Replacing Mineral Hydraulic Oil with Biodegradable Hydraulic Oil
With more emphasis on protecting the environment natural esters or Biodegradable Hydraulic products are expected to grow in popularity over the coming year for several reasons: Please call for our latest prices.
Blended brand new to order – Quality Assurance policy BER 1400/2002
- Lower prices — As they become more widespread, the price of natural esters will fall and become more competitive.
- Cultural change — Many hydraulic system owners or OEM’s have been waiting to see the markets approach to natural ester fluids. As more help and guidance becomes available from industry standards groups, a larger user base will be become leading to biodegradable natural esters being widely available as the mainstream choice of hydraulic fluids.
- Environmental awareness — The Government regulating bodies will in time incorporate the fire and environmental safety advantages of vegetable fluids into environmental codes with preference given in oil spill situations to fluids that are highly biodegradable, resulting in lower spill cleanup requirements and costs for users.
Use and handling
In general, vegetable based hydraulic fluids are used in the same way as Standard mineral hydraulic oil or fluids.
We strongly suggest never to mix Mineral & Biodegradable products. Vegetable based fluids (Biodegradable) should be segregated from other fluids and clearly marked to avoid accidental contamination. Although natural ester fluids are as physically compatible with some other fluids, it is not advisable to mix natural esters with mineral oil or synthetic fluids.
So how do I change the oil without dismantling machine?
- Step 1: Drain the hydraulic system of the hydraulic oil a high percentage will remain in pumps, pipes, filters, valves and cylinders & safely dispose of the fluid.
- Step 2: Fill the hydraulic system to the normal level with the new biodegradable Hydraulic Oil work the system for a very short period 2 or 3 minutes.
- Step 3: Repeat the above two steps until the 2% limit is reached. This process is necessary to flush and clean the hydraulic system. We recommend 3 or 4 drains to make sure the 2% limit is reached.
Other recommendations when changing to biodegradable hydraulic oils
- Clean the empty tank and dismantled components if possible during the procedure, this will reduce the number of times draining is required
- Replace all filters.
- Remember if you change back to mineral from biodegradable you need to go through the same draining process
Conclusion
- When switching from mineral oil to biodegradable hydraulic oil, the industrial standard stipulates a maximum mineral oil pollution degree of 2% when mixing biodegradable oils and mineral oil.
- Handling and maintenance procedures for natural esters are not significantly different from practices that are used for mineral hydraulic oils.
- Natural esters are expected to grow in popularity and market share in coming years as environmental and fire safety regulations become stricter.