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Acculube Synthetic Supplies

Synthetic gear oil is one of the market areas that Acculube has an extensive experience in. Acculube is Equipped with a thorough understanding of the products and services of the industry,and the ability to provide excellent service with the highest quality synthetic compressor oils and synthetic lubricants. By switching away from your O.E.M. compressor oils, and air-compressor filters you can immediately save up to 40% off your current cost on synthetic compressor oils, Synthetic Air Compressor Oils, and any other Industrial Lubricant. These products will be of the highest quality available, backed by some of the largest manufacturers in the business, and will be designed to extend the life and efficiency of your equipment, in a variety of industrial and manufacturing applications.

We supply top quality industrial supplies and maintenance products. Our replacement products such as filter elements meet and or exceed the original OEM quality and specifications and performance. Our Acculube compressor oils are compatible with original OEM oils, and also meet and exceed the OEM oil specifications and performance.

We have recently been certified as WBE (Women Owned Business) by the PUC's Supplier Clearinghouse and have obtained SBE, Small Business Certification.

We carry the following supplies:

 

  Synthetic Versus Petroleum Lubrication in Air Compressors 


    An Economic Justification

The use of synthetic lubricants in air compressor applications has become quite commonplace over the course of the past 20 years.  Cost saving benefits of extended life, reduced lubricant consumption, maintenance reduction, energy conservation, decreased oil for disposal, and increased parts of life have been thoroughly documented to the point that their validity cannot possibly be denied.  Synthetic compressor oils continue, however, to make up a small albeit increasing segment of the lubricants being used for air compressors.  The continued use of petroleum lubricants in the majority of these applications can only be attributed to a lack of understanding of the cost effectiveness of the synthetics.  The ability to look beyond the initial cost of the synthetics and to compare the resulting advantages will be rewarded with economical, operational, and environmental benefits.

It can be a difficult, if not possible, proposition to predict the precise economic advantage of switching to a synthetic lubricant in a specific application.  We can however, make use of the tremendous amount of testing which has been done to establish an average value for extended drain intervals, reduced lubricant consumption, and energy savings.  Once this has been accomplished and the synthetic lubricant has been justified merely on the basis of the savings in these areas, additional benefits can be considered.  While it is much more difficult to place a dollar savings value on areas such as longer parts of life, reduced deposit formation, decreased downtime, and lower maintenance costs, documented test cases and field experience insure these savings will materialize.

Extended Drain Intervals (Table 1, Part A)

The most obvious, concrete savings in choosing a synthetic lubricant are those resulting from the extended drain intervals achieved.  The exceptional oxidative and thermal stability of these synthetic lubricants will allow an average extension from 1,000 hours with a petroleum oil to between 8,000 and 10,000 hours when using a synthetic.  The use of a synthetic 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 petroleum oil for greater than 1,000 hours would be absolutely discouraged and probably cited as a source of equipment problems.

Savings resulting from extended drain intervals can be easily computed by multiplying the initial cost of the petroleum oil times a factor of eight to represent the eight times greater life of the synthetic 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.

Example:

  • Petroleum compressor oil cost per gallon   $ 4.00
  • Synthetic compressor oil cost per gallon   $ 20.00

Net Lubricant Cost Savings       ($4 x 8)/gal - $20/gal
                                             $32/gal - $20/gal
                                            $12 per Gallon

1. A compressor with a 20 gallon sump requirement would save $240(20 x $12) on the lubricant cost in an 8,000 hour operation period.

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

3.  A further resultant of the extended drain intervals is the economic and environmental benefit of less used oil for disposal.  Based on an average disposal cost for used lubricants of $0.50 per gallon, the savings in the disposal cost from the above example would amount to $70.

It would be hard to place a value on the moral obligation we each have to reduce waste for disposal.  The disposal of lubricants and their effects on our environment continue to be sensitive environmental issues which can be addressed by using synthetics

Reduced Lubricant Consumption (Table 1, Part B)

In fairness, the additional cost of the synthetic oil used for make-up purposes during operation versus the less expensive petroleum oil must also be considered.  This additional cost is, however, offset to a certain degree by the reduction of the amount of make-up lubricant required.  Field testing has demonstrated a 30 to 40 percent reduction in make-up lubricant required when using a synthetic oil.  This is accomplished with the extremely low volatility of the synthetic reducing the tendency of the lubricant to migrate downstream in vapor form.

Energy Saving (Table 1, Part C)

An often overlooked are of savings when choosing a synthetic compressor oil is in energy efficiency.  It seems to be no more than an afterthought until considering that a 7.5 percent energy savings on a 30 HP compressor can save over $650 at a conservative rate of $0.05 per kWh.  When one considers the potential energy savings in a power house full of air compressors, it can quickly become one of the foremost areas of operational savings yet to be addressed.

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 petroleum oil to a synthetic oil of like ISO grade.  Using a much more conservative figure of five percent (5%) and energy cost of $.08 per kWh (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 in a 150 hp compressor converted to synthetic oil would result in a savings of $3,579 per year (8,000 hours).

Additional Benefits (Table 1, Part D)

While it is irrefutable that there are additional advantages obtained from using synthetic oils and monetary savings associated with these advantages, there is not a reliable method of accurately prediction the savings for an individual application.  For this reason, it is probably more beneficial to be aware of the added benefits and potential savings of the synthetic oils beyond what are considered to be the absolute savings mentioned previously.

Some of these are:

  • Longer Parts Life       
  • Reduced Deposit Formation   
  • Better Low Temperature Fluidity 
  • Lowering Operating Temperatures
  • Improved Fire Resistance
  • Lower Operating Temperatures

 

Conclusion

The substantial body of data generated by compressor oil testing has produced a number of absolute as well as potential savings associated with using synthetic oils.  Beyond the economic advantages are benefits in the areas of safety, energy conservation, and environmental projection.  These savings as well as qualify their use as the most cost effective of operation an air compressor.

1. Short, G.D., "Development of Synthetic Lubricants for Extended Life in Rotary Screw Compressors", Lubrication Engineering, 40, 8, pp. 463-470 (1985)

2. Fairbanks, Donald R., "Diester Compressor Lubricants in Petroleum and Chemical Plant Service", Presented to American Society of Lubrication Engineers, 30th Annual Meetings, Atlanta, GA, May 5, 1975.

3.  Douglas, Patrick John, "An Environmental Case for Synthetic Lubricants", Lubrication Engineering, 48, 9, pp. 696-700 (1992).

Table 1

Computed Savings of Synthetic Versus PetroleumLubricants in Compressed Air Applications

A. EXTENDED DRAIN INTERVALS

Lubricant Cost Savings


Petroleum Oil Cost per Gallon _________________________$4 (a)
Petroleum Oil Changes Required per 8,000 hours_______     8 (b)
Effective Petroleum Oil Cost per Gallon (a x b)__________$32 (c)
Synthetic Oil Cost per Gallon _________________________$20 (d)
Synthetic Oil Changes Required per 8,000 hours___________1 (e)
Effective Synthetic Oil Cost per Gallon (d x e)_________   $20 (f)
Net Lubricant Savings per Gallon Using Synthetic (c-f)__   $12 (g)
Compressor oil Fill Capacity, Gallons_____________________20 (h)
Net Lubricant Savings per 8,000 hours (g x h)___________$240 (i)

Lubricant Change Maintenance Cost Savings


Additional Oil Changes Required Using Petroleum (b-e)_____7 (j)
Labor Cost per Oil Change_____________________________$40 (k)
Labor Cost Savings per 8,000 Hours (j x k)______________$280 (l)

Disposal Cost Savings
Additional Petroleum Lubricants for Disposal,
Gallon (h x j)________________________________________140 (m)
Cost per Gallon For Disposal__________________________$.50 (n)

Disposal Cost Savings per 8,000 hours (m x n)___________$70 (o)

B. REDUCED LUBRICANT CONSUMPTION

Petroleum Oil Required for Make-up
__________________per 8,000 Hours, Gals._______________10  (p)
Cost of Petroleum Oil for Make-up (a x p)_______________$40 (q)
Synthetic Compressor Oil Required for Make-up per
_________________8,000 Hours, Gallons (px.7)_____________7 (r)
Cost of Synthetic Compresssor Oil for Make-up (dxr)____$140 (s)
Additional Cost of Synthetic Compressor Oil
_________________Make-up per 8,000 Hours (s-q)_______$100 (t)

 

C. ENERGY SAVINGS
Compressor Horsepower______________________________150 (u)
Energy Savings Multiplier Based on 5%
Energy Consumption Reduction,  $.08/kWh__________$23.86 (v)
Total Energy Saving per 8,000 Hours
_________________(u x v)__________________________$3,579 (w)

Total Savings per 8,000 Hour Operation (i +l + o - t + w)

$4,069

 

D. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

  • Longer Parts Life
  • Reduced Deposit Formation
  • Better Low Temperature Fluidity
  • Improved Fire Resistance
  • Lower Operating Temperature

Table 2

Computed Savings of Synthetic oil Versus Petroleum Lubricants in Compressed Air Applications

  1. Extended Drain Intervals

Lubricant Cost Savings
Petroleum Oil Cost per Gallon                                     __________(a)
Petroleum Oil Changes
      Required per 8,000 Hours                                      __________(b)
Effective Petroleum Oil Cost per Gallon
      (a x b)                                                                   __________(c)
Synthetic Oil Cost per Gallon                                      __________(d)
Synthecic Oil Changes
      Required per 8,000 Hours                                             1        (e)
Effective Synthetic Oil
Cost per Gallon (d x e)                                                __________(f)
Net Lubricant Savings per Gallon
      Using Synthetic (c – f)                                          __________(g)
Compressor Fill Capacity, Gallons                              ___________(h)
      Net Lubricant Savings per 8,000 Hours (g x h)      __________________(i)

Lubricant Change Maintenance Cost Savings
Additional Oil Changes
      Required Using Petroleum (b – e)                          __________(j)
      Labor Cost per Oil Change                                     __________(k)
      Labor Cost Savings per 8,000 Hours (j x k)             _________________(l)
Disposal Cost Savings
Additional Petroleum Lubricant for Disposal,
      Gallon (h x j)                                                         __________(m)
Cost per Gallon for Disposal                                         __________(n)
Disposal Cost Savings per 8,000 Hours (m x n)             _________________(o)

  1. Reduced Lubricant Consumption

Petroleum Oil Required for Make-up per
      8,000 Hours, Gallons                                              __________(p)
Cost of Petroleum Oil for Make-up (a x p)                 ___________(q)
Synthetic Oil Required for Make-up per 8,000 Hours,
      Gallons (p x .7)                                                       __________(r)
Cost of Synthetic Oil for Make-up (d x r)                     __________(s)
Additional Cost of Synthetic
      Make-up per 8,000 Hours (s – q)                             _________________(t)

  1. Energy Savings

Compressor Horsepower                                              __________(u)
Energy Savings Multiplier Based on 5% Energy
Consumption Reduction, $.08/kwh                                      23.86 (v)
Total Energy Savings per
      8,000 Hours (u x v)                                                  ________________(w)

Total Savings per 8,000 Hours Operation  (i + l + o – t + w)= ___________

  1. Additional Benefits
  • Longer Parts Life
  • Reduced Deposit Formation
  • Better Low Temperature Fluidity
  • Improved Fire Resistance
  • Lower Operating Temperature.