How hot will my oil run?

It is so dependent on the application itself. Typically in the environment that we’re operating in, our lubricating oils are well below the temperature limits of the product itself. When you’re purely talking about temperature, you talk about a temperature that’s elevated enough that it starts cracking or breaking the molecule. It breaks it down into its carbon components. The temperature, however, also accelerates other chemical processes, particularly oxidation. When you get oil to a moderately high level, maybe 170°F (77°C), then you start having a dramatic effect on the life of the oil because you’re having a great impact on how fast oxidation occurs. If you didn’t have oxygen involved, you may be able to run the product up to 500-600°F (260-315°C) and not really see a degradation in the product itself for an extended period of time. An example of that is that we can take those same chemistries and put them in heat transfer systems for extended periods of time. Heat transfer systems run a lot hotter, around the 550-600° F (288-315°C) range,  and they are typically blanketed with nitrogen so there is no exposure to air and no source of oxygen for oxidation. At that level, the systems are running 550-600° F (288-315°C) and can run for extended periods of time, sometimes even multiple years. You’re testing it every once in a while and you don’t see the negative effects that you would typically see when oil is breaking down with the acid number going up, sludge and things like that. You may see a few things indicating some thermal breakdown, but you won’t really see the oil itself breaking down in the manner that you’re used to seeing. Whereas, if you take that same chemistry and put it into an air compressor with a lot of exposure to air, at around 200°F (93°C) , the oxidation is sped up so much that it is difficult to make the oil last even a year. Even with the best synthetics, in that environment, it is a challenge to last 8,000 hours or one year running time without the oil breaking down or the acid number increasing and the formation of sludge.