Lubricant saves $1.4m at Chinese steel mill
23 Sep 2011
London — Guangdong Shaogang Songshan Inc., a Chinese manufacturer of pig iron, steel and steel products, was experiencing premature trunnion bearing wear in its converter using a locally sourced lubricant. Flaking in the grease was resulting in bearing wear, which reduced bearing life and equipment availability. It also caused safety concerns.
The company turned to Shell for a lubricant solution that would improve bearing performance under conditions of high temperature and humidity, and increase bearing life.
The bearing grease was subjected to laboratory tests to obtain an accurate understanding of the performance issues. As a result, Shell recommended a switch to the fully synthetic Shell Gadus S5 T460 grease, which is designed for heavy-duty bearings under severe load, operating at high temperatures.
A machinery health check, using Shell’s LubeAnalyst tool, showed that this grease helped to lower bearing friction, which increased bearing life and reduced maintenance and lubrication costs.
According to Shell Lubricants, the new lubricant has delivered an annual cost saving of $1,442,000 to Guangdong Shaogang Songshan, which has now decided to use its lubricants for other applications within its operation.
