Sludge and Varnish Protection
Sludge and varnish are major causes of wear, fatigue, and adhesion in high-performance machinery. The precursor of sludge and varnish is the oxidation of oil that can be caused by:
- Excessive heat, water contamination
- Aeration
- Metal particulate
These oxide insolubles are typically under one micron in size and are highly polar. Because of their charge, they naturally ground themselves to the internal surfaces of machinery. Once a sticky foundation has been laid, other particles naturally stick as well, and a varnished surface is formed. Sludge is created when water mixes with this sticky surface.
ISOPur attacks sludge and varnish by removing these highly polar sub micron particles. The BCA technology removes them so rapidly that they never have a chance to enter the machinery and find a grounding surface. The particles that do manage to get through on the first pass will not ground to the surface because of their balanced charge.
The prevention of sludge and varnish is obviously a bold claim – and very difficult to prove, since there are no international measurement standards. Therefore, ISOPur proves its capability to remove surface contamination using live field trials with actual customers.
In early 2001, ISOPur began a trial with a major global compressor manufacturer that was running at a live customer production facility. At the start of the trial, the bearing case was opened up and the varnish on the shafts and pads was photographed. The “Before” picture is below. See the shafts and pads with typical brown varnished surfaces.
Before ISOPur
In April 2001, an ISOPur purification unit was connected in a kidney loop onto the 150-gallon reservoir. Oil analysis revealed substantial fluid cleanup by May 2001. But the real proof came in late November 2001, when the compressor was opened for inspection.
After ISOPur
The result: the varnish had vanished.
Shafts that had been previously covered with brown varnish were now free of contamination. Journals that had segments of black varnish were either greatly reduced or completely clean. BCA had not only ultra-purified the oil, but had removed contaminants from nearly all of the internal surfaces of the compressor.