mineral oil

[oonal]

Dear all,

We has been using mineral oil in our ammonia compressors, we want to use "so" due to mo's poor performance.

Can we use syntetic oil in our systems, create some problems ? ( Leakage etc.)

[Grizzly]

Dear all,

We has been using mineral oil in our ammonia compressors, we want to use "so" due to mo's poor performance.

Can we use syntetic oil in our systems, create some problems ? ( Leakage etc.)

Oonal.
Please take advise from your supplier as you can use certain Synthetic oils in a system that has previously had mineral in it.
But beware as a lot of them have a cleaning agent / properties.
This can lead to various issue that have been discussed at length on the forum before.

If you fit the wrong oil you will have all sorts of issues.
So play safe and seek expert advise.
From experience it is beneficial to change over
As oil consumption ( less carry over) and therefore the amount you use are both significantly reduced.
Grizzly

[josef]

Good to write what the compressor and oil you use

[RANGER1]

I think synthetic oil is overated , especially mobil .
Unless you can get it at a very good price , why bother .

[brian_chapin]

Last year I had problems with a system concerning oil. Essentially after 6 months the oil would rapidly rise in viscosity from ISO68 to ISO90. We eventually resolved this issue with the use of 5 micron absolute filters and the replacement of the mineral oil with a Frick synthetic. I've not seen a viscosity increase in the new oil in over a year and the particle counts on our oil samples are greatly improved. Frick was easy to work with even though this system did not use Frick compressors.

[Stormy]

Howdy,

If you are using napthenic mineral oil and you decide to change to a mineral hydrotreated parafinic or synthetic oil, it is advisable to change the neoprene seals & o-rings as the napthenic oils cause the elastomers to swell. When the new oil is introduced it will allow the elastomers to shrink back down close to their original size and MAY cause leaks.

To my knowledge there are two basic types of sythetic oil; Alkybenzene and polyalphaolefin. I do not know how either of these would interchange with a napthenic oil, but I do now if it is AB the elastomers would possibly shrink here as well when used with a hydrotreated parafinic oil.

When switching oil brands it is always a good idea to completely drain the separators and clean out as much of the old type oil as possible, even if it is the same type oil.