Lube Oil Combats Wet, Corrosive Gases in Reciprocating Compressors:

In the oil field, sour, wet, corrosive gases are a part of the reciprocating compressor scene.  Their disastrous effects result in downtime and replacement costs for expensive compressor components, corroding profits in the process.  You can't clean up the gas, so what can you do?

A specially-formulated lubricating oil now allows refineries, fertilizer manufacturers, gas-gathering systems, and CO₂ plants to fight back.  Gibraltar A-105, manufactured by Gibraltar Lubricating Services, Inc., is specifically designed to combat the effects of wet and corrosive gases on compressor components.  Additives in the oil help scrub corrosives from the process gas which would otherwise attack critical cylinder parts such as piston rings, cylinder liners, piston rods, packing, and valves.

Gibraltar A-105's additive package is designed specifically for use in reciprocating compressors subjected to sour, wet, high-pressure gases.   The additives play important roles specifically aimed at water-displacement, metal-wetting, anti-corrosion, anti-foam, anti-emulsion, and viscosity index improvement.  They perform 8 basic functions:

1. Combat corrosive attacks by hydrogen sulfide, wet carbon dioxide, and other sour-gas components.
2. Resist washing of entrained water by using an organic metal-wetting and water-displacing additive (no lard oil).
3. Promote rapid glazing of metal surfaces, even with abrasive scratching.
4. Allow quick release of entrained gases by an anti-foam additive.
5. Resist catalyst poisoning effect generally associated with compounded oils.
6. Eliminate sludging and deposit formation on compressor discharge valves, piping, and aftercooler tubing.
7. Permit easy separation of oil from gas stream.
8. Provide a high-viscosity index oil for better viscosity at the extremes of cold and hot temperatures.

Additionally, the multi-viscosity feature of Gibraltar A-105 does the following:

• Provides a thick oil film between sliding metal parts.
• Resists the dilution effects of liquid hydrocarbons.
• Counteracts reduction of viscosity due to gas absorption at high pressures.
• Provides an oil of sufficient body at high operating temperatures.
• Allows a flat viscosity curve for maximum body at high temperatures as well as best flowability in cold weather.
• Provides low-temperature pumpability in winter operations.

Gibraltar customers report tremendous success with A-105.  A Gulf Coast refinery recounted that severe wear forced replacement of piston rings, cylinder liners, piston rods, packing, and valves every 10 days to 3 weeks.  After Gibraltar A-105 was installed, the compressor life jumped immediately to 9 months, with some units running 2½ years between overhauls. Prior to the installation of A-105, a West Texas CO₂  facility had replaced 438 valves in 8 months due to corrosion and deposit formation.  After 16 months of using Gibraltar A-105, only 86 valves required replacement, and these were valves which were in use before the company switched to the Gibraltar A-105. 

These and other companies have discovered that Gibraltar A-105 does let them fight back against wet and corrosive gases!