The highly competitive and equipment-intensive cement industry has some of the toughest working environments for machinery and lubricants. Lubrication Engineers has a growing global customer base in this industry due to the outstanding performance of LE’s high-quality lubricants.

LE’s exclusive additives – Duolec®, Almasol®, Monolec® and Quinplex® – have incredible load-carrying ability and temperature resistance, and LE’s high-quality base oils ensure a superior formulation. The Pyroshield® range of open gear lubricants is particularly successful in large ball mills and kilns that demand excellent wear protection.

In the high-impact, heavy-contamination applications such as those in cement and concrete plants, a high-performance lubricant can significantly reduce operating and maintenance costs. Equipment often runs 365 days a year, and every hour of downtime is expensive. Below are a few of the common lubricant suffering points for this industry, followed by LE recommendations.

Bearing failures – Greases that do not seal effectively allow contaminants to enter equipment. LE greases are very tacky and resistant to water washout and shock loading. LE also recommends automatic lube systems for making sure grease is correctly applied.

Gearbox overheating – Cement plant gearboxes tend to be overloaded and consequently they often overheat, resulting in premature wear and gear failure. Other common mechanical issues include emulsification of the gear oil due to water contamination and extreme foaming. LE’s range of Duolec® EP gear oils provide impressive protection against shock loading, a powerful anti-foaming package and outstanding water separation. This dramatically extends the life of the gear oil as well as the gearbox.

Open gears with heavy wear – Keeping the kilns and ball mills running is very important for cement plants. However, open gears often suffer from wear due to shock loading and inadequate lubrication. The use of asphaltic-based lubricants prevent this wear from being seen by maintenance personnel. Instead, they have to wait for elevated temperatures and vibrations to indicate a problem.

LE’s Pyroshield® Syn Hvy and XHvy open gear lubricants were designed to protect high-load, heavy-shock applications. With translucent Pyroshield lubricants in use, maintenance teams can easily inspect open gears with the use of a strobe light. Plus, the Pyroshield conversion process does not require any stoppage of production.

For more information on all of LE’s cement & concrete industry relevant products, click here.