Specialty lubricants for the rubber and plastics industries

Plastic and rubber components are familiar, everyday items – yet, as Klüber Lubrication understands, manufacturing these essential components can be complex and challenging. Companies dealing with manufacturing, plastic moulding and extrusion, film stretching, tyre manufacturing processes, forming processes, and the recycling of plastic or rubber, are facing challenges such as increased market demand, variable production, high energy consumption and special application requirements.  

Accordingly, Klüber Lubrication has designed a complete range of specialty lubricants products and solutions for the plastic and rubber processing industry. With over 120 in-house test rigs to simulate different industry applications and by offering free consultation service from the prototype phase to full project completion, specialty lubricants ensure that your plant runs reliably, for more production cycles, with more time spent on production rather than maintenance. 

Lubricants applied to film stretching TDO chain systems must withstand high pressure between sliding pads and rails under high temperature. Residues cause problems by increasing friction, yet stopping the stretching line for cleaning costs valuable production time – as does removing varnish accumulations. The entire production process involves high-torque operation, with high energy consumption and maintenance costs. Oil consumption is high, yet so is wear. 

Our series of high-performance oils have exceptionally low residue formation, yielding increased production availability.  

For sliding and rolling systems, we offer lubricants that can withstand high temperatures for extended times. They also maintain their low viscosity over extended periods, without building up residues, to ensure good lubricant drain. Additionally, our chain oil is effective in lubricating the chain’s bolts.  

Overall, our oils and other lubricants for all line components reduce energy losses and friction, and improve efficiency. Maintenance and operational costs are lowered, and we reduce both torque and oil consumption. 

Plastic components manufacturing uses processes like injection moulding, rotational moulding, blow moulding and extrusion. These processes normally involve high temperatures, fast production cycles and high pressures, which can all compromise equipment availability and cause costly unscheduled shutdowns. 

That is why we have developed dedicated products for the plastics industry to avoid common and known issues like seizure of extruder head bolts, varnish build-up in hydraulic systems, premature wear on closing mechanisms of injection moulding machines or poor extruder gearbox efficiency. Our specialty lubricants offer unrivalled protection against oxidation, abrasion, and thermal breakdown, with extended relubrication intervals and longer component life, even at high temperatures. 

Our full range of high-performance food-grade lubricants is highly regarded for enhancing the production of food-industry plastic parts like containers, packaging or drinking bottles. Equipment including compressors, gearboxes, bearings, and hydraulic systems, which could contaminate finished parts, benefits from a conversion to NSF H1 food-grade lubricants.  

Within the rubber processing and manufacturing industries, lubrication is often critical to both the finished goods’ performance and their manufacturing processes’ reliability and efficiency. Rubber processing demands high energy consumption, with gearboxes frequently working under severe loads and high temperature.  

Our specialty gear oils can improve efficiency, reliability and extend service intervals.  

In the tyre industry, Banbury mixers use up to 6 % less energy when changing over to a Klübersynth gear oil and benefiting from our KlüberEnergy programme and KlüberEfficiencySupport. 

Tyre segment mould lubrication during vulcanisation is also challenging. Accordingly, Klüber Lubrication offers multiple solutions, from dry lubricants to high-temperature pastes, plus special PFPE greases that enable up to 8000 production cycles before needing relubrication. 

As part of the global Freudenberg Group, Klüber Lubrication has acquired industry-leading coating technology knowledge for all types of elastomer parts, such as O-rings, seals, weatherstrips for car doors, and any other types of rubber parts where surface friction needs to be reduced. This can be required either during assembly (for reduced insertion forces) or in operation (reducing friction and wear), or even in order to avoid squeaking or noise formation especially in automotive applications.