Ambar Feed Mills doubles bearing life with new lubricant
Factors to Consider When Selecting a Food Grade Grease LubricantIncreased oxidation & thermal stability Food grade grease lubricants should possess advanced food grade additives that increase oxidation and thermal stability, which is crucial to improved component longevity and machine operability.Wide operating temperature range Food grade grease lubricants must exhibit excellent performance characteristics under extreme temperature conditions. Synthetic hydrocarbon base stock allows use from ovens to freezers. Excellent anti-wear characteristics Food grade grease lubricants must possess superior anti-wear characteristics. This feature is essential for keeping equipment operating at peak performance while offering more protection for the equipment against wear and corrosion. Load carrying capacity Food grade grease lubricants should exhibit excellent load-carrying abilities under high loads conditions. This will minimize gear and bearing wear. Excellent water washout Capabilities Food grade greases must offer excellent water washout characteristics, which allow lower repack intervals on bearings. Performance advantages Food grade grease lubricants must meet not only food grade compliance criteria essential to maintaining high levels of food safety, but also increase operational efficiency and productivity. |
Ambar Feed Mills produces more than 600,000 tons of livestock feed for poultry, turkeys, ruminants, fish, rabbits, and pigeons every year. To maintain a demanding production schedule and remain competitive on a global scale, Ambar depends on the reliability of its pellet mills and the grease that keeps its bearings lubricated and running smoothly. The company has worked with the same distributor and grease over the last ten years. In an effort to broaden its resources, the company began investigating complementary distributors and lubricant products. After several unsuccessful grease trials, Ambar partnered with Texma Chemicals Ltd. to test ANDEROL® 783 Food grade grease.
In Ambar’s Granot facility, the company operates six California Pellet Mills (CPM) to achieve its forecasted production numbers. Four of these mills run 24 hours a day, six days a week, while the other two machines operate 12 hours a day. The units are equipped with two press drums with two bearings on each, totaling 24 components that need proper lubrication. For ten years, Ambar had used only one NLGI 2, lithium-complex thickened grease to lubricate the bearings. In this time, the company had to replace the bearings, on average, every 18 months at a cost of $24,000. This process also resulted in losing up to a day and a half of production time, and some 400 tons of lost feed.
While Ambar was satisfied with the performance of the grease, the company wanted to expand its technical resources and begin working with an additional distributor. Ambar tried partnering with several companies and tested numerous competitive products. Each time, the recommended grease caused bearing failure within one month of application. The company then consulted with Texma Chemicals to fulfill its technical needs and find complementary grease for its CPMs.
In a thorough technical audit, Texma determined Ambar’s complementary lubricant would need to withstand operating temperatures of 90°C and maintain lubricity in a bearing with a rotation speed of 600 rpms. Texma recommended using ANDEROL 783, based on the products’ excellent anti-wear properties and lubricity at high temperatures. After 8,000 hours of running the pellet mills on their normal production schedule, Ambar evaluated the condition of the bearings.
“In a side-by-side comparison, the bearings lubricated with the ANDEROL grease looked virtually new,” said Mr. Yehuda Shacham, Maintenance Manager of Ambar Feed Mills.“ANDEROL 783 will provide significant cost savings and increase our uptime. We’ve estimated the product will double the interval between bearing replacement.”
ANDEROL 783 has not only extended the life of Ambar’s bearings but also has simplified bearings maintenance. The red color makes it clear to maintenance personnel where the product needs to be reapplied. Frequently, misapplied lubricants can lead to component wear or product incompatibility issues.
“We’re happy to provide Ambar with technical expertise and a lubricant solution to help realize its manufacturing potential,” says Alberto Rubens, Texma Product Manager. “For years, the world’s largest food companies have used ANDEROL lubricants to improve their operations. It’s great to see that success replicated with Ambar and ANDEROL 783.”