What is Air Stripping?
Air stripping is a “mass transfer” operation using dry air as a conveyor belt to remove water from oil. The oil is heated to 150 degrees Fahrenheit or more and finely dispersed air is injected. The air is immediately heated to the temperature of the oil, and in so doing, its “relative humidity” drops to the point where it is able to absorb up to its own weight or more in water. The higher the temperature of the oil, the greater the amount of water the air can remove. The rate of water removal with air stripping is determined by the temperature of the oil and the amount of air flow. 5 cfm of air with an oil temperature 160 degrees will remove one gallon of water per hour. Other volatile contaminants are also removed by this process. How does Air Stripping compare with Vacuum purifying? Oil temperatures are about the same in both processes. Oil oxidation is generally not a factor at these temperatures given the short exposure times involved. COMO’s Air Strip systems are built on the foun
