About 20 per cent of oil contamination in machinery and equipment is micron-sized contaminants visible to the naked eye, while the remaining 80 per cent are nano-sized contaminants of <1um. These nanoparticles not only accelerate oil oxidation, but also form varnish and cause wear of mechanical components.
Varnish, as a nano-scale contaminant produced during the aging process of lubricants, is widely hidden in the lubricants of mechanical equipment because it is good at hiding and not easy to be captured. The presence of varnish not only accelerates the deterioration of lubricant cleanliness, but also affects the smooth operation of equipment, making it an ‘invisible killer’ of high-performance production.
SKF RecondOil Box oil recirculator, with innovative technology – DST double separation technology, effectively remove varnish, for the enhancement of equipment performance and efficiency opened up a new way. How does SKF use this technology to help the metallurgical industry enhance equipment efficiency and reduce production costs? Selected cases at the end of the article are not to be missed!
The ‘invisible killer’ of efficient production in the metallurgical industry
Metallurgy, a magical process that transforms ordinary ore raw materials into pure metals or alloys, covers a series of complex steps such as smelting, refining, continuous casting and rolling.
As the power source of the metallurgical production line, the stability and efficiency of the hydraulic station is directly related to the operation quality of the entire production line. However, oil contamination is the main culprit of hydraulic system failure, accounting for about 70% to 80% of the failure loss. When the hydraulic oil in the hydraulic system is contaminated, its lubrication, cooling, shock absorption and other multiple functions will be affected, which in turn leads to system failure.
Although the traditional filtration system can remove most of the pollutants, but there are always some tiny pollutants can escape the capture of the filter, accelerate the oxidation of the oil, triggering clogging sludge, increase component wear, shorten the life of the lubricant.
Paint film, as an amorphous structure and the size of the shape of the material less than 1um, conventional filtration technology is particularly difficult to remove. It has a special reversible nature, that is, in machine operation and lubricant temperature increases, varnish will dissolve in the lubricant; and when the temperature is lowered, varnish will be re-deposited on the surface of the equipment. This reversible nature makes the presence of varnish in equipment more complex and difficult to predict.
These tiny paint films that escape capture not only cause wear and tear, but can also lead to malfunctioning, stalling, or even complete seizure of the equipment, posing a significant maintenance challenge as well as significantly increasing maintenance costs and downtime. Although the presence of varnish is often hard to detect, it quietly poses a serious threat to the stability and reliability of equipment, leaving many people helpless in the event of equipment failure.
SKF RecondOil Box oil recirculator
An effective solution that breaks through traditional limitations
In the face of the oil contamination problems that have long plagued the metallurgical industry, SKF has launched the SKF RecondOil Box oil recirculator, which has a special patented Dual Separation Technology (DST). This innovative product combines both chemical and mechanical separation processes, breaking through the limitations of traditional filtration technology. DST technology combines chemical additives onto the fibres, which greatly enhances the adsorption capacity and surface activity of the filter element, so that even particles smaller than 0.1um can be effectively captured.
Deep filtration and ultimate purification
Removes soluble and insoluble varnish from the oil and reduces hidden contaminants in the hydraulic oil. This prevents clogging of the system, reduces operating temperatures, and effectively extends the life cycle of components and oil.
Removes particles smaller than 0.1um and captures dissolved, emulsified and free water in the oil, slowing down the oxidation process at source.
Provides a safe and sustainable mode of operation for hydraulic systems and, together with DST dual separation technology, enables the reuse of lubricants and the achievement of cleaner lubricants than ever before, resulting in higher performance with less energy and at a lower cost.
The SKF RecondOil Box’s unique DST dual separation technology allows you to use new oil every day, thereby increasing OEE, improving product quality, optimising production and O&M costs, and achieving sustainable development.
Metallurgical industry application examples
1 Solve the problem of continuous vibration and shaking of heating furnace
The hydraulic system of a metallurgical enterprise’s heating furnace periodically vibrated and shook during operation. SKF team responded quickly and installed SKF RecondOil Box with 2 canisters for the enterprise, and adopted DEPTH standard filter element for oil purification treatment. After a month of use, the varnish index was reduced from 16.9 to 6.7, a drop of 60%, the vibration and shaking faults disappeared, and the risk of equipment downtime was significantly reduced, bringing significant economic benefits to the enterprise.
2 to solve the mill servo-hydraulic system varnish problem
The servo-hydraulic system of the rolling mill of a large domestic metallurgical enterprise’s rail girder plant is affected by oil pollution, and the equipment often jams during operation. SKF team found that the key to the servo valve jamming is the high varnish index, so it installed the RecondOil Box with standard filter element for the enterprise. after one month’s use, the oil cleanliness was significantly improved, and the varnish index dropped by about 80%. The solution has helped the equipment to effectively control oil cleanliness in the long term and significantly improved the reliability of its operation.
As the world’s leading supplier of innovative solutions, SKF is committed to using technological innovation to provide better products and services for the metallurgical industry and other fields. SKF RecondOil Box, as a sustainable and intelligent cleaning solution, not only solves the problem of oil contamination in industrial production, but also brings about the optimisation of equipment performance through the enhancement of oil quality, which in turn helps customers reduce high maintenance costs and downtime costs, and improve the reliability of equipment operation. This helps customers to reduce high maintenance and downtime costs, thus improving economic efficiency and competitiveness.
By choosing SKF RecondOil Box, you are choosing a cleaner, more efficient and sustainable future.