FEATURE
Industrial degreasers for mining equipment
Informed Degreaser Choice , Optimum Equipment Performance
Oil and industrial lubricants can be a double-edged sword - good when they keep machinery operating and production going , on the one hand ; and on the other bad ( a liability ) when greasy surfaces attract dirty and contaminants . A suitable degreaser has to be used to clean the affected areas . Decisions on purchasing a product have to be informed by correct data on exact needs .
By Nick Barnes
With mining activity truly on the upswing , it is unavoidable for unwanted grease , tar , oils , hydraulic fluid , cutting fluids , corrosion inhibitors and other greasy build-up to get stuck on engine components or equipment . Cleaning using heavy-duty degreasers is a technique commonly used in mining . Nonetheless , as it has been established , the quality of the degreasers used can have a huge bearing on effectiveness of the cleaning process . Unfortunately , there are many implications for using cheap or unproven products – at best , a poor cleaning job , or more time spent on cleaning , resulting in loss of productivity due to equipment unavailability , at worst . And so , consistently , hard but rational decisions that are good for business have to be made .
First Mining DRC - Zambia sifted information from product managers of suppliers of heavy-duty degreasers to mines in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to find out what properties of products would perform better cleaning job in contemporary mining conditions .
Eventually , what emerged is that legislation obligates mine operators to use high-quality industrial degreasers that are both safe ( do not contain elements that can cause harm to employees handling them ), as well as environmentally friendly ( as lubricating grease contains additives and petroleum oils generally considered contaminants ).
So , environmentally-friendly degreasers are preferred or highly recommended , not least at a time when Environment , Social and Governance ( ESG ) has become part of the DNA of business operations .
Degreasing a necessity , not a costly distraction Before delving into what would make good degreasers for the current mining conditions it is important to ask : Is degreasing a distraction to production a mine operator can do without ?
Of course , when production is at its peak , it is very tempting for plant engineers with an eye on increasing productivity to ignore the grease and grime on components , nonchalantly ‘ business as usual ’. Routine maintenance sacrificed in hot pursuit of profit . However , inevitably , there is a price to pay , sooner or later .
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