Why clean oil?

It is estimated that 82% of rotating equipment wear is particle induced. In fact, oil can become contaminated before it even reaches your equipment. Particulate contaminants are everywhere. As lubricants are transported, pumped, transferred, and delivered, there are opportunities for contamination. Once lubricants are on-site, contamination sources can include breather vents, fill openings, oil containers, hoses, seals, and the equipment itself.

IFM provides oil filtration equipment, services, and rentals. We can help you define your oil filtration requirements, design your optimal system, install a new system, service your existing system, provide rentals or charge your system with pre-filtered lubricants.

How clean does oil need to be?

To maximize productivity and component life, equipment manufacturers machine component parts to precision levels. A component’s sensitivity to contamination determines how clean the oil needs to be.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: Oil needs a cleanliness level to protect the tightest machine clearance on your equipment. So, if a proportional control valve on a hydraulic system is the tightest clearance on a piece of equipment and the control valve component manufacturer requires an ISO Cleanliness Code of 16/14/12, then an ISO Cleanliness Code of 16/14/12 would be the target level for new oil.

Most equipment manufacturers and individual component manufacturers set ISO Cleanliness requirements for oils.

Target ISO Cleanliness Code
Current ISO Cleanliness Code   18/16/13 17/15/12 16/14/11 15/13/10
25/23/20 3.5× > 10× > 10×
3.5×
23/21/18 2.5× 3.5×
3.5× 2.5× 4.5× 3.5×
21/19/16 1.7× 2.5×
1.8× 1.5× 2.2× 1.7× 3.5× 2.5×
19/17/14 1.3× 1.2× 1.6× 1.5× 1.7×
1.2× 1.1× 1.5× 1.3× 1.8× 1.5× 2.3× 1.7×
  • Hydraulics
  • Rolling Element Bearings
  • Journal Bearings & Turbo Machinery
  • Gear Boxes & Others

IFM offers a variety of oil filtration solutions including:

  • On-Site Filtration Services
  • Filter Carts Sales & Rental
  • High-Flow Filtration Skid Sales & Rental
  • Pre-Filtered and Certified Lubricants
  • ISO 4406 / NAS 1638 Particle Count Analysis

Contact Us

Learn how IFM's team of experienced lubrication professionals can deliver TurnKey reliability to your equipment operations.

Contact IFM