If you didn’t happen to catch last week’s blog or want to jog your memory, click here. 

Last week we discussed how new oil picks up contamination on its way to your facility. This week we’ll continue our investigation of how your new oil isn't really clean. Let's take a look at a three more reasons your new oil continues to be contaminated as it reaches your distributor.

Reason #4: Placing the dirty oil into a bulk storage tank is (still) bad news.

Your oil moves a step closer to you as it’s delivered to your oil distributor. Your distributor will most likely store the oil in a bulk tank unless it was delivered in a drum.

Just like we mentioned in Part 1, placing the dirty oil into a bulk storage tank with other dirty oil is most likely the procedure here. Contaminated air from the atmosphere will be drawn into the fluid as a temperature equilibrium is reached.

If the oil was delivered in a drum it will face the same problems it faced when placed in the drum in Part 1. Changes in temperature will draw in air from the atmosphere. The atmospheric air will have particulate and contamination in it (just how much depends on the environment).

Reason #5: Tanker trucks (still) aren't clean. Neither are drums.

The oil is finally on its way to you for delivery, so you can breathe a sigh of relief, right? Wrong. How will the distributor get your oil to you? Most likely the same way the manufacturer delivered it to them: drums or tanker trucks.  

And with the tanker trucks, your oil is mixed with the contamination leftover from the last haul the tanker made.

Receiving drums? You know the routine from what we've already covered. We think you get the idea. But just to reiterate: water and particulate will enter the drums from the atmosphere as the temperature of the fluid changes.

Reason #6: Even though the oil is now in your possession, it's still not any cleaner.

Your oil is in your bulk tank or in a drum in your lube room. Are you pretty confident this oil is clean and dry and will stay that way while you store it? If so, you should reread this blog series from the beginning.

The oil has been stored for a while, but now it’s time for it to get in the game. The oil that started back at the manufacturer in Part 1 is finally going into your system. How are you going to get it there? Are you going to pump it into a dirty dispensing container? Will the container be open to the environment? How can you ensure you don’t pump the contaminant that’s settled in the bottom of your drum or tank into your dispensing container or equipment?

In order to ensure that the oil entering your system is clean, it must be filtered during every transfer from the time it is manufactured until it finally enters your equipment. Additional filtration through recirculation while the fluid is being stored as it makes its way to you would be even better.  

You may be thinking, “But I can’t control how the manufacturer, transporters and distributor handle the fluid! How can I overcome their practices to keep the fluid from wrecking my equipment?”

Well...it's actually pretty easy. 

 Learn how to get your new oil cleaner than ever.