Oil Centrifuge Filtration Systems
Oil centrifuge filtration is one of the most reliable and cost-effective methods for removing contamination from industrial lubricants and engine oils. By continuously cleaning oil while machinery operates, oil centrifuges help extend oil life, reduce wear, minimize downtime, and lower operating costs.
Are you disposing of perfectly good oil because of contamination concerns? There is a smarter solution. Oil centrifuge filtration allows you to continuously clean and re-use lubricants while maintaining optimal operating conditions for your machinery.
At Clean Oil Services, we supply advanced oil centrifuge filtration systems designed to remove soot, sludge, water and harmful contamination particles from lubricants while equipment remains in operation. Originally designed for engines, its use has expanded to all types of applications that require contamination control.
Oil centrifuge filtration is renowned for maintaining lubricants in a pristine condition, achieving results well beyond those of traditional filtration methods.
How Oil Centrifuge Filtration Works
Oil centrifuge filtration works by using centrifugal force to separate contamination from oil. Unlike conventional filters that rely on pore size, centrifuges remove contaminants based on density differences. Oil flows into a high-speed spinning rotor driven by oil pressure from the host machine. The rotor can spin at speeds of up to 7,000 rpm, creating centrifugal forces reaching up to 2000 times gravity.
As the rotor spins:
- Heavier contamination particles move outward toward the rotor wall
- Clean oil returns toward the centre of the rotor
- Purified oil flows back into the machinery
- Contaminants remain trapped until removed during servicing
This process continuously removes soot and abrasive contamination while the machine operates.
Why Oil Contamination is a Problem
Most standard oil filters are rated at approximately 30 microns, which is around half the width of a human hair. Particles smaller than this remain in circulation, causing abrasive wear throughout the system.
Soot particles generated in diesel engines commonly range between 0.5 and 2 microns in size. Soot and dust particles act like abrasive dust and contribute significantly to wear in engines, hydraulic systems, and gearboxes.
Oil Centrifuge filtration systems can remove contamination down to sub-micron levels, maintaining much cleaner lubricant conditions than conventional filtration alone.
Effect on Oil Additives
Oil centrifuge filtration systems remove particles based on density. Because modern lubricant additive packages are designed to remain suspended in oil, they are generally not removed by the centrifuge.
However, certain lubricants containing heavy metallic additives such as Molybdenum Disulphide may not be suitable for centrifuge cleaning because the heavier particles can settle and be removed from the lubricant.
Centrifuges are available in many sizes to fit all different sized engines. See the following guide:
Model | Flow Rate | Engine Sumps | Dirt Holding Capacity | ||
Ltrs/min | Gals/min | Litres | Gallons | Kg | |
OS020 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 3 | 2 | 0.2 |
OS030 | 6 | 1.5 | 20 | 5 | 0.3 |
OS060 | 10 | 2.5 | 50 | 12 | 0.6 |
OS100 | 15 | 3.5 | 70 | 17 | 1 |
OS200 | 20 | 5.0 | 100 | 30 | 2 |
OS400 | 50 | 13 | 140 | 35 | 4 |
OS600 | 70 | 25 | 180+ | 40+ | 6 |
Benefits of Oil Centrifuge Filtration Systems
- Continuous Oil Cleaning During Operation Oil centrifuges operate while machinery is in operation, allowing live oil cleaning without shutdowns or production interruptions.
- Extended Oil Life By constantly removing contaminants, oil service life can often be doubled or extended indefinitely depending on operating conditions and oil analysis results.
- Reduced Machinery Wear Cleaner oil reduces abrasive wear on gears, bearings, pumps and engine components.
- No Disposable Filter Elements Centrifuge rotors are reusable and washable, reducing landfill waste and ongoing replacement filter costs.
- Reduced Maintenance Costs Cleaner oil helps reduce downtime, component failures, lubricant purchases and waste oil disposal costs.
- Sub-Micron Particle Removal Unlike traditional filters, centrifuges are not limited by pore size and can remove extremely fine contamination particles.
- Water and Gas Removal Capability When combined with vacuum dehydration systems, centrifuges can also remove water and dissolved gases from lubricants. Consequently, this inhibits acid build-up, thus reducing lubricant degradation and depletion of additives.
- Industrial Applications for Oil Centrifuges Originally developed for diesel engines, oil centrifuge filtration systems are now widely used across industrial and heavy-duty applications including:
- Diesel Engines
- Hydraulic systems
- Turbines
- Heavy gear oils
- Transformer oils
- Industrial lubrication systems
- Mobile plant equipment
- Fixed plant machinery
- Mining and construction equipment
The centrifuge is available in a wide range of models and can be adapted to suit most diesel engine sizes. It is a highly regarded technology, sought after by many engine OEMs. Caterpillar, Mack, Cummins, MTU and Scania all use or supply centrifuges for their equipment, and large Wärtsilä engines are fitted with them as standard.
Extended Oil Drain Intervals
When used alongside a professional oil analysis program, oil centrifuge filtration can achieve extremely long oil drain intervals and, in some applications, indefinite oil drain periods on clean-burning engines using low sulphur diesel fuels.
This depends on maintaining acceptable levels for:
- Particle contamination
- Oil Viscosity
- Total Base Number (TBN)
- Diesel dilution
- Sodium contamination
Oil Centrifuges and EGR Engines
Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) systems significantly increase soot contamination levels in engine oil. To compensate, modern engine oils were developed with higher soot carrying capacity. However, oil centrifuge filtration systems continuously remove soot during operation, helping reduce abrasive wear and maintain cleaner oil conditions despite increased contamination from EGR systems.
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How Does a Centrifuge Work
Clean Oil Services centrifuges are designed to create centrifugal forces within a high speed spinning rotor. The rotor is driven by oil being delivered under pressure and ejected out through two jets, causing the rotor to spin at very high speeds.
The centrifuge relies on contamination being denser than the oil itself. Under centrifugal force, heavier particles migrate toward the outer perimeter of the rotor shell where they become trapped.
The oil return path remains toward the centre of rotation where gravitational forces are lower. Since the contamination particles are denser than the oil, they cannot migrate back into the oil stream and remain trapped inside the rotor.
This allows the centrifuge to continually remove soot, sludge, dirt and abrasive particles during normal machinery operation.
With periodic servicing the rotor is removed, cleaned and reassembled for continued service – no replacement costs and only 4 moving parts.
Normal oil filters usually have given sized holes in their mesh and will only remove particles from the oil stream which will not fit through the hole and then, under heavily contaminated flows, the particles can build up and block the filter, reducing flow until the filter goes into by-pass and doesn’t filter at all. Centrifuges are not limited to a pore size hence will remove particles to sub micron levels and can only block if the rotor is filled with contamination.
Originally designed for use on diesel engines, the oil driven centrifuge is a well a proven option which has been in service for over 40 years. Clean Oil Services have custom designed centrifugal oil filter systems to adapt to a wide range of applications other than engines including gear and hydraulic oil cleaning.
Cleaning Hydraulic Systems with a Centrifuge
When hydraulic oil is drained during servicing, a significant amount of contaminated oil remains trapped within in rams, hoses, valves and pipework. This residual contamination immediately affects the new oil. By continuously cleaning oil with a centrifuge while periodically operating the hydraulic circuit, the entire hydraulic system can be cleaned to a level cleaner than typically achieved through standard oil changes alone.
Lubemaster Oil Cleaning System
Clean Oil Services has developed the Lubemaster range of portable oil centrifuge filtration equipment for industrial oil purification and contamination control.
Lubemaster systems include:
- Portable live filtration capability
- Flow Rates from 10 to 70 litres per minute
- Vacuum dehydration for water removal
- 240, 415, 220v and 480v models
- Gyrotary pumps for high viscosity oils
- Capability to handle heavy contamination loads
- Suitable for hydraulic, engines and heavy gear oils
These portable systems allow operators to connect directly to equipment and clean oil while machinery remains operational.
When using for mobile plant plug in the 2 breakaways, and switch the unit onto dilate while the unit is being serviced. With fixed plant plug in and dilate while the equipment operates.
Oil Cleaning Centrifuge
For engine applications, Clean Oil Services can design and select from a wide range of centrifuges with capacities to fit almost any application for permanent installation. This technology typically doubles engine oil life and, in most applications, can extend it up to threefold.
Maintenance managers stand to gain significantly from using an oil‑cleaning centrifuge. It reduces expenses, enhances machinery life, and preserves cleaner oil integrity throughout your systems. The financial and environmental advantages make it an easy choice.
Model | Approximate Recommended Oil Sump | Dirt Holding Capacity | |
Litres | Gallons | Kg | |
OS020 | From 5 to 12 | 1 to 2.5 | 0.2 |
OS030 | From 12 to 25 | 2.5 to 5 | 0.3 |
OS060 | From 25 to 50 | 5 to 10 | 0.6 |
OS100 | From 50 to 80 | 10 to 20 | 1 |
OS200 | From 80 to 150 | 20 to 35 | 2 |
OS400 | From 150 to 250 | 35 to 60 | 4 |
OS600 | From 250+ | 60+ | 6 |
Oil centrifuges are high‑precision assemblies driven by oil pressure, spinning the rotor at up to 7,000 rpm. This high‑speed rotation generates centrifugal forces of up to 2,000 g, enabling the unit to perform its separation function. Contaminants denser than the oil are forced outward and adhere to the inner wall of the housing for easy removal.
Oil Centrifuge Servicing
Oil centrifuge servicing is straightforward and requires no replacement filter elements. However you still need to take care not to damage this precision-engineered equipment.
Basic Centrifuge Cleaning Procedure:
- Remove the top nut and cover.
- Lift the rotor clear of the shaft, being aware that oil may remain inside. Handle it with care to avoid damaging the bushes on either end.
- Unscrew the rotor nut, remove the rotor cover and deflector.
- Once opened, you’ll notice dirt adhering to the rotor cover. Remove the buildup and clean all components thoroughly.
- Reassembly is simply the reverse of the steps above. Ensure all location marks are aligned where applicable
- Return the unit to service.
- Sit back with a cold beverage and admire your work!
The centrifuge contains only a small number of moving parts, making it a durable and low-maintenance solution for long-term contamination control.
Why Choose Clean Oil Services ?
Clean Oil Services designs and supplies industrial oil centrifuge filtration systems for a wide range of applications throughout Australia and globally.
Our centrifuge solutions help businesses:
- Reduce oil replacement costs
- Lower maintenance expenses
- Extend machinery life
- Minimize waste disposal
- Improve equipment reliability
- Reduce machinery downtime
Whether you require a portable Lubemaster unit or a permanently installed centrifuge system, our team can recommend the ideal solution for your machinery and operating conditions.