Gopalkrishna Murthy, Vice President, Zuari Cement, discusses the importance of lubricants in maintaining the heavy machinery at cement plants and ensuring its smooth operation and cost savings.

What is the role of lubricants in maintaining the machinery of cement plants?
The main role of lubricants used in the machinery of a cement plant rotating. A lubricant is bought to help in the cement manufacturing process. They lubricate the bearings, rollers, engines or whatever is used in operations is lubricated to ensure smooth functioning of the plant.

How often are quality checks and maintenance functions performed in a cement plant?
All manufacturers of the equipment of the cement plant give manuals along with it that have time intervals like 100 hours, 500 hours or 5000 hours depending on the equipment application for the replacement or for quality checking. There is a compliance guideline and a laboratory for checking, examination and replacement of lubricants. Viscosity, total base number, contamination and wear depreciation are all examined based on the compliance guidelines. Other frequently conducted tests like checking for water contamination, exhaustion of the life of the lubricant, requirement of filtering of the lubricant for reuse etc., are checked. Generally, the number of hours, be it 500 hours, 5000 hours or 10,000 hours, depends on the equipment.
The general maintenance of a cement plant is usually done once in six months when there is a shutdown for refractory maintenance, mill maintenance etc. It is then when the condition of the lubricants like oil for the kiln, grease for the bearings is also checked. In any cement plant they have open gear systems for the mills which are regularly checked for spray patterns and application of lubricants if it is going in as instructed or not.
In rare cases when there is excess stock or if the plant stops for any reason, even then the lubricants are checked.

What are the types of lubricants used in a cement plant? Tell us about their applications.
In a cement plant, right from the beginning at the mining site, where shovels, extractors etc. are used, we use engine oils for the engines, hydraulic oils for the hydraulic systems and transmission oils for the transmission process.
In the plant, where there are multiple gear boxes, oils are used as lubricants. In kilns and open gears or spur gears, grease is used with a grease spray. This grease is also used for bearings throughout the plant. There are multiple motors in the plant, even though they are lubricated across the plant. Some of the motors have lubrication oil circulating systems also depending on the size of the motors. Circulating oils, lubricating oil and greases are used in a cement plant.

Does the external environment impact the choice of lubricants made for the plant?
One of the major considerations while selecting lubricants for equipment is to look at its working conditions. We look at the temperature in the area of function, exposure to dust, if the lubricant will work with the seal etc. All these factors are monitored and then a lubricant is selected for the application. Hence, the external environment plays a major role in selecting the lubricant for the cement plant.

How do you select your provider for lubricants and plant maintenance?
Ready availability is one of the key parameters we consider while selecting the lubricant provider for the plants. Other parameters like cost and quality certifications are what we look into while selecting the provider.
If any lubricant by a provider is certified or showed confidence in by our machinery supplier or equipment supplier, we consider them. If other players in the industry are using the lubricant, it shows a trust in their quality, then we consider them. If a lubricant provider has special application and certifications from member companies, appreciation and experience of their product in the market is looked at while selecting them. Another consideration is their viscosity grade and national or international certification of quality by recognised bodies.
After sales service is also an important aspect we look into for this selection, such as collecting samples, taking materials for testing and feedback, maintaining a data bank of the organisation and then the lubricant providers update it and share it with the concerned department. These become important considerations while selecting our
lubricant provider.

What are the standards you look for in a product before shortlisting them for your brand?
Generally, all the lubricants used in the cement plants have an ISO certified viscosity grade. Greases used are certified by the National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI) grades; oils used are certified by American Petroleum grades and military oil grades. They also have quality certifications from the original manufacturers. Sometimes, when the manufacturer makes an oil especially for their equipment, we consider that quality as well.

Does using lubricants for the plant have an impact on the environment? Can it be made more eco-friendly?
We ensure that whichever lubricant we use does not contaminate the environment. The lubricants should be made in such a manner that they can be re-filtered, recycled and reused. The plants usually push for longer drain intervals so that it reduces the impact on the environment when discarded. The lubricants should also be made in such a manner that they can be used as a source of energy or can be burned in the kilns without causing pollution to the environment. We consider these factors when we choose them for our plant.
Bio lubricants are now coming up in a big way and the industry is slowly reducing the use of mineral-based lubricants. Now there are multiple synthetic lubricants being formulated that are environment friendly. Their drain intervals are longer and hence, they can be used for a longer time, which means they are discarded at much longer intervals than other oils reducing the contamination of the environment and stay longer in the plants.

What innovative products do you suggest should be in the market for efficient cement plant lubrication?
There are two major requirements of the cement industry at this given time. Synthetic lubricants should be made for all kinds of applications and the cost should be in moderation that will allow more manufacturers to make the switch.
The cement industry consumes multiple lubricants and in large quantities. A scientific innovation should be made in the formulation to allow longer drainage intervals. Today the available synthetic lubricants are much costlier as compared to other type of lubricants and their drain intervals are also shorter.
The lubricants should also be energy efficient. If an organisation decides to invest in a higher costing lubricant, it should provide energy efficiency that will help them reduce their costs in other arenas. This would in turn make these lubricants environment friendly.

How do you foresee the collaboration of the lubricant industry and cement industry in the future?
Lubricant banks are developed by multiple oil industries, which they place in cement industries. This facility is not for all but cement plants do buy lubrication from the oil industry. However, this causes lack of availability. If all the lubricant manufacturers develop a banking type of structure in the plant campus itself, that will help in better interaction between the plant personnel and the lubricant makers and easy availability of the lubricants.
It will also help us recognise the many varieties of lubricants available in any category of lubricants which will help us make better informed choices and thus, improve the plant efficiency. The lubricant manufacturers will also have the opportunity to sell their best products and having these lubricants readily available on the plant campus will reduce lead time as well.
This development will make a better collaboration and interaction between the lubricant industry and cement industry.

-Kanika Mathur