Reclaimed Oil?
In the past I have had many engineers ask me just how good is reclaimed oil? My answer is that it depends. When using reclaimed oil several things have to be taken into account.
1. It goes without saying that the oil must be PCB free. Only a small amount can contaminate anything that it gets mixed with. On this issue we must look to the future and assume that sometime any PCB’s will be totally banned and we will have to dispose of them. In that case there’s no need to create any additional problems by adding it to non-contaminated oil.
2. Where did the oil come from? Assuming that it is PCB free if it came from an OCB and has not had all of the carbon filtered out it may do more harm than good.
3. What is the before level of moisture in PPM. After?
4. How was the oil reclaimed? Was it just pumped through a filter press? Was it vacuum dried? Did it pass through a bed of active alumina or fullers earth? Know what the process is before you use it.
5. What is the history of the unit that it was in? Did it explode? Was it very old? Why was this oil available to reclaim?
6. How long since it has been processed and how was it stored?
These are just a few of the things that you should be thinking about before using or reclaiming oil. Properly reclaimed oil should perform as well or better than new oil if it has had the correct chemicals added such as oxygen inhibitors to slow down the oxidation process. DBPC is what has generally been used over the years. It has to be injected into heated oil as it will not dissolve into the oil at normal temperatures. Oil that is 20, 30, 40 years or older is actually a higher quality base product than the oil processed today.
A quick check of the internet can turn up several oil reprocessors that will come out to your site to perform the work. Since they usually come from quite a ways it takes quite a bit of oil to make it worth your while. You can always buy your own machine but unless you perform this function daily it’s best to leave it to the experts. If you do own your own machine you will find it harder not to cross contaminate your oils, another reason to leave it to those experts.
I have already mentioned PCB contamination in this article in addition to that danger you should also be aware of moisture contamination. Most processors won’t tell you that the adsorbent media that they use (fullers earth) can transfer moisture into the oil. In the reclamation process the oil first goes through a heating cycle, then it passes into a vacuum chamber that degasses and boils off any moisture that may be dissolved in the oil. The final stage for the oil is to be passed through an adsorbent bed of fullers earth to remove acids and sludges that have built up over time. If the moisture content of the fullers earth is greater than that of the oil…guess what! You’ve got it! The moisture level balances out and the oil can be returned with more dissolved water than it had to start with. This is not a good situation if you are having a tank of oil reclaimed. It’s downright disastrous if you are having the oil in a transformer reclaimed. When reintroduced into the equipment the moisture will immediately go into the paper insulation as it is much more hygroscopic than the oil.
BONUS QUESTION!!!!!
A question for those of you who are familiar with reclaiming transformer oil.
Name one of the ways to stop oil from foaming too heavily in the vacuum chamber.
A correct answer will net you 10 points!
BONUS QUESTION!!!!!
A question for those of you who are familiar with reclaiming transformer oil.
Name one of the ways to stop oil from foaming too heavily in the vacuum chamber.
A correct answer will net you 10 points!
I will continue information on reclaimed oil in my next post. I will also be dealing with energized oil processing.
If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.
If you haven’t yet purchased your copy of my gas analysis program now is a good time. Just fill in the data below. All of the comments that I have received have been positive so that’s a good endorsement from you the users.
Don't forget to leave any comments or suggestions that you may have. To contact me directly just email me at transformerbob@gmail.com. I want you to know that I do appreciate my loyal readers and I will continue to produce content that you are piques your interest.
Don't forget to leave any comments or suggestions that you may have. To contact me directly just email me at transformerbob@gmail.com. I want you to know that I do appreciate my loyal readers and I will continue to produce content that you are piques your interest.
Today’s Quote: “The towels were so thick there, I could hardly close my suitcase” – Yogi Berra
Best Regards,
Bob
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