Formation of carbon monoxide in air compressors

Oil-lubricated compressors are said to contaminate the air they compress with carbon monixde from pyrolyzed and oxidized lubricants. Experiments were performed in an instrumented compressor to determine if synthetic oils as lubricants would results in less contamination. The results suggest that for all oils the contamination is actually not great. Published results from low-temperature oxidation of hydrocarbons support this estimate.