Oil cooling removes heat from machinery and electrical components using oil as a transfer medium. Oil has a higher boiling point than water and is an electrical insulator. The process involves circulating hot oil to a cooling mechanism, dissipating heat, and then repeating the cycle. Mineral oils are typically used with additives to improve performance. Applications include transformers, machining operations, and automobile engines.
Oil cooling is the process of removing heat from machinery and electrical components with oil as the transfer medium. The process typically involves circulating the cold oil past the heat source, thus allowing it to absorb heat energy, and then circulating the hot oil into a cooling mechanism where it dissipates the heat. Oil is an ideal liquid cooling medium because it has a higher boiling point than water. Oils in cooling applications are typically mineral varieties produced as by-products in the petroleum refining process.
While oil is not often thought of as a “cold” liquid, it is still an appropriate cooling medium. It readily absorbs heat energy and has a higher boiling point than water, allowing it to be used for cooling components with temperatures above 212°F (100°C). It is also an electrical insulator when free from moisture and impurities.
This form of cooling is typically an immersion process where the heat sources operate within an oil bath. The process relies on the absorption of the oil’s thermal energy from direct contact with the hot equipment. Once heated, the oil circulates by convection or is pumped out of contact with the heat source to a radiator where it diffuses the heat into the water or air. Then go back to the heat source to repeat the cycle. This process is a good example of heat transfer cooling in which thermal energy is moved or transferred from a high temperature source to a low temperature sink or absorber.
The oils used in oil cooler applications are typically mineral varieties, although vegetable varieties are sometimes used. These oils are byproducts of petroleum refining and are typically low to medium viscosity, colorless combinations of alkanes and cyclic paraffins. Several additives are included in cooling oils to improve their performance, including corona and arc suppressors, flame retardants, and corrosion inhibitors.
Electrical oil cooler applications include transformers, switch cabinets and oil bath welders. The oil is also used to cool high performance electronic components; several experimental computers have main boards and processors totally submerged in mineral oil. Mechanical oil cooling applications include machining operations such as cutting, milling and turning where oil is used to lubricate and cool the tool tip. The lubricating oil in automobile engines also acts as a coolant, thus absorbing heat from the combustion area and diffusing it through a separate oil cooler or reserve oil into the engine sump. Even large industrial gearboxes and transmissions use combined oil lubrication and cooling.
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