At an industrial plant, lubrication is not always top of mind – until something breaks. Unfortunately, by then the damage is done.
Sam Kekana, Technical Sales Representative at Lubrication Engineers (LE) South Africa, has spent years working with plant maintenance teams across a range of industries, and he has seen where lubrication goes wrong and what it costs companies when it does.
“Lubrication is critical for most types of machinery across an industrial plant," says Kekana. "It directly supports machine reliability; but only when the right product is chosen, stored correctly, applied properly and backed up with planned maintenance and condition monitoring. When any one of those elements fails, you start to see problems.”
Common mistakes
Across the sites he visits, Kekana finds the same issues recurring. Poor lubricant storage and handling top the list, followed closely by incorrect product selection, over- or under-lubrication, cross-contamination and a lack of lubricant monitoring.
Each of these failures leaves a physical trace. Excessive heat is often a sign of over- or under-lubrication. Unusual noise typically points to insufficient lubrication or a product that cannot handle the load. Vibration, while commonly associated with low lubrication levels, can also result from misalignment, loose bolts or an uneven machine base. These issues can significantly reduce bearing life and cause mechanical failures that are costly to address.
Which equipment is most at risk?
Some equipment is particularly sensitive to lubrication quality. Electrical motors need the right amount of lubricant (not too much or too little) to operate reliably and gearboxes require the correct viscosity grade of oil to run efficiently. When either of these conditions is not met, the consequences show up quickly.
To avoid this, correct lubrication reduces friction and wear between moving surfaces, prevents corrosion and suppresses foaming that can compromise oil film integrity. At a plant level, this translates into less
downtime, lower energy consumption and longer equipment life. Products such as LE’s Almagard® Vari-Purpose Lubricant can help plants achieve this, says Kekana.
“If a machine is sliding smoothly, it will operate efficiently at the right torque,” he adds. “Electrical motors that are well lubricated operate with less load on them. They maintain the right settings and perform effectively,” he adds. This has a direct impact on electricity usage, which can contribute to important cost savings in industrial operations as well as reducing their environmental impact.
The cost of poor lubrication
When lubrication fails, the cost goes beyond the price of a replacement component. Kekana says there are four main direct cost implications: breakdown costs from replacing damaged machinery; labour costs from calling in contractors during unplanned stoppages; spare parts procurement; and lost production, including damaged product and the revenue lost while equipment is down.
“I have been to a site where the client had an issue with grease leaking out of a bearing because of high temperatures. To replace the bearing meant about four hours of downtime, which directly affected their production. I recommended the correct lubricant for the application, and the bearing has remained in service without failure since,” says Kekana.
For plant operators, the initial cost of a high-quality lubricant is almost always lower than the combined cost of an unplanned breakdown.
Getting the right support
Kekana says that getting lubrication right is not just about choosing a better product, it is about taking a systematic approach that covers product selection, proper storage and handling, correct application quantities and intervals, and ongoing monitoring through oil analysis.
Along with the high quality and long lasting lubricants that LE supplies, Kekana says that the company’s on-site technical support, oil analysis for predictive maintenance, training and contamination control guidance help customers to get the most benefit out of their lubricants – all of which helps to avoid critical downtime and equipment failures.