Leverage our know-how to solve your challenges in the Mining industry
Tough lubricants for a tough business
Abrasive contamination, exceptional temperatures, oscillating movements and extremely high loads are eating away at your equipment day by day. Our mining lubricants act as a technical barrier protecting your equipment whilst enabling higher machine reliability.
With the right lubricant, you can extend the service life of the lubricated components and increase the availability of your machines. Lower lubricant and energy consumption will have a positive effect on your operating costs.
In curshing and grinding mining operations, high-pressure grinding roll (HPGR) technology is widely recognized as a more energy-efficient milling technology than conventional horizontal mills. Yet, it's possible to boost HPGR efficiency even more. Operations can use advanced specialty lubricants to reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs, ultimately improving sustainability.
Below is a success case of the advanced specialty lubricants and services provided by Klüber Lubrication that help improve HPGR energy efficiency.
Gear oils and services from Klüber Lubrication to improve energy efficiency
When choosing the optimum gear oil, determining the best balance of lubricant characteristics can be a challenge. Synthetic oils with a PAO base oil have a lower coefficient of friction compare to mineral oil at the same viscosity. This helps PAO oils reduce energy losses, although they have a limited viscosity range. The lower coefficients of friction of PAG oils result in fewer power losses, making it an even greater contribution to energy efficiency. For example, field tests have shown that Klübersynth GH 6 series lubricants with a PAG base oil used in a reducer gearbox decrease the total energy consumption of up to 4%. In many cases, the energy savings effect can lead to a payback period of less than one year.
In addition to the lubricant choices, Klüber Lubrication offers a free program called KlüberEnergy, a unique service that measures the energy efficiency contribution of lubricants in specific applications, with the purchase of oil. KlüberEnergy experts use a highly detailed methodology to measure the power consumption of your systems before and after lubricant retrofit.
Actual kWh savings obtained by a South American mining company
One remarkable HPGR application KlüberEnergy performed was for a South American mining company. At peak operations, the company's plants produced 24.9 million tons, 97% in pellets and 3% in iron ore fines. An HPGR press with an hourly output of 917.7 tons per hour was selected for the oil retrofit. The previous mineral oil in the 264-gallon (1,000 liter) gearbox was drained and replaced with Klübersynth GH 6-320, a high-performance PAG oil.
For both the baseline lubricant and retrofitted Klübersynth GH 6-320, KlüberEnergy recorded three variables every 10 minutes for over a month: the power consumption, the distance between rollers and the in-feed rate. The frequency and duration of measurement ensured a huge amount of data.
When KlüberEnergy compared measurements between the two oils, Klübersynth GH 6-320 saved over 68.4 MWh per month in electricity. This savings reduces costs by $40,284 per year, yielding a simple payback in only four months. When calculated over a full year, the oil saves 820.8 MWh in electricity use, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 580 metric tons.
Conclusion
HPGR roller presses have inherently lower energy consumption per ton of ore processed than conventional horizontal mills. The use of advanced specialty lubricants from Klüber Lubrication formulated with a PAG base oil and special additives for the gearbox, as well as high-performing greases and hydraulic fluids for other system components, further improve energy efficiency and sustainability.
A gold mining plant located in South America saved money in lubricant costs, equipment repairs, man hours and more. Here’s how:
The Challenge
The mine was replacing the plant’s gyratory crusher spider bushing every six months due to high contamination and improper grease selection. The crusher is a key and vital component and production halts when it needs repair or replacement. Using a competitor’s product, the plant also had extremely high lubricant usage. The mine’s goals were:
The Solution
Customer saw the benefits when they switched to Klüberlub BE 41-1501. Klüber Lubrication’s team helped the plant’s engineers redesign the lube system and verify proper lubrication was occurring. The mine made decisions with confidence since Klüber Lubrication’s team was on site and available. Together, Klüber Lubrication and the mine met the goal of saving the plant money and increasing production.
Klüberlub BE 41-1501 is formulated to handle the tough demands of your mining operations. By combining solid lubricants with a high viscosity base oil, Klüberlub BE 41-1501 protects your equipment operating in the harshest environments. The combination of solid lubricants in the grease provide peace of mind that your lubricant can handle your extreme conditions and stress.
The Results
The mine increased their production and cut costs:
Conclusion
Stopping production to deal with equipment failure costs you money: lost production, repairs and downtime costs. Avoid unnecessary costs with Klüber Lubrication as your industry partner. You will gain 90 years of industry experience, on-site engineering support and the right lubricant for your mining operations.
How often do you have to stop production to replace worn-out pins and bushings on LHDs and other underground mobile equipment?
It is often a concern for mining operators when replacing worn-out pins and bushings on LHDs or other underground mobile equipment because not only does it stall production, but the replacements costs money.
With the right lubrication solution on the articulation and oscillation joints, those pins and bushings can last longer.
Things to look out for:
Improved water washout protection. The water used to clean, service and operate mobile equipment like LHDs also washes away the grease on your pins and bushings. That’s why you want to make sure your grease contains ingredients like high-quality mineral oil and a special Calcium soap thickener. Those ingredients help protect the grease from being as easily washed away.
Antiwear and extreme-pressure additives. The pins on LHDs endure metal-to-metal friction when scooping, hauling and dumping. Solid Additives – like the solid lubricants 1% Graphite and 5% Molybdenum Disulfide, and Extreme Pressure Additives – offer excellent wear protection.
Solution
Extending the life of your equipment is important. Klüberplex EM 91-152 contains high-quality mineral oil and calcium soap thickener for water-washout protection and solid additives to inrease wear protection.
Comparing Klüberplex EM 91-152 against a competitor's premium product on an identical machine over 12 months, it was observed that the machine using competitor's product needed an Oscillation kit replaced four times, one every three months. However, with Klüberplex EM 91-152, the machine only needed three replacements, one every four months. This meant a cost savings of about 25%.
With the right product, mining operators will enjoy:
Equipments at mining sites are exposed to:
Mining operators at site need:
Our solution
Klüberlub OG 11 BH series based on refined mineral oil, Aluminum complex soap thickener and MX technology based on Organo Molybdenum Complex protects these mating surfaces from heavy loads and humid thereby protecting these machine elements.
The technologically advanced high viscosity base fluids used in the lubricants ensure the lubricant provides full film lubrication during operation. Solid lubricants which are also a part of the formulation ensures reliable operation under starved lubrication conditions and the special MX active – organic molybdenum complex additives react synergistically under boundary lubrication conditions to provide superior protection to metal surfaces even under shock load conditions.
Product features and benefits:
Contact us if you are interested to find out more about these success cases or about any of our products and services.
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