How to prevent oil foaming in industrial equipment?

How to prevent oil foaming in industrial equipment?

Foaming is one of the most frequent problems you can meet when using industrial lubricants. Foaming takes place when oil accumulates big quantities of air in the form of bubbles.

A certain quantity of foam always appears in the circulation system of turbines, but using a state of the art synthetic lubricant will make the foam disappear and will not damage the equipment.

However, when excess foam gathers in any part of the system problems like difficult oil circulation in the equipment will arise, which can lead to:

  • overheating
  • short-circuits
  • speeding up of component wear

Also, foaming can represent a safety risk when it overflows on the floor. Moreover, the quantity of air transported by the foam will degrade the oil faster because of the increased oxidation.

Even though foaming can appear for every equipment, the issue is more spread for applications that work in severe environments. For instance, wind turbines, the increased speed of the mechanism can involve a big air quantity in oil, which will encourage foam creation.

Frequent causes of foaming in industrial equipment

Should you see a very pronounced foaming, first of all you would need to determine its cause. Among the most common causes that lead to foaming are:

  • Oil contamination – no matter if it appears because of water or different solid particles (dirt, equipment dust etc.), the contamination will lead to excess foaming and a poor oil performance. Make sure that the industrial oil you use is changed regularly and is always kept clean.
  • Technical issues – excess airing of lubricant because of some faults of the equipment used lead to foaming. Periodically check that every component of the equipment works properly.
  • Mixing lubricants – lubricants components can interact resulting in damaging processes for the equipment. Thus it is recommended that you use the same type of industrial lubricant each time.

New industrial lubricant formulas with antifoaming properties

If 50 years ago mineral oils were used almost exclusively to increase industrial equipment performance, current formulas have been created for synthetic lubricants that are made of additives with excellent antifoaming characteristics. Thus, oil will last better and foaming will be reduced no matter the working conditions.

For instance, Mobil DTE Series 700 lubricants available in Romania through Star Lubricants have high antifoaming properties. Apart from this, lubricants:

  • Offer anti-wear and increased antifriction protection;
  • Are more resistant to oxidation;
  • Contributes to the productivity increase for gas turbines.

Industrial equipment maintenance is and will continue to be one of the biggest challenges for owners. Thus, experts are looking to continually create better and better synthetic industrial lubricants that successfully live up to this challenge.

In order to find out what type of oil suits your equipment, contact a Star Lubricants agent who will offer customized advice and will help you choose the right product to increase productivity of the industrial equipment that you own.