Oil Contamination

Oil Contamination

Fuel/diesel
Why clean oil? Particles Water Varnish
contaminatioons

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Oil Contamination

Typical CJCTM Applications

• Steam & Gas turbines

• Gear Boxes e.g. Wind turbines
• Bearing lube oil
• Hydraulic systems
• Control systems
• Marine engines
• Diesel purification

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Oil Contamination

DURING OPERATION - LUBRICATION OIL IS CONTAMINATED BY:

PARTICLES, WATER, ACID, OXIDATION…
REDUCING LIFETIME
80% OF OIL RELATED SYSTEM
RELIABILITY BREAKDOWNS ARE DUE TO
CONTAMINATED OIL
AND EFFICIENCY

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Oil Contamination
INTRODUCTION CLEAN OIL IS A MUST THE PROBLEM TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP

Inline Oil Filtration

PARTICLES

WATER
Speed and level of
oil contamination
VARNISH

AIR

Is insufficient and expensive

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Oil Contamination
INTRODUCTION CLEAN OIL IS A MUST THE PROBLEM TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP

Speed and level of Wear on Costs for Total Cost

oil contamination equipment Downtime
Oil
of Ownership
Components
Sludge handling

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Oil Contamination

Five Types of Oil Contaminants

Fuel Water Particles Sludge/varnish Air

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Oil Contamination

What is a micron?
Human hair:
1 micron (µm) = 1 / 1000 mm 70 micron

The most damaging

particles, those in
clearance size, cannot
be seen in oil with the
naked eye Smallest visible particle
for the naked eye:
40 micron

3 micron – bacteria

1 micron - tobacco smoke 7

Oil Contamination

Lubrication film thickness

Dynamic film thickness:
Bushings, journal and sleeve bearings: 0.5 – 100 microns (mostly <10µm)
Hydraulic cylinders: 5 – 50 microns (mostly <10µm)
Engines, ring/cylinder: 0.3 – 7 microns (mostly <4µm)
Servo, control and proportional valves: 1 – 3 microns
Rolling element bearings, ball bearings: 0.1 – 3 microns (mostly 1µm)
Pumps, fuel injectors, needle valves (common rail): 0.5 – 5 microns (mostly 3µm)
Gears: 0.1 – 1 micron
Dynamic seals, lip-seals: 0.05 – 0.5 micron
Source: Noria Corporation

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Oil Contamination

Particle Contamination

Smallest visible particle

for the naked eye: Human hair:
Tobacco smoke: 40 µm 70 µm
1 µm
Bacteria:
3 µm
Illustrative: Size in microns
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 70
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Oil Contamination

100%

90%

80% Small particles are often the biggest problem!

70%

60% 70% of particles in oil are 1-5 microns

50%

40%

30%

20%
Only 10% are larger than 10 microns
10%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 70
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Oil Contamination

100%

90%

80%
Oil groove
70%

60%

50%

40% Roller
Ø 10 µm
30%
= metal to metal contact
20% = particle pulverization
10%
Ø 1-5 µm = micro pitting
Only small particles of 5-10 micron get trapped between moving surfaces
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 70
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Oil Contamination

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%
Damage caused by micro particles
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Oil Contamination

Particles and Where do the particles in the oil come from?

• Built-in – assembly or transport
Water in Oil • Delivered in new oil and fuel
• Generated – from wear and oxidation
• Ingress – from the environment
• Faults in oil handling

Where does the water in the oil come from?

• Condensation – temperature changes and humidity
• Ingress – leakage from seals / cooler or accidents
• Delivered in new oil / fuel (MGO etc.)
• Faults in oil handling

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Oil Contamination

Particle Counting Number of particles per 100 ml fluid after their size ranges

Example: More than Till ISO Class

Examples of particle counts according to ISO 4406 A typical sample from new 8,000,000 16,000,000 24
and NAS 1638 together with photos of the millipore bulk oil, contains in every 4,000,000 8,000,000 23
membrane patches 100 mL of oil as follows: 2,000,000 4,000,000 22
1,000,000 2,000,000 21
ISO 11/9/6, NAS 0 ISO 18/16/13, NAS 7 500,000 1,000,000 20
450,000 particles ≥ 4 micron 250,000 500,000 19
19
130,000 250,000 18
120,000 particles ≥ 6 micron 64,000
64,000 130,000
132,000 17
17
ISO 13/11/8, NAS 2 ISO 20/18/15, NAS 9 32,000 64,000 16
16,000 32,000 15
14,000 particles ≥ 14 micron 8,000 16,000 14
14
4,000 8,000 13
In the ISO classification
table, the oil sample 2,000 4,000 12
ISO 15/13/10, NAS 4 ISO 23/21/18, NAS 12 1,000 2,000 11
has a contamination
class of 19/17/14 500 1,000 10
250 500 9
130 250 8
64 130 7
32 64 6 14
Oil Contamination

Water in Oil

Cavitation, micro-pitting and hydrogen-embrittlement

Oil pressure in load zones:
From 20 bar (journal) up to 35,000 bar (ball bearings)
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Oil Contamination

Water Contamination
Water in oil causes:
Poor lubrication, micro-pitting, cavitation, hydrogen-embrittlement, corrosion,
oil degradation/oxidation, varnish, additive depletion, bacteria growth etc.
Micro-pitting is a superficial damage of the load zones e.g. bearings, gears, pumps.
Small holes first appear in the rolling zones and then progress
Source Danish Wind Power Academy

Micro-pitting on Micro-pitting, first stage

gear along the
rolling zone Micro-pitting, final stage
Hydrogen-Embrittlement 16
Oil Contamination

Aging and Degradation of Oil

Zn Oxidation by-products
Wear particles Acid
P Depletion of
Water additives Sludge
S Varnish

Air Heat
Base oil oxidation

PARTICLES 17
Oil Contamination

Varnish
When oil degrades it changes composition and functional
properties while unwanted products are formed:
• Acid compounds
• Soft contaminants also called sludge/resin (dissolves in warm oil)
• Varnish (deposit formation)
• Viscosity is most likely increasing
Source: OELCHECK GmbH

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Oil Contamination

Consequences of Varnish
• Valve sticking → loss of control
• Filter blockage → restriction of oil flow
• ”Sandpaper surface” →
increased component wear
• Ineffective cooling →
increased oil temperature
• Lacquer baked onto bearings →
flow restriction, increasing temperature

Loss in availability, loss in revenue,

frequent oil changes, increased maintenance etc… 19
Oil Contamination

What happens inside the fiber

Cellulose Step 1:
Some hot oil
fiber systems require
Adsorption to cooling for
fibre surfaces effective
varnish removal
utilizing CJC
filters
Step 2: (VRU option)
Absorption

Step 3:
Micro absorption

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Oil Contamination

In-line Filtration Depth Filtration

Typical Pleated Pressure Filter CJC™ Cellulose Depth Filter

for In-line Installation for Off-line Installation

Two-disc filter sandwich

Filtered oil returns

Element to the oil circuit
End cap seal
housing

Core Unfiltered oil

enters Unfiltered oil
Medium support under pressure enters
under pressure

Pleat Filtered oil returns

support to the oil circuit
band
Function
End cap

Function

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 Oil Contamination

Descicant breather
LUBE & COOLING CIRCUIT (in-line filtration)
Percent of particle sizes

In-line filter Breather

=/> 6-30 microns
10 micron inline
5 15 50 micon

OFF-LINE FILTRATION CIRCUIT

3 micron offline
Percent of particle sizes

Cheapest way to
TOTAL PROTECTION
OFFLINE DEPTH FILTER =/< 3 microns
5 15 50 micon
INLINE + OFFLINE 22
Oil Contamination

Removes
particles

Retains
oil oxidation
products

Absorbs or
separates
water

CJC filter insert

Depth Filtration
Cut-though of
CJC Filter Insert
type HDU A27/27

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