Engineering & Mining Journal

MAY 2018

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FUELS AND LUBES 40 E&MJ; • MAY 2018 www.e-mj.com ples of this are the use of oil to operate engine brakes and injector tappets. What's surprising is that, even af- ter providing parts protection for up to hundreds of hours of engine operation, oil doesn't really wear out. It becomes contaminated and the additives that are crucial to its performance become de- pleted. Additives include detergents or dispersants, which keep insoluble matter in suspension until the oil is changed; in- hibitors that maintain the stability of the oil, prevent acids from attacking metal surfaces and prevent rust formation when the engine is not in operation; and oth- ers that assist the oil in lubricating highly loaded areas of the engine (such as valves and the injector train), prevent scuffing and seizing, control foaming, and prevent air retention in the oil. Oil contaminants are products of pro- cesses that can occur during both normal and abnormal engine operation. These can take the form of combustion byproducts formed from blowby gases that escape past piston rings, valve guides and turbo- charger seals; fuel or coolant leaks; and soot from various combustion problems — and from environmental factors that may range from airborne dust to road-surface stabilization chemicals, for example. New Standard, New Benefits The everyday demands that diesel engine operation place on engine oil, coupled with the specific design characteristics and operational systems built into the new Tier 4 engines, made it necessary to create a new engine oil standard that went into effect at the end of 2016. The API (Amer- ican Petroleum Institute) CK-4 standard superceded the existing CJ-4 standard, and products meeting the new standard provide the highest level of protection and performance for engines equipped with emission-control technologies such as EGR or exhaust aftertreatment. Any CK-4 compliant oil provides at least a minimum level of protection for Tier 4 engines, and premium CK-4 oils can significantly ex- ceed the standard. These oils: • Resist oxidation, even under high-heat conditions, minimizing engine deposits and extending service intervals. • Reduce aeration, which helps prevent oil breakdown, cavitation and corrosion. • Improve shear stability, which translates into consistent viscosity under high loads for better lubrication and protection. All major lubrication suppliers have a CK-4 product family, including Shell (Rotella), Mobil (Delvac), Total (Ru- bia), Castrol (Vecton), Valvoline (Premi- um Blue) and others. Most are eager to share case histories or other evidence of benefits available to fleet operators that have switched to CK-4 oils. Chevron, for example, claims users can achieve up to 35% improved oil oxidation control, 68% improved wear protection and 64% improved piston deposit control with its Delo 400 XLE 15W-40 synthetic oil. Ac- cording to the company, Delo 400 is for use in new advanced engines developed to meet the latest emissions and reliabil- ity standards and in engines equipped with turbocharging, direct injection, high- er power density, intercooling, full elec- tronic management of fuel and emissions systems, exhaust selective catalytic re- duction, EGR and DPF. Beyond selecting the most appropriate engine oil — or for that matter, any type of lubricant used on primary production equipment — Shell and others recom- mend a big-picture approach in which us- ers maintain an ongoing relationship with their lube-product supplier to identify and implement better lubrication manage- ment policies and strategies. Shell point- ed out that a look at customers who have successfully implemented structured, TCO-driven lubrication projects reveals a number of initial actions that help drive success. These include: • Senior management support of the TCO-driven approach to lubrication, to help overcome challenges such as re- sourcing alongside the demands of daily operations. • Appointing a project lead and alloca- ting appropriate time and resources to a team tasked with implementing changes. • A good relationship with the lubricant supplier, whose technical teams play a key role in identifying and delivering value. • A comprehensive analysis to identify, quantify and prioritize TCO-related pro- jects. Importantly, aligning on how val- ue is measured enables savings to be recorded accurately. For example: o What is the hourly cost of mainten- ance and time required for repairs? o What is the cost of replacement parts? o What is the benchmark failure frequency? o What is the monetary value of down- time for each piece of equipment, in terms of lost production? • Setting measurable targets to ensure that progress can be tracked. As equipment and lubrication technol- ogy continue to evolve, regular review will help companies continue to focus effort and resources on projects that deliver greatest value — and with battery-electric and hybrid power systems for off-road ap- plications making increasingly frequent appearances at trade shows, test sites and on the job, lubrication knowledge and choice will undoubtedly need to be broad- ened to support these new technologies. Gearing Up Open gears and bearings used in mining equipment differ markedly in design, fabrication tolerances, materials and the external environments in which they're used, but both represent major lubrica- tion applications, and both are dependent on proper grease selection and applica- tion when it comes to achieving expected service life. Leading suppliers often can offer greas- es in comprehensive product families that can function as multipurpose products, or as semi-specialized formulations for spe- cific purposes, and even specific brands of equipment. For example, Mobil's Dynagear family of greases includes: • Dynagear 800 Extra and Dynagear 600 SL, which can function as all-season, multipurpose greases and as low-temp- erature, open-gear lubricants. • Dynagear 2000: For applications opera- ting at higher ambient temperatures and requiring greater film thickness. • Dynagear 800 Extra: Meets require- ments of P&H; shovels for lubrication of open gears. • Dynagear 4000: Recommended for lu- brication of hoist gear on Caterpillar Mining electric shovel hoist drum gear sets and in applications where an extra- heavy open-gear lubricant is desired. • Mobil Dynagear 800 Extra: For use as an all-season, multipurpose grease for onboard systems on heavy-duty equip- ment where NLGI 00 grade greases are recommended. The selection of open-gear lubricants available in the commercial market, due to environmental and other issues, has over the past few decades evolved changed from mainly solvent-diluted

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