It’s time to get a little technical with some hot tips on how to keep some of your most critical equipment running smoothly and efficiently.
Over the years, our field engineers have seen every equipment challenge under the sun, and we’ve racked up a lot of best practices that have helped mines across North America achieve their maintenance and productivity goals, from pit to plant.
Specifically, we’ll cover tips for:
- Mobile equipment engines
- Drive train fluids
- Gear applications
- Bearings
Mobile equipment engines
The engine is the heart of any piece of mobile equipment. Given that most mines are in remote locations where extreme weather is common, combined with the harsh operating conditions with rough terrane to navigate, these engines are often working to the max.
Hard working engines need a hard-working engine oil! To keep this equipment moving, you want to use an advanced diesel engine oil that can properly protect equipment in any operating environment. Wider viscosity range engine oils, such as a 5W-40 formulation, offer greater protection in both cold temperature conditions, and also provide increased protection at high operating temperatures. Wide viscosity range engine oils are well suited to maintain their viscosity to protect heavily loaded engines – such as when your haul trucks are traveling loaded out of the pit, or a dozer working to clear hard terrane.
Besides engine protection, advanced diesel engine oils are more robust against oxidation, more capable of handling soot and reduce engine wear. These are all important factors to help you optimize your preventative maintenance (PM) intervals. With engine oil drains being one of the primary triggers for scheduling PM intervals, having the ability to extend drains can help to increase equipment availability, decrease downtime – all leading to improved savings on your operating costs.
A final factor to consider is that some engine oils are also capable to deliver fuel-efficiency benefits, through reducing friction in your engines. Considering fuel is one of the major operating costs for any mine, a small percentage saving can add up quickly to help you save on a major cost.
Drive train fluids
Whether you have trucks/support equipment with electric wheel motors or mechanical drive systems, oil selection is a major factor to consider. Like engines, these components are working in both cold and hot environments, pushing or pulling heavy loads and are prone to external contamination and wear metals accumulation.
For mechanical drive trains, you want heavy-duty oils designed to withstand shock and heavy loading. Oils with a combination of a high viscosity index and additive system help provide outstanding performance under severe high and low temperature conditions. Multigrade or synthetic drive train oils offer the widest operating temperature range to handle the load under any condition.
Depending on your equipment, often you consolidate the number of fluids to help reduce cross contamination risks and reduce the number of lubricants at your mine. For example, in applications calling for T0-4 fluids, a multigrade premium T0-4 oil may be best suited for transmissions, differentials and possibly the hydraulic systems as well.
For wheel motors, selecting the right fluid that is designed to protect critical components and keeping that fluid clean can pay significant dividends. Synthetic gear oils with a wide viscosity index offer the best option for protecting heavy loads yet can flow in colder temperatures. Gear oils with extreme pressure additives offer the best protection against shock loading and helping to coat all surface to protect against metal to metal contact. The right synthetic wheel motor oil will also resist oxidation and have a robust additive package to allow for extended service life. Using by-pass filtration can help extend the oil life, as well as extend the life of the wheel motors themselves, which can help reduce life cycle costs on your fleet.
Gear applications
Gears are one of the most important applications in any mining operation – used everywhere from the equipment used in the pit to many processing plants. Keeping gears turning is critical to the bottom line. Each gear system is unique, often calling for its own unique fluid which can lead to complexity.
When selecting a lubricant, it is important to understand the application and the operating environment to make sure the lubricant used is formulated specifically for those needs, while balancing the number of lubricants you keep on hand at your mine site. Many gear applications will call for either an oil or a grease, which can lead to further complexity. While evaluating your equipment, the MobilTM team can provide the extra resources and expertise for you to make a thorough decision.
For open gear systems, whether it be on a shovel ring gear or a ball mill, three factors to consider for a proper lubrication program include:
- Selecting the right lubricant for the application – This can include the temperature range the gear system operates in, expected load factor, external operating environment such dirt ingress, exposure to moisture, etc.
- Optimizing application rates – Often issues occur when the lubricant is over or under applied. Understanding the operating environment will help determine what the right frequency and how much to apply. In wet or dusty environments, you may need to increase frequency, or have a system in place to make seasonal adjustments based on temperature.
- Inspection routine on application system and gear wear – Many open gear systems have complex application systems that need regular inspection. Finding the right balance of when to take these systems down for inspection is important to optimize equipment availability and ensure longevity. New technologies are allowing for easier inspection that are less invasive and can be done while equipment is running.
For stationary gear boxes, these are often oil lubricated and the viscosity selection is depending on many factors such as the temperature and expected load. With hundreds of gearboxes on site, balancing the number of unique lubricants and keeping the product count down are areas where Mobil products can help optimize your site. One example is some gear oils need extreme pressure (EP) additives, yet other gear boxes may contain components where EP additives can accelerate wear. Another option is that synthetic gear oils can often cover wider operating temperature ranges, thus reducing the number of viscosity grades you need to manage your gearbox maintenance program.
Understanding the current condition of a gear starts with performing routine inspections on the equipment. Fortunately, the process is simple enough for you to complete on your own.
Bearings
Bearings are found everywhere in a mine, especially in applications that help move the ore from place to another on conveyors. One example, crushers are critical to the processing side of many mines. These systems have conveyor bearings that are often exposed to long operating hours, extreme weather conditions and the external environment. These conditions can lead to contamination and metal-to-metal wear, which are common causes of conveyors downtime.
The trick with bearings is to choose the right lubricant and apply it correctly. Given the many operating parameters bearings are faced with (such as external environment, start/stop or continued use frequency, shock or heavy loads) lubricant selection can make a world of difference. Most of the time you need a grease, and other times you need an oil. It all depends on the application.
Grease is the most common method for lubricating a bearing. You should consider either lithium or calcium soap-based greases that have the right viscosity to balance gear protection and low temperature flow. Calcium based grease are preferred for wet applications given their ability to resist wash out. Greases can contain all the same additives that oils do, including extreme pressure additives and, in some cases, contain additives specifically to protect against adhesive wear. For application, typically less grease more often is preferred to purge and refill methods. This allows for continuous fresh grease to help push out contaminants, and ensure bearings are not overfilled.
Oils are also better suited for operating environments prone to external contamination, high heat and for some sealed bearings. Depending on the size and number of bearings, a centralized oil circulation system combined with advanced filtration systems, can help to keep the oil clean, and cool to ensure you achieving maximum bearing life.
For all of these applications, work directly with your lube supplier to identify the right solution. Reach out to us directly if you’d like us to help.
