Following a successful 2024, lubricant and industrial equipment supplier ISO-Reliability Partners will continue its provision of “high-quality” microfine filtration systems for various applications in an array of work environments throughout 2025.

ISO-Reliability Partners states that it has developed technologically advanced fluid filtration and hydrocarbon purification equipment, capable to keeping lubricating oils in operation for up to 20 times longer than normal expectancies. Notably, oil additives are not compromised by the microfine filtration process and lubricants are purified to “cleaner-than-brand-new”, states ISO-Reliability Partners CEO Craig Fitzgerald.

“Oil cleanliness is defined as the measurement of the total volume of particulate contamination in a lubricating oil. Particulate contaminants can include both insoluble and abrasive metal and silica particles. Original-equipment manufacturers often provide a guideline of recommendations for acceptable oil cleanliness levels for their equipment,” says Fitzgerald.

He notes that the oil and lubricants sector has two oil-cleanliness standards that ensure that equipment, machinery and transport modes are efficient and maintained.

The first is the National Aerospace Standard (NAS) system – originally developed in 1964 to define contamination classes for contaminants found in aircraft component lubricants.

The application of the NAS was extended to industrial hydraulic systems as nothing else existed at the time. It is still referred to in some industries, although the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) standard 4406 cleanliness codes are now more commonly used in South Africa and Europe.

“ISO-Reliability has rewritten the standards of fluid cleanliness with its ability to remove all foreign particulates, including water moisture. The resulting benefits include extending useful oil life, in-line filters [lasting] much longer and all lubricated components benefit[ing] from a [tenfold] life extension,” he outlines.

In 2024, ISO-Reliability Partners, with its class-leading microfine filtration systems, recovered, purified and returned to service more than 262 000 ℓ of industrial lubricating oil, for high-profile customers across a wide range of industries.

Recently a life-cycle analysis performed by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute calculated the climate impact of a conventional oil cycle at 3 830 kg of CO₂ equivalent per cubic metre of oil.

Fitzgerald emphasises that this would amount to an environmental saving of just over one-million kilograms of CO2, affording these companies bragging rights for their efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Additionally, the use of ISO-Reliability’s microfine filtration system results in substantial financial savings and increased equipment productivity, while protecting the environment.

The company, through its division Yateks Africa, has launched a range of high accuracy oil quality sensors that provide real-time oil analysis for critical equipment.

Fitzgerald says that monthly oil analysis reporting is becoming antiquated, given the proliferation of real-time monitoring technologies.

“As the world is being pressured to reduce [both] the consumption and waste of lubricating oils, ISO-Reliability has stepped up to the plate with class-leading solutions for climate-conscious customers that understand how technology can benefit their operations,” he concludes.