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Lubricants for Industrial Air Compressors Priority: IV ECB AII0129/C1

PGC: 492 Date: 18/08/2006
Page 1/5

This ECB replaces the previous edition dd. 26/03/03, which is no longer
valid.

1. Subject

Atlas Copco lubricants are important Industrial Air aftermarket products. The Atlas Copco lubricants
are used by our own service organisation as well as by our authorized distributors.
To comply with all operating conditions and the multiple applications where our compressors are
operating, Atlas Copco has designed, tested and certified a complete range of lubricants to protect
and safeguard the operation of our customer’s investment.
It is our strong policy to recommend the use of Atlas Copco lubricants, both for technical and
commercial reasons. With a large installed base, lubricants represent a high potential for growth.

This document gives an overview of the Atlas Copco lubricant range for the Industrial Air
compressor range, presenting the technical positioning of the product range, together with the
scope of packaging available on this moment.

2. Industrial Air Lubricants Portfolio

Industrial Air GA compressors are designed with low oil volume and low oil carry over, compared to
products from competition, offering low operational cost as far as the lubricants are concerned.
In the majority of the markets, Roto-Inject Fluid - a 4K* lubricant - is the preferred choice for GA
compressors. It fits the schedule of the most commonly applied Maintenance Plans with filters and
oil separator replacement intervals.
In markets or applications with a demand for longer service intervals, Roto-Xtend Duty Fluid is
used as the preferred lubricant. Roto-Xtend Duty Fluid is recommended for operation in a
combination of high operating temperature and high humidity, for air treatment using membrane
application, for applications requiring longer service intervals, or simply where synthetic lubricants
are the market standard. Roto-Xtend Duty Fluid is used instead of HD Roto-Fluid Plus as “First Fill”
lubricant in our production lines of oil injected screw compressors (GA) from April 3 2006 onwards.

Despite the release of other products, Roto-Inject Fluid remains the major lubricant, applied in the
majority of markets, with a Service plan built around the standard service intervals corresponding to
the oil change recommendations. AIB and ASL will continue to contain all the maintenance
information related exclusively to the use of Roto-Inject Fluid.

In addition, the survey on next page shows the recommended lubricants for GAR, Z compressors
and piston compressors.

*
4 K is the term generally used for a lubricant with a foreseen lifetime of 4000 hours
CSP – CSS-JB DN 06 0080 01
 ECB AII0129/C1
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Roto-Inject Fluid (GA)

part number packing capacity packing type
2901 0245 01 5 litres plastic pail /light grey
2901 0522 00 20 litres plastic pail /light grey
2901 0045 01 209 litres metal drum /light grey
2901 0045 10 1000 litres ECO bulk container

Roto-Xtend Duty Fluid (GA)

part number packing capacity packing type
2901 1700 00 5 litres plastic pail /blue
2901 1701 00 20 litres plastic pail /blue
2901 1702 00 209 litres metal drum /blue

Roto-Food Grade Fluid (GA, Z)

part number packing capacity packing type
2901 0690 10 20 litres plastic pail /white
2901 0690 20 209 litres metal drum /white

Roto-H (GAR)
part number packing capacity packing type
2901 1006 00 20 litres plastic pail /grey

L Piston Fluid (LE/LT)

part number packing capacity packing type
1503 6142 63 1 litres plastic pail /black
1503 6142 60 5 litres plastic pail /black

Automan Fluid
part number packing capacity packing type
2901 1606 00 2 litres plastic pail /black
2901 1607 00 5 litres plastic pail /black

Roto-Z (Z)
part number packing capacity packing type
2908 8503 00 5 litres plastic pail /blue
2908 8501 01 20 litres plastic pail /blue
2908 8500 00 209 litres metal drum /blue

Above mentioned part numbers (except the p.n. of Roto-Z) belong to AII PGC 492. By applying the
RF for RG 0O, transfer prices for a particular Customer Centre are calculated.
 ECB AII0129/C1
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3. Oil change intervals and operating conditions

Roto-Inject Fluid (engineered mineral lubricant)

Application Ambient Element outlet Service interval (*) Maximum time
temperature temperature interval (*)
General purpose up to 25 °C up to 90 °C 4000 hours 1 year
lubricant 25-35 °C 90-100 °C 3000 hours 1 year
> 35 °C > 100 °C 2000 hours 1 year

Roto-Xtend Duty Fluid (engineered synthetic PAO lubricant)

Application Ambient Element outlet Service interval (*) Maximum time
temperature temperature interval (*)
• Heavy duty operating
conditions
Up to 25 °C Up to 90 °C 8000 hours 2 years
• Long service interval
25-35 °C 90-100 °C 8000 hours 2 years
application
> 35 °C > 100 °C 8000 hours 2 years
• Air separation
(membrane applications)

Roto-Foodgrade Fluid (engineered Foodgrade synthetic lubricant)

Application Ambient Element outlet Service interval (*) Maximum time
temperature temperature interval (*)
Brewage and food Up to 25 °C Up to 90 °C 4000 hours 1 year
applications 25-35 °C 90-100 °C 4000 hours 1 year
> 35 °C > 100 °C 2000 hours 1 year

The correction applied to the service intervals depending from the ambient temperatures or the
element outlet temperatures are valid for continuous operation under the stated conditions.

L Piston Fluid
Application Ambient Element outlet Service interval (*) Maximum time
temperature temperature interval (*)
LE/LT compressors all conditions 3000 hours 2 years

Automan Fluid
Application Ambient Element outlet Service interval (*) Maximum time
temperature temperature interval (*)
Automan Pistons all conditions 3000 hours 2 years

Roto-Z
Application Ambient Element outlet Service interval (*) Maximum time
temperature temperature interval (*)
Z < 55 kW (incl.) all conditions 8000 hours 2 years
Z > 55 kW consult AIF consult AIF consult AIF

(*) whichever come first

Important note: The intervals as presented in the tables above are valid on condition that the
compressor is operated above the condensation curve to avoid water accumulation in the oil. In
operating conditions resulting in condensation, the change intervals should be reduced
correspondingly. In case of doubt, oil analysis can be applied in order to determine the oil condition.
Consult ECB’s released in the past for condensation issues.
 ECB AII0129/C1
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4. Recognition

The new labelling of the Atlas Copco lubricant range is consistent and identified as below

5. Switch-over between different lubricants

All Industrial Air G compressors manufactured in our factory in Wilrijk, Belgium are subject to PDI
(Pre-Delivery Inspection). As part of that routine, the lubricant is factory-filled. Only USA and Japan
are factory-filled with Roto-Xtend Duty Fluid. For the other markets, Roto-inject Fluid is supplied.

When switching-over to a different lubricant, we advise to follow below recommendation in order to

achieve the best result:
• If the lubricants are fully compatible and if the application is not higher demanding, draining
is sufficient.

Draining procedure:
o Drain the old oil as complete as possible, using all drain plugs. Remember that
mixing of “old” oil with “new” oil must always be avoided as it reduces the lifetime of
the new oil.
o Replace the oil filter and the separator element.
o Fill the compressor with the new oil.

• For non-compatible lubricants, when switching to a higher demanding application (switch-

over to a lubricant with a longer lifetime or to foodgrade oil), or in case the replaced oil has
been operated far beyond its useful life, flushing is necessary.

Flushing procedure:
o Drain the old oil completely, using all drain plugs (see above).
o Fill the compressor with the minimum volume of new oil (usually half of the nominal
quantity) and run the unit for 30 minutes with a new oil separator and a new oil filter.
o Drain the oil again (see above) and fill the unit with the nominal quantity of new oil.
 ECB AII0129/C1
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Roto-Inject Fluid Roto-Xtend Duty Fluid Roto-Foodgrade Fluid

Roto-Inject Fluid flushing flushing

fully compatible
HD Roto-FluidPlus draining flushing
top-up possible
Roto-ExtremeDuty
flushing flushing flushing
Fluid
Roto-Xtend Duty
draining flushing
Fluid
Roto-Foodgrade
draining draining
Fluid

6. Oil Analysis
In case of severe operating conditions such as high operating temperature, heavy contamination,
dust, etc… we recommend to carry out an oil analysis to evaluate the impact of pollution on the
lubricant lifetime and to confirm that lubricant is not degraded.
Industrial Air has developed an oil sampling process for the European market, ROTOcheck,
allowing an analysis of the impact of external pollution, with multilingual on-line diagnostic.

7. Development
Lubricants have a vital influence on compressor performance in terms of efficiency and reliability.
Therefore, Industrial Air has been putting a lot of engineering efforts in the area of lubricant
development, which is an integral part of the compressor design process. Comprehensive tests
have been done in order to determine if the lubricant is in line with the most severe requirements.
The following are the most important properties that are verified before a new lubricant is being
released for the use in our G compressors:

• Oxidation resistance determining the expected oil lifetime in our compressors

• Oil/water separation properties to verify for proper operation of Atlas Copco oil/water
separation equipment (OSD / OSC)
• Dedicated test to verify the anti-corrosion properties of the lubricant to ensure the proper
protection of metal surfaces for long periods of standstill (transportation, storage, etc…)
• Material compatibility with all compressor components, ancillaries and line accessories that
are in contact with oil directly or oil residues in compressed air or condensate
• Sludge formation tendency to eliminate the risk of deposits in internal compressor
components that may lead to malfunction (e.g. clogged coolers, water separators, etc…)
• Lubricating properties to ensure proper lubrication of metal surfaces in air ends and
gearboxes.