Oil change delivers savings

The Mobil SHC 500 Series of high-performance lubricants is designed for use in hydraulic systems prone to deposit build-up. The company made the switch to help improve issues with sludge and deposit formation as well as foaming in the hydraulic system of its Sacmi Imola PH-3200 Android press. The machine is used in the company’s tile production and works under high pressure and an operating temperature in excess of 100°C. When using the previous mineral oil, the average press performance was 10.8 cycles per minute when the optimum should have been 12.7 cycles per minute.

The deposit formation from which Ceramika Końskie’s tile press suffered also led to an increase in unplanned downtime due to filter plugging, which can happen when an oil breaks down. To help increase productivity and avoid future issues, ExxonMobil field engineers jointly with the local distributor Ekonaft recommended switching to Mobil SHC 525, which is said to offer outstanding high temperature performance and excellent oxidation resistance, which helps to extend oil and filter change intervals and can lead to cleaner, trouble-free operation.

After converting to Mobil SHC 525, Ceramika Końskie experienced an improvement of 17% in tile press productivity and a six-hour cut in unplanned downtime as a result of the extended filter change intervals. The decrease in unplanned maintenance helped to reduce employee interaction with equipment, minimising associated injury risks, while the reduction in filter consumption helped to reduce disposal waste. The customer advised that overall, the improved productivity, the reduction of maintenance and unplanned downtime, and the extended filter change intervals resulted in an annual saving of approximately $5.6m.

“ExxonMobil recommended that we switch the lubricant we use to a Mobil-branded one – and it has brought about huge benefits,” said Dariusz Turno, production manager at Ceramika Końskie. “The reduction in unplanned downtime and overall increase in productivity has brought us enormous annual savings that we wouldn’t have been able to achieve without the switch to Mobil SHC 525.”

“We are thrilled that our customer, Ceramika Końskie, has seen such impressive results in terms of annual savings and an increase in productivity,” said Mirosław Szabat, sales engineer at Ekonaft.

Jacek Januszewski, territory advisor Poland, and Rainer Lange, Mobil SHC brand advisor, Europe, Africa, and Middle East, ExxonMobil, are convinced that by switching to high-performance products, such as the Mobil SHC 500 series of oils, operators worldwide can benefit from reduced unscheduled downtime due to increased product potential. Lange said “Operators also have the potential to make cost savings, all thanks to using the right oil for their hydraulic equipment.”

Mobil SHC 500 Series oils are high performance hydraulic oils formulated from synthesised, wax-free hydrocarbon base fluids combined with a carefully engineered super-stabilised additive system. They are high quality, wide-temperature, shear-stable hydraulic oils with controlled low-temperature pumpability properties and maximised anti-wear protection for high-pressure vane, piston and gear pumps. The products exhibit very high viscosity indexes contributing to their excellent low and high temperature performance making them an excellent choice for equipment that is subjected to a wide range of start-up and operating temperatures.

The company says the oil series exhibits outstanding shear stability and can be used in high-pressure, high-temperature operating environments for extended periods of time without the loss of critical lubrication characteristics.

Developed in conjunction with major OEMs, Mobil SHC 525 is designed to operate under severe conditions where high levels of anti-wear and film strength protection are needed, yet they are formulated to work where non-anti-wear hydraulic oils are generally recommended.