Advanced Lubricant Reduces Steel Mill Costs

As part of their on-going commitment to the Metals industry, Shell lubricants companies have developed Shell Morlina SD; a specialist product for use in steel mill bearing oil circulating systems, designed to reduce system costs, downtime and maintenance. Shell Morlina SD meets Morgan's Morgoil Advanced lubricant Specification, which is commonly referred to in the industry as the 'Super Demulsibility' (SD) specification. In developing Shell Morlina SD, the circulating oil underwent extensive testing and field trials to assess the water separation properties of the oil at normal mill operating temperatures. The field trials also tested Morlina SD's water separation characteristics over extended periods of service. In addition to rigorous demulsibility standards, the Morgoil Advanced Lubricant Specification outlines explicit criteria that must be met in areas of rust protection, oxidation resistance, viscosity and minimal foaming characteristics, along with demonstrated in-field performance. Comments Panot Triroj, Shell Global Industrial Lubricants Metals Sector manager: 'Water contamination in oil can affect the life of bearings and pumps in a mill, as well as induce rust, oxidation and contamination build-up, which can lead to high maintenance costs. Shell Morlina SD is formulated to resist emulsification and shed water faster at lower temperatures than conventional circulating oils - even in extreme conditions. In trials, Shell Morlina SD has demonstrated excellent performance. When used in conjunction with good maintenance practices at mills where systems were heavily contaminated with water, Shell Morlina SD exhibited faster water separation, which aided in significantly reducing bearing failure rates and resulted in less oil being drained out of the system during water removal. This resulted in significant cost savings for customers. The development of Shell Morlina SD follows the recent launch of next generation Shell Tellus, which was designed to meet the demands of metal companies looking to reduce downtime and maximise productivity from their hydraulic applications. Since launch, Tellus has already delivered significant cost savings to customers, increasing maintenance intervals by up to 100%.' Concludes Triroj: 'Shell Lubricants are constantly developing state-of-the-art products to help metal operators increase productivity and reduce costs. The development of Shell Morlina SD is another example of where we have developed a 'problem solving' lubricant for the metals industry, and due to our international reach, Shell Morlina SD is currently the only product meeting Morgan's requirements for oil-film back up roll bearings on a global basis.'