Oiling the path to productivity

A low cost lubricant may seem like good value, but inappropriate choice could leave you in a very slippery situation, as Jerry Truman of SKF explains.

When a customer found that the gearheads on its Joy 1060 Continuous Mining machines could only manage a maximum of 500,000 tonnes of mineral before failure, action had to be taken.

The units were originally oil filled and the majority of failures were due to the ingress of potash into the gearbox.

Routine replacement costs were £25,000 per gearhead and unit failure in service could amount to £490,000 when lost production was taken into account.

The problem was solved with a semi-fluid grease with anti-corrosion properties.

The gearheads were filled with the grease and the units monitored during production.

Analysis made it possible to identify problems early and, to date, there have been no more in-service failures, and over 1.4 million tonnes have been mined with a single gearhead.

Clearly this is an example of an extremely aggressive environment, but it illustrates that with the right choice of lubricant and intelligent monitoring techniques equipment can be kept running at an optimum level for greatly extended period.

From years of experience SKF has determined that approximately 50% of all bearing failures are caused by lubrication and contamination problems.

The goals of condition monitoring are to maximise the time that a machine is functioning well and to minimise the number of breakdowns, thereby significantly reducing operating downtime and maintenance costs.

When it is applied to all machinery - not just rough running or problem machines - condition monitoring can help improve machinery operation to an optimum level, often exceeding the original equipment specifications.

Industry insists that bearings and associated components should last longer and yet simultaneously machinery is being operated at much higher speeds and temperatures.

These trends are very demanding on lubricant performance.

Industry's need for high performance is combined with a financial requirement for product rationalisation: companies want fewer products to cover a wide range of applications.

Companies also want to reduce maintenance involvement and are looking for products they can 'fit and forget'.

Get the grease right The value and importance of using the right bearing grease for the right application should not be underestimated.

By selecting the correct greases users are assured of achieving maximum bearing life - which translates into increased uptime and lower operating costs.

SKF's long experience in designing and manufacturing bearings has provided the company with unrivaled understanding of the lubrication needs of bearings under all operating conditions.

High quality bearings must be protected by lubricants of equal quality so extensive research, testing and field experience are part of the formulation of all SKF greases.

Correct grease application is a critical part of maintaining trouble-free operation of machinery.

Incorrect lubrication, as mentioned previously, accounts for up to 50% of bearing failures.

All purpose greases are inadequate for specialised bearing needs and can cause problems rather than being beneficial.

Bearing applications have wide variations of load, speed, temperature and environment and correct lubrication calls for matching the grease precisely to the bearing application.

SKF supplies a broad range of greases to match almost every industrial requirement including those for: high temperature, low temperature, very high speed, heavy load, water resistant and food processing.

Accessories, including grease guns, grease filler pumps and SKF system 24 automatic lubricators are also available, as well as specially designed software to allow relubrication intervals to be accurately set.

With lubricants, as with other components, industry wants to rationalise its supplier base.

This has given rise to fluid management programmes in many key industries where a single company takes care of all a manufacturer's lubricant needs.

Lubrication reliability techniques are an important tool in reducing costs and optimising performance: lubrication analysis, filtration, vibration measurements and temperature measurements can all give an vital insight into a machine's condition and the efficacy of its operation.

Analyse the lubricant SKF provides a comprehensive range of condition monitoring equipment to measure all the important parameters.

These include: temperature, speed, noise, shaft alignment, oil condition, bearing condition and vibration.

The company's lubrication analysis service provides valuable information to guide maintenance activities and drive machinery costs down.

SKF has the competence to diagnose machinery problems through detailed lubrication analysis procedures.

The SKF lubrication analysis service includes commentary from bearing lubrication experts on suspect samples.

Engineers who buy an SKF lubrication analysis pack also get the analysis service as part of the package.

The kits include oil sample bottles, sample extraction equipment, extraction instructions and sample labels.

Customers can also pre-buy the analysis service and report which will be posted, faxed or electronically returned.

Each analysis provides details on: kinematic viscosity at 400C, kinematic viscosity at 1000C, wear metals analysis (up to 26 by IPC), additive depletion, insolubles content, particle quantifier, water content, flash point and total base number (TBN), ISO/NAS cleanliness code.

The SKF Lubrication Competence Centre is an integral part of the company's Engineering and Research Centre.

It sets the standards of technology and competence in all facets of machinery lubrication.

Staffed with bearing and lubrication experts, the SKF LCC will translate complex oil analysis data into understandable information.

All reports use the traffic light concept: Red - action required; Amber - caution, action may be required; and Green - satisfactory condition.

Skill shortages throughout industry have increased the demand for more application engineering support.

The area of lubricant management has also become increasingly sensitive, especially when seen in the light of the environmental and financial aspects of ISO 14000.

This standard has highlighted the importance of reducing the amount of waste and of its correct disposal - that includes lubrication waste and associated particulate matter.

Cutting corners with lubricant selection and subsequent management can impair machine performance in the short-term and be costly in the long term through excessive down-time, lost production and waste penalties.

Customers need to have confidence in their suppliers' ability to offer the right solution to their particular application and situation, which requires finding a supplier with adequate knowledge, resource and product range.

SKF has recognized this need and is able to provide the necessary skills and resources to meet this challenge.

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