of mobile oil stations in the  CMM , CFU and CMM equipment lines.  GlobeCore’s modern and efficient oil procesing equipment allows the equipment owners to extend the service life of oils and thereby greatly reducing the costs of new replacement oil.

GlоbeCоre produces equipment of German quality, which is recognized in more than 70 countries of the world.

A proper choice of oil purification equipment allows equipment owners and operators to solve a wide range of tasks that greatly benefit their production processes.

Many countries have practiced a method of separate collection of used oil that allows the companies to get a high-quality product, as well as a minimum amount of waste products from the regeneration and recycling processes.

It is therefore, the problem of collection and regeneration of used lubricating oil is of vital importance nowadays.  If performed properly, the cost for regenerated oil may be reduced by 40-70% as compared with the new oil.