Problems and performance requirements of screw air compressor lubricants

Problems and performance requirements of screw air compressor lubricants

Problems encountered by screw air compressor lubricants

Compressor network screw compressors (herein referred to as oil-injected screws) encounter problems such as wear, corrosion, bearing and rotor failure, shortened life, and air quality. Screw air compressor oil faces the following challenges:

--Higher compression chamber temperature, the possibility of rotor and bearing failure increases the oil film thinning, causing wear problems, accelerating the oxidation/aging of the lubricant, producing paint film, shortening the life of the lubricant, reducing compressor efficiency, and increasing energy consumption - easy to produce Oxidation tendency. Lubricating oil sprays into the compression chamber and exists in the form of mist. The surface area is greatly increased. It is fully mixed with high-temperature compressed gas. The highly oxidizable lubricating oil is repeatedly heated and cooled, and is susceptible to metal-catalyzed oxidation of dust and impurities in the air source. The influence of the oil becomes dirty, and the impurities are catalyzed by aging and deterioration

The main forms of screw air compressor oil oxidation are:

-Paint film (surface of the screw), the oil film is not easy to form, aggravates wear and may jam the screw

-Sludge: block the oil pump, the oil filter, damage the flow and lubrication performance of the lubricant, and cause rust and wear on the compressor components

-Increase in viscosity: change the oil after exceeding +15%; increase in acid value: corrosion, shorten the oil change interval. Generally no carbon deposit problems

- Moisture condensation

Causes corrosion problems; leads to emulsification, reduces lubrication performance, shortens the life of lubricating oil, and exacerbates wear problems-rust problems (due to dust, compressed air sources, etc.)

Cause wear and corrosion problems, shorten the life of the rotor and bearing

Accelerate oxidation and shorten the life of lubricating oil. Foam problems. Difficulty in separation of oil and gas, increased oil content in the air, increased oil consumption, decreased lubrication performance, and increased wear and tear of compressor components - air quality problems/oil content quality and performance of oil-gas separators, foam problems, oil consumption screw formula

The performance of air compressor lubricating oil requires sufficient amount of lubricating oil, and the formed oil film is sufficient for lubrication. Lubrication performance is not a major problem (generally speaking, there will be no wear problems due to insufficient lubrication performance of new oil)

　-- Proper viscosity: cooling and sealing, common viscosity is 46cSt and 32cSt, also used

- Good anti-oxidation performance: reduce paint film and sludge problems (which will reduce compressor efficiency)

- Anti-emulsification: prevent the generation of emulsion, destroy the lubricating performance and increase oxidation

- Low volatility: reduce fuel consumption and oil content in the air

- Anti-foaming performance: avoid the decrease of lubrication performance and the difficulty of oil gas separation - Prevent rust: moisture exists to prevent rust