Operating machinery typically becomes contaminated with fine dirt, wear particles and broken-down additives, as well as moisture and atmospheric dust.

Leaking oil coolers can add significant amounts of water. Once contaminated with water or very fine dirt, the filters installed on most equipment cannot deal with either, and allow the contaminants to recirculate in the machines, causing further damage. Few OEM machine filter systems are able to remove the very small particles generated during this “degradation process.”

Good preventive maintenance requires that oil samples be taken periodically, and that oil quality be maintained to ISO cleanliness specifications.

The basic purification process at CHEM-ECOL consists of drying a batch of industrial oil (i.e. removing water to very low levels) and filtering it through extremely fine filters to remove dirt and other contaminants. The oil is then analyzed, and any missing additives are replaced.

While the process might sound simple, in practice there are many complications, and we have developed a number of sophisticated techniques over the years that enable us to clean and dry very dirty oils both efficiently and economically.

Our oil dehydration system is state-of-the-art, and our water removal rate far exceeds that of our competitors. We can remove up to 10% of free water in a single cycle, while our competitors will have to process the oil volume a number of times (typically five or six) to achieve the same degree of moisture removal.

Our filters are custom-built to our own demanding specifications, and provide close to absolute-one-micron filtration at high flow-rates. (We can provide absolute 0.45 micron filtration if required).

Having a lubricant chemist on staff helps us determine the best way to treat oils while maintaining the original additives at high levels. As the additives are the most expensive components in any oil, our processing is always done with a mind to preserving the existing additives so they do not need to be re-added later on.

For a detailed explanation of how our mobile purification service works, please click here.