11/27/2019 Oil Filter Carts: A Technical Overview

Oil Filter Carts: A Technical Overview

Jonathan Trout, Noria Corporation
Tags: oil filters
Oil filter carts are a portable way to filter new and used oil, take oil samples,
and transfer oil to and from storage containers and machines. Below, we discuss
how to select, set up and use an oil filter cart.

What Is an Oil Filter Cart?

Oil filter carts are a portable way to filter multiple types of new and used oil, take
oil samples, and transfer oil to and from storage containers and machines. Oil
filter carts are now considered a necessity when it comes to having an effective
lubrication program thanks to their many benefits and uses. Filter carts can be
customized to fit any plant or manufacturer's specifications and uses. Most filter
carts include an oil sampling port with a bypass valve (discussed below) to let
lubricants circulate or be transferred without being filtered. A reliable filter cart
also includes a warning when the unit is saturated or needs to be serviced. Other
benefits and uses of oil filter carts include:

Transferring lubricants to storage containers

Transferring filtered oil to a machine
Cleaning stored lubricants

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Achieving new oil cleanliness standards

Reconditioning or decontaminating lubricants currently in use
Draining used oil from equipment
Providing contamination control functions like hose cleaning, power flushing,
directional wand flushing and line flushing
Oil filter carts might be overlooked when it comes to new oil, but they offer many
benefits when handling and storing it. Filtering new oil is always considered best
practice, especially when the oil has been stored for over a year or has been
stored outside.

Overall, filter carts are designed to be multifunctional, helping you easily transfer
multiple types of oil and decontaminate new and used oil to meet viscosity and
ISO cleanliness standards.

Selecting an Oil Filter Cart

The benefits of using an oil filter cart are numerous, but if you don't select the
right one, you'll negate all of them and end up costing yourself money, time and
manpower. It's important to consider a few things before you begin shopping for
an oil filter cart.

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1. Target cleanliness: The most important part of any filter or filter unit is
which contaminants are being filtered out. Know what your oil cleanliness
targets are, which pieces of equipment you'll be using with the filter cart and
to which types of contamination the equipment has historically been
exposed. A good rule of thumb is for your finest filter to be around 3 microns
for hydraulic fluid and around 6 microns for gear oils.

Most modern oil filter carts use two filters, one

for coarse particulate and one for fine
particulate. This saves the lifespan of the fine
particulate filter.
ISO 4406 is the cleanliness code rating
standard. This standard looks at particle count
micron levels of those greater than 4, 6, 10, 14,
21, 38, 70 and 100 microns. ISO 4406:99 is the
standard for fluid cleanliness. For this standard,
a code number is assigned to three micron
levels: greater than 4, 6 and 14 microns.

While ISO codes show you whether the oil has

reached target values, it doesn't do much in the way of showing trends.
Therefore, ISO standards are great for setting key performance indicators
(KPIs), but they should not be the primary measurement for evaluating used
oil. All filter cart pumps have a minimum and maximum viscosity range, so
be sure you specify the type of oil you'll be using with your filter cart. As you
can see from the general target cleanliness level guidelines below, as
viscosity increases, cleanliness levels decrease.
2. Types of oil: The type of oil inside your machine plays a significant role in
determining which oil filter cart you should buy. Oil filter cart pumps are
designed for different viscosity levels. For example, if you try to pump
viscous oil quickly, you'll likely encounter air bubbles forming inside the
machine which damages the pump and oxidizes the oil. It's important to
know the ISO VG (viscosity grade) oil rating for each type of oil you'll be

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filtering through a filter cart. Most plants use multiple oil filter carts for
various applications due to the different types of oil they use.
3. Flow rate: If you had to choose the most important aspect to consider
before buying a filter cart, knowing the optimal flow rate would be it. It all
comes back to money. More powerful oil filter carts cost more, so buying
one with more power than you need means you're overspending. If your
filter cart's flow rate is too low, you won't clean your oil enough in the allotted
time, which could lead to machine damage.

You should be able to pump up to 10 percent of your machine's reservoir

volume per minute. You can also calculate flow rate by multiplying the oil
volume by the number of times you want it to pass through the filter and
then dividing that number by the number of available minutes or seconds.
Most suppliers have standard filter carts with a flow rate of 5, 10 and 15
gallons per minute (GPM). Filter carts for hydraulic fluids with an ISO VG of
less than 68 usually have a flow rate of 2, 5, 10 or 20 GPM.
4. Intended use: As mentioned earlier, routine filtration isn't the only
application for modern oil filter carts. You can employ them for oil sampling,
transferring oils and more. Many of these alternate uses might require a bit
of customization to the filter cart. Oil sampling from a filter cart, for example,
requires installation of a bypass valve so you can bypass the filters and get
a true representation of the oil inside the machine.
5. Place of use: While oil filter carts are portable for most applications, you
might need to use them on an elevated machine or one located on
extremely rough terrain. In these cases, you should consider the weight of
the filter cart or choose one that can be carried. Consider the power source
as well. Most oil filter carts are electric, but some use an air-driven motor,
which is good for areas with high levels of dust.

How to Properly Set up an Oil Filter Cart

As we touched on earlier, oil filter carts are used for multiple functions and are
customizable to meet these various applications. When setting up your filter cart
for use, consider these important factors:
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Filter selection and run time: If you've ever changed the air filter in the
return duct of your home, you know there are numerous air filter types and
sizes, each with a different filter performance rating (FPR) and minimum
efficiency reporting value (MERV). These ratings are intended to show the
size of particles the filter will filter out. What many people don't realize is that
if you have an older heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) unit,
your system might struggle to pass air through a fine particulate filter.
Similarly, filters for oil filter carts come in multiple sizes, and even those with
the highest efficiency rating may be too fine to decontaminate your lubricant
properly.

Filters are made so the fluid being passed through them is stripped of
particles greater than the pore size of the filter material. During this process,
however, a pressure differential is created due to the filter material's pore
size and surface area, the fluid's viscosity and the number of contaminants
already captured in the filter.

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Oil filter carts generally have two types of filters – one is a coarser filter and
the other is finer. To select the proper filter for your oil filter cart, you need to
choose one based on the viscosity and temperature rating of the oil you'll be
filtering. Even small temperature fluctuations can have a big impact on
viscosity. For example, if a gear oil with a viscosity of 400 centistokes (cSt)
at 100 degrees F is filtered at 68 degrees F, the viscosity nearly doubles.
Manual filter bypass: A bypass valve installed on your oil filter cart has
multiple uses. The first use directly relates to the pressure differential
caused by the oil passing through the filter. If the pressure is too high, the
bypass valve will open, allowing the oil to bypass the filter. This is why
selecting the right filter is important. Additionally, installing a bypass filter on
your oil filter cart enables you to take oil samples from your machinery for

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testing. Manually turning on the bypass valve lets your oil sample bypass
the filters, giving you a true representation of the oil in your system.
Quick connects: Ensuring your oil filter cart is set up with quick connects
instead of drum wands greatly helps with controlling contamination. Drum
wands are difficult to keep clean and require opening the machine to use,
allowing airborne contaminants to enter the machine. Using quick connects
lets you keep the machine closed during filtration. You can install different
types of quick connects on multiple filter carts, making sure each filter cart is
being used for the specific type of oil for which it was intended. Using quick
connects of different types, sizes or colors makes it easy to keep cross-
contamination at bay.
Oil sampling valve: One or more oil sampling valves should be installed for
convenient oil testing.
Identifying and warning indicator: Visual indicators like differential
pressure gauges tell you when to change the filters. Additionally, it's a good
idea to get a filter cart with a digital, light-emitting diode (LED) warning
indicator for low, medium and high contamination levels. Many digital early
warning indicators can sync up to self-diagnostic software to display any
indication of particle detection. This software is typically an optional feature.

How to Properly Use an Oil Filter Cart

Filtering or transferring oil using an oil filter cart allows you to perform the
process while the machine or equipment is still running. One of the main
purposes of utilizing an oil filter cart is to control contamination. When you use a
filter cart, oil cleanliness is diluted by the dirty oil in the sump, since you're taking
oil from the dirty sump, filtering it and returning it to the dirty sump. To combat
this dilution, the amount of oil in the tank must pass through the filter
approximately seven times to get the same cleanliness you would get from a
single-pass filtration system. The filtration time calculation looks like this:
Filtration time = (Oil Volume / Pump Capacity) x 7

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For example, if you have a 40-

gallon tank and a filter cart that
pumps 5 gallons per minute, you
need to run the filter cart for 56
minutes to equal a single-pass
filtration (40 gallons / 5 GPM) x 7.
Below are common time
requirements to achieve certain
cleanliness levels (pre-calculated).
Oil filter carts use what's called
offline filtration, so machinery can
remain in operation while you filter
the oil or take a sample. Offline
filtration is a more modern
alternative to full-flow filtration. In addition to being able to filter and sample oil
while the machine is still running, you can use kidney-loop filtration if the
machine is down (hydraulic systems). Below are common ways to perform offline
filtration.
Kidney-loop filtration: Kidney-loop filtration is the best method of offline
filtering and can be done using a low- or high-pressure filter cart system.
Kidney-loop filtration for low-pressure systems (15-150 pounds per square
inch) and high-pressure systems (50-3,000 pounds per square inch) works
similarly in that a motor, pump and filters form an independent unit that can
run intermittently or continuously. You'll want a kidney-loop system with two
filters to be effective (one for large particulate and one for fine particulate).
As previously mentioned, flow rates vary widely, and your machine's flow
rate should be determined to select the right filter. For high-pressure
systems, it's a good idea to install a flow-control valve (0.5 to 2 GPM) to
reduce the pressure before the oil flows into the filter. Offline kidney-loop
filters offer a lot of advantages such as:

Continuous flow through the filter

Low pressure lets you use finer filters at affordable costs
Machinery doesn't need to be shut down to change the filter

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Flexibility
Can adapt to new oil and oil entering or leaving the reservoir
Lengthens pressure- and return-line filters
Offline filtration of high- and low-viscosity lubricants: When filtering
high- and low-viscosity oils through a filter cart, make sure you know the
target cleanliness level for the specific type of equipment on which you're
working. As a guide, a 10-micron filter is capable of producing an ISO
17/15/12 oil cleanliness level. If your optimum cleanliness level is less than
this, you can use a lower micron filter. Once you know your target level:
Make sure you're using a dedicated oil filter cart for the type of lubricant
you're filtering. This prevents cross-contamination.
Ensure you have pressure-venting valves installed for high-pressure
systems.
Confirm that the filter cart has bypass loops installed.
Install different types of quick connects on all filter carts to ensure each
filter cart is only being used with the oils for which they are specified.
Put the matching ends of all quick connects on the appropriate
equipment where they will be used. Using quick connects of different
types and sizes makes it impossible to connect the filter cart to the
wrong equipment.
Ensure you're using the right filter based on the viscosity and
temperature. A high-viscosity oil like an ISO VG 220 or greater requires
a low flow rate to avoid high differential pressures. It's also important to
know how the operating and ambient temperature can affect viscosity. If
the machine is located outdoors, assume higher viscosity in cold winter
months.
It's always good to keep in mind that differential pressure can be halved
by doubling the length of the filter element or putting two elements next
to each other. You can use a 3-micron filter with high-viscosity oils if the
temperature allows and your target cleanliness level requires it.
Most oil filter cart manufacturers offer filter carts specific to high- and low-
viscosity oils. This makes it easy to keep your oil filter cart setup straight.
For example, a low-viscosity oil filter cart will already have the correct filter,

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valves and pressure settings installed for use on machines with low-viscosity
oil.

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