What Is an Oil Compound?
Oil compounds are paste-like oil products applied to electronic components for insulation, heat dissipation, water repellency, vacuum sealing, and other purposes.
The base oil is thickened by mixing various thickening agents, and additives are added to suit the application. Oil compounds have electrical properties with high water repellency and thermal oxidation stability, and can be characterized by a wide temperature range.
Note that compounds are widely known as abrasives that make fine scratches on the body of a car less noticeable. The word “compound” means a combination of two or more elements or parts. Oil compounds are also made by mixing a base oil with various additives.
Uses of Oil Compounds
Oil compounds are applied to electronic equipment and vacuum seals.
1. Electronic Devices
In electronic components, oil compounds are mainly used to promote heat dissipation. Electronic devices generate heat when they consume electricity, but they cannot continue to operate properly if the heat remains accumulated.
Therefore, an oil compound is applied to the device so that the heat can be dissipated quickly. Specifically, oil compounds are applied to semiconductor devices, such as transistors and thermistors, to dissipate heat. Examples of use in products we use every day include home appliances, automobiles, and personal computers.
2. Vacuum Seals
Oil compounds are applied to sliding parts, gaskets, and packings of vacuum equipment. By reducing the volatile components, oil compounds for vacuum applications prevent the volatilization of oil compound components, even in high vacuum environments.
Principle of Oil Compounds
Oil compounds often use silicone oil as the base oil. For the filler, a material other than metallic soap, a non-basic compound, is used to make a grease-like product. Typical examples are silica in fine powder form or metal powder.
There are two types of oil compounds: oil compounds made from mineral oil derivatives and oil compounds made from silicone oil derivatives. Mineral-derived compounds are characterized by their excellent extreme pressure lubrication.
On the other hand, silicone-derived oil compounds are used in a wider variety of applications because they are chemically stable and have excellent heat, cold, water, and weather resistance, as well as electrical properties.
Other Information on Oil Compounds
1. Oil Compound’s Degree of Heaviness and Dripping Point
In the catalogs of oil compounds, you will find data on the degree of freedom (just) and the dripping point. The degree of heaviness is a measure of the hardness or softness of an oil compound. A higher value means a softer oil compound, and a lower value means a harder compound.
In addition, the drip point is data that indicates heat resistance. When oil compounds are heated, they soften and the components will eventually separate. The drop point is the temperature at which the oil compound softens and liquefies in the tester used to evaluate heat resistance, and the drop point is the temperature at which the oil compound reaches the drop point.
When the operating environment is high temperature, it is especially important to determine whether the product is suitable for the intended purpose based on the data on the degree of softening and the drop point.
2. Difference From Silicone Grease
Similar to the oil compound is silicone grease. Although there is no clear distinction between the two, silicone grease is generally used mainly for lubrication and adhesion. In contrast, oil compounds are mainly used for heat dissipation and sealing.
Silicone is a silicon resin, which is an organic compound containing silicon. Since it is an organic compound, it does not exist in nature.
On the other hand, silicon is an element represented by the elemental symbol Si and is found mainly in rocks and soil. Although often confused in daily life, they are two different things.