Reducing Oil Replacements for Mine Conveyor Gearboxes

Customer Profile

A Hard Rock Quarry located in the Illawarra region of NSW.

Application

Conveyor Gearbox Improvement

Issue

As part of the site condition monitoring activity, it was noted that they were seeing consistently high levels of contamination in each oil sample, with the silicone levels over 300ppm. These results lead to 80% of the gearboxes needed to have the lubricant emptied, the gearbox flushed and then filled with new oil, every 3 months. A very costly, time consuming process.

Lube Eng. Solution

The experts at Lube Eng. conducted a gearbox upgrade for the customer and installed the following items;

• Dedicated oil sample ports, so that an accurate oil sample can can be taken each time.
• Xclude Expansion breathers to control contamination ingress.
• Recirculation ports to allow for filling and polishing.

Results

Post the upgrade enhancements, the oil analysis results are improving. The silicone ingress had dropped by 70% on each gearbox, it is much easier and quicker to obtain an accurate oil sample and there is no longer a requirement to replace the oil every 3 months due to contamination.