Do you monitor the oil temp of your stationary air compressor? Ever notice that the oil runs hot? Are you spending more on oil-changes because of oil deterioration? Well you could save on oil changes and extend equipment life by switching to synthetic air compressor oil.

Using  synthetic air compressor oil has all of the following benefits; extended
life, reduced oil consumption, maintenance reduction, energy conservation, decreased oil for disposal, and increased parts-life.the use of synthetic air compressor oil continues to grow as companies look beyond the initial cost of the synthetic compressor oil, and compare the resulting economical, operational, and environmental benefits to those offered by mineral oil.

 The most obvious, concrete savings in choosing a synthetic air compressor oil are those resulting from the extended drain intervals achieved.  The exceptional oxidative and thermal stability of the synthetic air compressor oil will allow an average extension from 1,000 hours with a mineral oil to between 8,000 and 10,000 hours when using a synthetic.  The use of a synthetic air compressor oil for 8,000 hours will fall in the accepted recommendation of every major O.E.M. of rotary screw air compressors, while the use of a mineral oil for more than 1,000 hours would be advised against and probably cited as the cause of equipment failure.

Savings resulting from extended drain intervals can easily be calculated by multiplying the initial cost of the mineral oil times a factor of eight to represent the eight times greater life of the synthetic air compressor oil.  Subtracting the cost of the one fill of synthetic compressor oil from the cost of the eight fills of petroleum compressor oil will illustrate the net savings.

Here’s a hypothetical calculation to illustrate the order of the savings of synthetic air compressor oil over mineral oil:
Mineral compressor oil cost per litre           $ 4.00
Synthetic air compressor oil cost per litre     $ 17.00

Net synthetic air compressor oil Cost Savings       ($4 x 8)/lt - $17/lt = $32/lt - $17/lt

                                             = $15 per lt

1. A compressor with a 100lt sump requirement would save $1500 on the lubricant cost in an 8,000 hour operation period, switching to synthetic air compressor oil.

2.  The maintenance costs of the additional seven oil changes should also be considered.  Based on an average labour cost of $40 per oil change, these savings would total $280 (7 x $40).

3.  A further resultant of the extended drain intervals using synthetic air compressor oil would be the economic and environmental benefit of less used oil to be disposed of.  Based on an average disposal cost for used oil of $0.10 per litre, the savings in the disposal cost from the above example would amount to $70.

Reduced Lubricant Consumption

The additional cost of the oil used for top-up purposes during operation using mineral oil must also be considered.  Field testing has demonstrated a 30 to 40 percent reduction in top-up oil required when using a synthetic air compressor oil.  This is accomplished by the extremely low volatility of the synthetic oil, reducing the tendency of the lubricant to migrate downstream in vapour form.

Energy Saving

An often overlooked area of cost savings when choosing a synthetic air compressor oil is in energy efficiency. A 7.5 percent energy saving on a 30 HP compressor can save over $650, at a conservative rate of $0.05 per kWh.

A field test using over 30 different rotary screw and reciprocating compressors of different manufactures established an average energy savings of over eight percent when switching from a mineral to a synthetic oil of similar ISO grade.  Using a much more conservative figure of five percent (5%) and energy cost of $.08 per kWh (USA national average), one can generate a savings factor of $23.86 per hp per 8,000 hours (.7457 kW per hp x $.08 per kWh x .95 x 8,000 hours)

Example:  A reduction of 5.0 percent in energy consumption on a 150 hp compressor converted to synthetic air compressor oil would result in a savings of $3,579 per year (8,000 hours).

Additional Benefits

The following cost benefits of switching to synthetic air compressor oil, although well documented, will vary from case to case:
•    Longer Parts Life     

•    Reduced Deposit Formation 

•    Better Low Temperature Fluidity (Reduced start-up Torque = additional power saving)

•    Lower Operating Temperatures

•    Improved Fire Resistance

It’s clear that the overall savings achieved by using synthetic air compressor oil, far out way the initial outlay over mineral oil. And this gap is set to reduce even further over the next few years, as the price of crude oil increases.