 Lube
and Hydraulic Oil
Oil is designed to perform several functions including lubrication
of moving parts, cooling, cleaning and corrosion control. Oil
companies continuously improve oils to meet engine manufacturer's
increasingly more stringent requirements. Service intervals have
increased from 8,000 miles to almost 25,000 miles for an OTR truck
in the last fifteen years. This has been accomplished primarily
through the increased quantities and quality of additives incorporated
into the oil. The base petroleum oil does not wear out. Instead
the additives are depleted.
Additives
Additives are products incorporated into the base petroleum oil
to actively combat contaminants. Oxidation inhibitors for example
are additives designed to slow the oxidation process while alkaline
detergents are additives designed to neutralize acids formed from
the oxidation process. The more contaminants present in the oil
the harder the additives work and the faster they are depleted.
At the point where the additives are overwhelmed by contaminants
and are fully depleted the oil will rapidly degrade. It is at
this point that an oil change is necessary to prevent extensive
damage to an engine.
Oxidation,
Nitration and Acid Formation
Oxidation is the primary cause in the degradation of oil. Oxidation
occurs when the hydrocarbons in oil combine chemically with oxygen
to form acids. Nitration similarly forms acids through the chemical
combination of nitrogen from our air with the hydrocarbons in
oil. Sulfuric acid is formed when sulfur oxides (a by-product
of the combustion process) and oil hydrocarbons are combined with
moisture. Nitric acid is formed when oil hydrocarbons and particulate
contaminants are combined with nitrous oxide a by-product of the
engine combustion process. As with most chemical reactions increased
heat and pressure will accelerate oxidation and nitration.
Contaminants
Soot is a major contaminant in today's engines. Soot levels have
increased dramatically with the mandated implementation of EGR
(exhaust gas recirculation) engines by the EPA. An average truck
engine today will generate approximately eleven ounces of soot
every 15,000 miles. Most soot particulate are ten microns and
smaller. Full flow filters are effectively capable of capturing
solid particulates down to twenty-five microns leaving vast quantities
of smaller soot particulate in the oil. These solid particulates of less than 25 microns eventually collect between the engine’s cylinders and pistons and cause cylinder sleeve scoring. Scored cylinders cause loss of engine compression. Loss of engine compression will cause the engine to be less fuel efficient, up to 5%, over the life of the engine in most cases. The same process is prevalent in hydraulic systems but it is environmental contaminants, and not soot, that are the catalysts.
Moisture is the second major contaminant in today's
engines. As a hot engine cools, moisture condenses out of the
air in the engine. Moisture increases the level of available oxygen
within the lubrication system thus increasing dramatically the
oxidation rate. This same moisture can combine with sulfur oxides
to form highly corrosive sulfuric acid. Eliminating sulfur from
fuel is virtually impossible through filtration but eliminating
moisture is not. Moisture will also increase the viscosity of
the oil thus reducing the lubricating attributes of the oil.
Effectively removing solid particulate contaminants
and moisture from the lubrication system will eliminate the catalysts
needed to start the oxidation and nitration process. The elimination
of oxidation and nitration will in turn eliminate the formation
of acids which in turn will eliminate the depletion of additives;
thus substantially extending service intervals.
Full
Flow and By-Pass Filtration
Full flow filters primary purpose is to capture the largest contaminants
and provide a continuous flow of oil to the engine. Typically
this rate is around fifteen to twenty gallons per minute. Typical
full flow filters provide effective filtration down to twenty-five
microns. By-pass filtration draws ten to fifteen percent of the
oil from the oil circulation system and sends it through a superfine
filter. The finer the filter the slower the flow rate; thus the
flow rate for a CTI filter capable of effectively filtering to
one micron is just three to five gallons per minute. This flow
rate is insufficient to maintain the proper flow of filtered oil
to the engine. Therefore the CTI by-pass filtration system must
be used in concert with an existing full flow filter.
CTI
Filter
The Cleantechnics International, Inc. filter is a unique patent
pending technology. The filter consists of a coarse media and
a fine media constructed in a manner that maximizes the load ability of the filter and its effectiveness to capture contamination.
Load
Ability
Load ability is the filters capacity to hold contaminants. The
CTI filter will hold up to two gallons of water or up to an amazing
twenty-two pounds of particulate contamination. No other filter
on the market can approach this capacity.
Effectiveness
The effectiveness of the filter is a measurement of what level
of particulate contamination is removed in a single pass through
the filter. Many filters claim to filter down to or below one
micron. Even a full flow filter that is effective in filtering
down to 25 microns will capture a one micron particulate from
time to time. The question that has to be asked is: How effective
is the filter at capturing particulate down to one micron in size?
The CTI filter is 99.5% effective which means that 99.5% of particulate
one micron or larger is captured in the first pass through the
filter.
Service
Intervals
Because of the previously discussed load ability and effectiveness
of the CTI filter; service intervals can be substantially extended.
We, for example, recommend a filter change service interval of
90,000 miles for an OTR truck. Because we are effectively eliminating
contamination the full flow filter no longer becomes clogged with
particulate contamination and as a result experiences a substantially
improved life. It is because of our filter's ability to remove
contamination that we can recommend the same 90,000 mile service
interval for the full flow filter as for the CTI filter. Through
the elimination of contaminants the additives are not depleted
and the oil does not degrade so we can recommend an oil drain
interval of an incredible 360,000 miles for an OTR truck.
Waste
Oil
Many truckers and fleet operators are challenged to dispose of
vast quantities of waste oil. By substantially extending service
intervals consumption of oil is reduced and waste oil is reduced
by an equal quantity. Installation of a CTI filtration system
is not only economically sound for you but is also economically
and ecologically sound for your country. Extended oil drain intervals
will reduce dependency on foreign oil and reduce the amount of
waste oil and filters deposited in landfills.
Installation
Installation of the CTI filter system is simple. The system is
an exterior mount and is usually bolted on the cab or the chassis
behind the cab. Our largest and most popular system is a one foot
by two foot pressure housing. It can be mounted horizontally or
vertically and requires an additional two feet of clearance so
as to be able to remove the filter cartridge. A supply oil line
is attached to one of the ports on the oil pump and run to the
pressure housing. A return oil line is attached to the pressure
housing and run to the oil pan.
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