White oil is an essential ingredient of most agricultural products, such as dust suppression products, pesticides, livestock health and other products. Quality white mineral oil makes all the difference in safety and optimal outcomes.
Products with suboptimal or inappropriate oils can leave farmers, growers, grain elevator operators and others vulnerable to avoidable – sometimes dangerous – problems.
A good agricultural (or horticultural) white mineral oil can help:
- Maintain a safe working environment for silo operators.
- Treat grain to limit dust hazards without harming its quality.
- Protect plants and crops from insects without causing sun damage.
- Maintain color stability for animal feeds, medications and vaccines.
For these reasons and more, it’s essential that agricultural product manufacturers utilize white oils that are engineered with these applications in mind.
3 Reasons Why Oil Selection Matters in Agriculture
The primary factors driving the performance of white oil in agricultural products are purity, viscosity and stability, each of which can vary dramatically from one oil to the next. The following applications illustrate the difference an optimal selection can make.
1. As a dust suppression agent, agricultural-grade white oil makes silo operations safer.
As it is highly combustible, in fact explosive, grain dust is cause for serious concern among silo operators.
Grain dust explosions occur less frequently today than they did prior to the implementation of the OSHA Grain Handling Facilities Standard in 1987; however, eight explosions in 2020 indicate this remains a deadly problem today.
Removing the Fuel Source
Only three elements are necessary for a fire: oxygen, a fuel source and an ignition source. Though ignition sources like mechanical friction and static electricity can never be fully eliminated, routine dust suppression to remove the fuel source is extremely important.
Without removing the fuel source, the initial ignition of a grain dust fire can quickly lead to disaster:
“A key to preventing large-scale damage and injury is understanding the difference between the primary explosion and a secondary explosion. The primary explosion is frequently the result of ignition sources such as welding sparks or overheated bearings causing fuel sources such as corn or wheat dust to combust. The primary explosion may not be large, but it often results in a dispersion of dust that can then combust, leading to a larger and more damaging secondary explosion that carries further into the facility.”
This is why, as a general rule, no amount of grain dust is considered safe and dust suppression oil is utilized whenever handling grain.
White Oil Viscosity Matters
Food-grade white oil is a good grain dust suppression agent because it is safe to ingest in the small quantities needed. But it is only as effective as its ability to pass freely through a spray nozzle and have sufficient wetting properties. This is why a low viscosity white oil is ideal for dust suppression.
It is also important for viscosity not to be too low, as this causes more oil than necessary to be applied. This leads to expensive waste and a higher concentration of mineral oil in grain than desired.
2. As a pesticide, horticultural white oil should protect plants without creating a “burn” risk.
White oil is excellent as a pesticide because it is safe for humans and effective at killing or repelling common plant-eating insects. It acts as a dormant oil with no dangerous chemicals.
Growers depend on white oil spray products to provide an even coating sufficient to suffocate scale insects and mealybugs, and to discourage feeding among webworms and leafrollers, effectively utilizing oil as both a pesticide and preventative agent.
White Oil Purity
The purity of the oil is key to preventing the problem of phytotoxicity, or “burning” plants by causing overheating in the sun. Growers who choose petroleum-based pesticides (white oils) over vegetable oil-based pesticides usually do so to avoid this problem.
Only producers of dormant-season (winter) oils can afford to loosen standards for white oil purity. For all-season and summer oils, the best products are those that contain the most refined, lowest-viscosity white oils.
Viscosity Considerations
According to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension:
“Viscosity is a measure of oil ‘thickness’ and is expressed in time units [Saybolt Universal Seconds – SUS] required for the oil to flow through an opening of standard size. In general, the lower the viscosity, the less likelihood for plant injury. The viscosity of horticultural oils varies between 60 and 90 (SUS at 100 F).”
As in dust suppression discussed above, low viscosity is also important for wetting and even application to the surface area.
3. Only highly stable white oils maintain color and odor stability for livestock product manufacturers.
Similar to food and topical product producers, manufacturers of veterinary medicines, vaccines and related products must be sensitive to appearance and perception of quality.
Veterinary Products
White oil is useful in livestock operations as an external parasiticide, an intestinal tract lubricant to dislodge obstructions, carrier for pesticides and as an adjuvant (immune system enhancer) in animal vaccines, among other benefits.
In each case, manufacturers must take care to present a consistent product appearance as discoloration and odor can cause concern. This is why white oil is much preferred over vegetable oils which risk oxidation and rancidity.
But oil stability is key. Any question as to the safety or effectiveness of the product to livestock is best avoided by utilizing highly stable white mineral oils.
Avoiding Discoloration and Odor
The prime culprits are oxygen, heat and light exposure, all of which may be avoided by maintaining proper storage protocols. But due to storage capacity limitations at your veterinary product manufacturing facility, it may not be realistic to control for these factors – especially light exposure.
Utilizing highly stable, isoparaffinic white oil such as Renoil brand white mineral oils from Signal Fluid Solutions can help with this problem.
Though not entirely invulnerable to the effects of light exposure, we have observed that more stable white oil-based formulations are much better at maintaining water-white clarity. Furthermore, odor-causing oxidation is minimized by using white mineral oils over vegetable oils.
Animal Feed
This stability may be beneficial to some extent in animal feed production as well. White oil is useful in animal feeds to reduce dustiness, prevent segregation or clumping of trace materials, improve resistance to moisture and other purposes.
Though it is present in only very low quantities in animal feed, severe discoloration (yellowing) of the dedusting oil could be visible in some types of feed and misinterpreted as indicating the presence of an unsafe residue such as heavy metals or other contaminants.
In general, color stability signals purity and quality to consumers. It is always best to utilize a clear (water-white) oil in any topical, consumable or intravenous application. Similarly, the lack of odor allows the addition of white oil to control dust without a negative impact on the product.
Let Signal Fluid Solutions Help You Select Your Optimal Agricultural White Oil
Our white oil products provide superior purity, stability and a wide selection of viscosities for customized applications.
- Superior wetting for dust suppression and low pour points for year-round use.
- Low-viscosity white oils and isoparaffins are ideal for safe horticultural applications.
- Pure, high-stability isoparaffinic oils that stand up to UV light exposure.
We look forward to being your trusted white oil supply partner.
