Economy & Market
Oil Monitoring and Maintenance
The progressive approach that industries are adopting to move towards condition-based oil change and maintenance can prove to be a game changer.
Lubrication oil in thousands of litres is changed in the industrial world, based on the periodic oil change intervals or schedules, which is part of a preventive maintenance programme. Most of the oil is prematurely changed in the equipment resulting in disposal of oil still having a remaining useful life. This results in loss of revenue due to cost of new oil and disposal of the used oil. The flip side of the preventive oil change schedules is that the lubricant can exceed its useful life before oil change interval, which can result in equipment breakdown resulting in loss of revenue again.
A better way, which progressive companies are adopting, involves periodic oil analysis and scheduling oil changes based on the oil condition, which not only maximises the lubricant life based on condition but also acts as a tool for a proactive approach to prevent equipment breakdown because of oil quality.
The oil analysis programme is a useful tool to monitor the condition of the oil and the equipment where it is being used. It consists of predetermined oil sampling plans from the equipment, testing the oils for major tests and determining the condition of oil and equipment. There are industry accepted precautionary and critical limits for the major tests, which are well established. The interpretation of these major tests help determine the oil and condition equipment and is the backbone of the condition-based oil changes. Almost 50 per cent of equipment damages are caused by oils and about 70 per cent of equipment defects are visible in the lubrication oil.
Lubricant contamination or degradation
Lubricant consists of either mineral or synthetic base stock fortified with performance chemicals called additives. These impart the specific properties required by lubricant based on its application. Over its usage, we all know that lube oil gets polluted due to internal contaminants like wear particles or degradation products or external contaminants like dirt, dust, water etc. Oil contamination is the major reason why oil is condemned. More and more companies are getting into oil regeneration programmes to extend the oil’s life.
Drawing oil samples at periodic intervals for analysis, trends are monitored of the oil condition, The oil is retested if any significant changes occur in the test results of the sample in comparison to the previous. The test results are compared to the standard Industry limits which are used as guidelines. These limits are based on oil and equipment types. The oil analysis results can be used to make intelligent decisions on maximising oil life without compromising the equipment.
Periodic oil analysis has resulted in significant savings in oil life extension and also savings from proactively detecting potential failures caused by poor oil quality and degrading components. Condition monitoring provides gradual information and warnings according to the significance of the abnormality in the oil analysis.
Many of the industrial plants condemn their lubricating oils based on water and particulate contamination or sometimes on the recommended oil change interval. These oils can be regenerated by using high quality efficient filtration systems and sometimes by topping up with additives to restore their performance to original. Oil never dies, just
gets contaminated and depleted. It is possible to restore many such lubricants to their original performance levels.
Total Lubrication Management (TLM) is a very productive practice followed by many companies, its key features being:
TLM is now augmented with vibration sensors, thermal imaging and ultrasound analysis integrated with software driven by AI, making the equipment more reliable and predictive to operate and manage.
Condition-based oil monitoring in modern industries has progressed to a broader perspective of condition-based maintenance, which is to implement maintenance schedules that can be considered as actual condition of the equipment. Shorter response time with more targeted and corrective actions are resulting in improved productivity.
(Communication by the management of the company)
Image Source: Google Images
Jignesh Kundaria, Director and CEO, Fornnax Technology
India is simultaneously grappling with two crises: a mounting waste emergency and an urgent need to decarbonise its most carbon-intensive industries. The cement sector, the second-largest in the world and the backbone of the nation’s infrastructure ambitions, sits at the centre of both. It consumes enormous quantities of fossil fuel, and it has the technical capacity to consume something else entirely: the waste our cities cannot get rid of.
According to CPCB and NITI Aayog projections, India generates approximately 62.4 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with that figure expected to reach 165 million tonnes by 2030. Much of this waste is energy-rich and non-recyclable. At the same time, cement kilns operate at material temperatures of approximately 1,450 degrees Celsius, with gas temperatures reaching 2,000 degrees. This high-temperature environment is ideal for co-processing, ensuring the complete thermal destruction of organic compounds without generating toxic residues. The physics are in our favour. The infrastructure is not.
Pre-processing is not the support act for co-processing. It is the main event. Get the particle size wrong, get the moisture wrong, get the calorific value wrong and your kiln thermal stability will suffer the consequences.
The Regulatory Push Is Real
The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2026 mandate that cement plants progressively replace solid fossil fuels with Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), starting at a 5 per cent baseline and scaling to 15 per cent within six years. NITI Aayog’s 2026 Roadmap for Cement Sector Decarbonisation targets 20 to 25 per cent Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) by 2030. Beyond compliance, every tonne of coal replaced by RDF generates measurable carbon reductions which is monetisable under India’s emerging Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). TSR is no longer a sustainability metric. It is a financial lever.
Yet our own field assessments across multiple Indian cement plants reveal a sobering reality: the primary barrier to scaling AFR adoption is not waste availability. It is the fragmented and under-engineered pre-processing ecosystem that sits between the waste and the kiln.
Why Indian Waste Is a Different Engineering Problem
Indian municipal solid waste is not the material that imported shredding equipment was designed for. Our waste streams frequently exceed 40 per cent to 50 per cent moisture content, particularly during monsoon cycles, saturated with abrasive inerts including sand, glass, and stone. Plants relying on imported OEM equipment face months of downtime awaiting proprietary spare parts. Machines built for segregated, low-moisture waste fail quickly and disrupt the entire pre-processing operation in Indian conditions.
The two most common failures we observe are what I call the biting teeth problem and the chewing teeth problem. Plants relying solely on a primary shredder reduce bulk waste to large fractions, but the output remains too coarse for stable kiln combustion. Others attempt to use a secondary shredder as a standalone unit without a primary stage to pre-size the feed, leading to catastrophic mechanical failure. When both stages are present but mismatched in throughput capacity, the system becomes a bottleneck. Achieving the 40 to 70 tonnes per hour required for meaningful coal displacement demands a precisely coordinated two-stage process.
Engineering a Made-in-India Answer
At Fornnax, our response to these challenges is grounded in one principle: Indian waste demands Indian engineering. Our systems are built around feedstock homogeneity, the holy grail of kiln stability. Consistent particle size and predictable calorific value are the foundation of stable kiln combustion. Without them, no TSR target is achievable at scale.
Our SR-MAX2500 Dual Shaft Primary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive) processes raw, baled, or loosely mixed MSW, C&I waste, bulky waste, and plastics, reducing them to approximately 150 mm fractions at throughputs of up to 40 tonnes per hour. The R-MAX 3300 Single Shaft Secondary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive), introduced in 2025, takes that primary output and produces RDF fractions in the 30 to 80 mm range at up to 30 tonnes per hour, specifically optimised for consistent kiln feeding. We have also introduced electric drive configurations under the SR-100 HD series, with capacities between 5 and 40 tonnes per hour, already operational at a leading Indian waste-processing facility.
Looking ahead, Fornnax is expanding its portfolio with the upcoming SR-MAX3600 Hydraulic Drive primary shredder at up to 70 tonnes per hour and the R-MAX2100 Hydraulic drive secondary shredder at up to 20 tonnes per hour, designed specifically for the large-scale throughput that higher TSR ambitions require.
The Investment Case Is Now
The 2070 Net-Zero target is not a distant goal for India’s cement sector. It starts today, with decisions being made on the plant floor.
The SWM Rules 2026 are already in effect, requiring cement plants to replace coal with RDF. Carbon credit markets are opening up, and coal prices are not going to get cheaper. Every tonne of coal a cement plant replaces with waste-derived fuel saves money on one side and generates carbon credit revenue on the other. Pre-processing infrastructure is no longer just a compliance requirement. It is a business investment with a measurable return.
The good news is that nothing is missing. The technology works. The waste is available in every Indian city. The government has provided the policy direction. The only thing standing between where the industry is today and where it needs to be is the commitment to build the right infrastructure.
The cement companies that move now will not just meet the regulations. They will be ahead of every competitor that waits.
About The Author
Jignesh Kundaria is the Director and CEO of Fornnax Technology. Over an experience spanning more than two decades in the recycling industry, he has established himself as one of India’s foremost voices on waste-to-fuel technology and alternative fuel infrastructure.
UltraTech Cement FY26 PAT Crosses Rs 80 bn
Towards Mega Batching
Andhra Offers Discom Licences To Private Firms Outside Power Sector
President Murmu Inaugurates Projects In Rourkela
Cement Firms May Face 19 Per Cent Profit Hit Under Carbon Scheme
UltraTech Cement FY26 PAT Crosses Rs 80 bn
Towards Mega Batching
Andhra Offers Discom Licences To Private Firms Outside Power Sector
President Murmu Inaugurates Projects In Rourkela
