PRODUCTION ASSET LUBRICANTS

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How to Choose Your Grease

Production Asset Lubricant

  • Improve performance and predictability.
  • Reduce the total costs of production asset ownership.
  • Maintain optimal equipment operating conditions over time.

In production based industries, sourcing, processing, and refining material means relying on specialized plant and equipment. These assets are critical to the production  process and are often under continuous operation.

In an effort to meet production demands, key assets are forced to work at a high capacity under the most unforgiving operational conditions. The capability of this equipment to execute it’s work load relies on many simultaneous mechanisms of drive and movement.

SMP Production Asset Lubricant is used on:
  • Mills
  • Crushers
  • Conveyors
  • Industrial production machines
  • Manufacturing assembly lines
  • Food processing equipment

Sudbury Mining Products’ Production Asset Lubricant series are specifically engineered and manufactured to meet custom applications. Working with maintenance, operations, and engineering teams, our lubrication specialists determine the appropriate lubricating agent for specific environment and OEM requirements.

Specific production applications will have unique operating conditions and as a result, a number of conditional challenges. The high vibration activity, extreme heavy loading, and variation in operating speeds put significant stress on critical wear points.

This makes protection from the wear of rigorous component operation and the abrasive harm of environmental contaminants priorities in production asset lubrication.

SMP’s family of production asset lubricants support preventative maintenance programs and:
  • Limit unplanned plant downtime
  • Optimize asset life cycle costs
  • Mitigate bearing and bushing, contamination and seizure
  • Seal out dust, dirt, moisture and other environmental contaminants
  • Curtail bearing and bushing wear and tear
  • Increase asset life
  • Maximize production capacity and efficiency
  • Improve capital equipment energy consumption

Every application of a production asset lubricant is different. A simple conversation with your lubricant supplier can qualify a decision making process that identifies what type of grease best suits your equipment and operating demands.

Anatomy of Your Industrial Grease

Choosing the best lubricant for an industrial application is an involved process. While these oil and grease compounds come in a number of varieties and combinations, the optimal variety for your application is critical.

Lubricants are made up of three main components; a base, which constitutes 70-90% of the final compound; a thickener, comprises 3-30% of the recipe, and additives, which complete the balance.

Choosing the Right Base

A lubricant can be mineral, vegetable, or synthetic oil based. Mineral based lubricants are derived from crude oil and are typically used in general purpose applications. Vegetable based oils are typically used in environmentally sensitive applications and are used as a biodegradeable lubricant. Synthetic based lubricants, are lab-made base oils that are best applied to harsh conditions where temperatures are extreme.

Achieve the Appropriate Structure

Thickeners are designed to produce the semi-fluid to solid state of the lubricant structure. These might include metal and non-metal soap thickeners, as well as non-soap thickeners. While metal and non metal variety greases have attractive load carrying abilities and high dropping-off points, non-metal complexes can be suitable for extreme temperature applications.

Impact the Relevant Properties

Additives impact the lubricant in three main ways and can;
  1. Enhance desirable properties;
  2. suppress undesirable properties; or
  3. contribute entirely new properties to a given industrial lubricant.

Depending on what is required for the application additives can combat oxidation, clean and neutralize impurities, support anti-wear, inhibit corrosion, affect lubricant viscosity, bear extreme pressure, and reduce air dispersions.

Choosing the Right Grease

Every application of an industrial lubricant is unique. For this reason, lubricants are engineered specific to an application, and can be customized to suit unique needs. Some of the factors considered when choosing the appropriate lubricating agent include:

  • Environmental conditions
  • Temperature
  • Vibration capacity
  • Load to be carried
  • Demands on the agent
  • Operating speed
  • Type of wear point friction
  • Amount of water present
  • Engineering, OEM, industry standards

Benefits of Well-managed Lubrication Programs

Although the process of selecting the appropriate lubricant can be involved, the benefits gained from appropriate information gathering and implementation of a well managed lubrication program are significant:

  • Minimize total cost of asset ownership
  • Increase asset predictability
  • Reduce unplanned plant and equipment downtime
  • Better manage part and component replacement
  • Minimize bearing and bushing failure
  • Seal out environmental contaminants
  • Protection of rust, corrosion, wear, noise, vibration
  • Improve labour maintenance utilization
  • Measurable cost savings in energy utilization