Photo: Schaeffler
As one of the largest rolling bearing manufacturers worldwide, Schaeffler is a partner to all leading manufacturers and companies involved in the mining and processing industry. Our bearings and service solutions increase the functional reliability and performance of machines and processes. We support our customers in reducing maintenance efforts and protect their employees by providing a safe working environment. In this issue, we will share with you how Schaeffler has helped a mining corporation in Philippines optimize their maintenance efforts in their plant operations.
Slaked lime is produced at Visayas Slaked Lime Corporation’s (VSLC) plant in the Philippines. To ensure proper and reliable lubrication of the numerous fans and blowers in the dusty environment, VSLC switched from a manual to an automatic lubrication solution. With the CONCEPT1 gas-driven automatic lubricators, the company will reduce maintenance efforts in the future, protect its employees and therefore be more sustainable.
Customer Benefits
- Integrity of grease is maintained with no penetration of impurities during relubrication
- Longer bearing life in fans and blowers with reliable preset time intervals
- Enhanced safety with less human deployment in hard-to-reach locations
- Increase in productivity of the Maintenance Team with elimination of manual lubrication
- Sustainable – lubrication cartridges can be refilled up to three times
Challenge
VSLC operates in a very dusty environment resulting from the production of slaked lime and limestone. Therefore, impurities often occur in the lubricants. These impurities affect, among other things, the bearing life in the fans and blowers. The maintenance team has to keep an ongoing focus on lubrication. As the numerous lubrication points were checked and relubricated manually and due to the sometimes difficult to access lubrication points, the safety of the maintenance staff was at risk.
Schaeffler Solution
Schaeffler’s experts recommended the flexible and cost-effective lubrication solution with the automatic lubricator Concept1. The CONCEPT1 automatic lubrication solution has one outlet and consists of a 125 millilitre cartridge driven by a gas-producing dry cell. The flow rate can be preset differently depending on the amount of lubricant needed for the bearings. VSLC is very satisfied with the lubrication solution and has fitted a further 50 lubrication points with CONCEPT 1 as a first step. Another 50 lubrication points for motors will soon be installed with automatic lubricators.
What our customer says:
With the automatic lubricator, we were able in a short time to significantly reduce efforts compared to manual lubrication. We are impressed and absolutely satisfied.” Maintenance Section Manager, VSLC
