Water Removal

Often, the content of water in hydraulic oil is so high that some water removal can be performed by draining the water from the bottom valve in the hydraulic tank. Except for this control function you never really know the actual content of water in the oil in the pipe and valve system. In a static hydraulic system the water, often enters with the atmospheric air, meaning it is condensed water.

In places such as hydroelectric power plants and steam turbines, water is the most frequent contaminant. This can cause issues in the long run since, water in oil promotes oxidation, corrosion, sludge formation, foaming, and additive depletion, generally, reducing the oil’s effectiveness and lifetime.

Ocean Team’s vacuum dehydration systems is a great choice when you’re in need of water removal. It circulates hydraulic and lubricating oils in a loop or off-line circuit, where water, dirt, and gases are removed by the application of a vacuum and heat, even during production. Systems are available as installations or mobile solutions and are easy and cheap to use.

Our dehydration conditioning technology removes 100% of the free water and as much as 80% of the dissolved water, while it also removes 100% of free and entrained gases and up to 80% of dissolved gases. Particle removal is achieved using a 3 µm high beta rated (> 200) filter element to polish the fluid before being poured back into the system reservoir.

Where high amounts of water gets into oil, our dehydration systems can remove up to 25 liters per day. The actual water removal rate we can deliver depends on many factors, including system shape and size, oil type, temperatures, viscosity, water content, emulsion stability and additives. The vacuum dehydration system offers a wide range of potential savings:
– Extension of fluid life time
– Increased equipment reliability
– Improved productivity
– Reduced fluid changing times
– Minimised corrosion within fluid systems

If you have some experience in working with hydraulic equipment or water removal in general, it’s likely that you’ve come across a hydraulic system with cloudy oil. Oil becomes cloudy when it is contaminated with more water than its saturation level allows. The saturation level is the amount of water that can dissolve into the oil’s molecular chemistry and is typically 200 – 300 ppm at 68°F (20°C) for mineral hydraulic oil. So this means that if hydraulic oil is cloudy you can conclude that a minimum of 200 – 300 ppm of water is present. In some cases with hydraulic systems where the oil is cloudy, have been found to contain greater than 1% (10,000 ppm) water.

The fact that water and oil don’t mix is a well-known adage also in the lubrication business. Yes, water contamination can be problematic, but what is the best option for removing it? Through its many years’ of experience, Ocean Team has collected vast amounts of knowledge concerning water removal from hydraulic and lubrication oil systems. Because of this, we can perform water removal even during full production and we are able to provide vacuum dehydration units, heating equipment, and services to suit most applications.

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