by Clayton Thomas

Case study originally published by Petro-Canada Lubricants

'Since we have switched to PEERLESS LLG, we’ve seen an incredible improvement in reliability.'

With a 200 year history, Singleton Birch is a global supplier of lime products and services and the UK’s leading independent lime supplier, processing one million tonnes every year. Their products are used by 70% of water treatment companies in the UK as well as British Steel and many chemical processing companies. They are acutely aware of the huge impact improvements to process and reliability can have on successfully servicing their customers and their bottom line.

The Challenge

Singleton Birch’s production process depends on a heavy-duty, rotational cage, known as an air classifier to classify calcium hydroxide.

Operating at high speeds, high temperatures and in wet conditions, the cage rotor bearing within the air classifier was regularly failing, causing unplanned maintenance every six to eight weeks taking up to 24 hours to resolve.

Over a two-year span, failing bearings were calculated to have caused over 2,500 hours of unscheduled maintenance, the loss of over 20,400 tonnes of product and £1,600,000 in lost potential revenue.

The Solution

Singleton Birch approached Wymark Limited*, a Petro-Canada Lubricants distributor with over 50 years of experience providing expertise on lubricating equipment, for help to address this challenge.

Recognising that the tough conditions that the equipment was put under required a premium performance grease, Wymark Limited recommended Petro- Canada Lubricants’ PEERLESS LLG for its outstanding oxidation stability, excellent water resistance, outstanding rust protection and excellent load carrying ability under high operating temperatures.

The Results

Singleton Birch achieved a 95% reduction in unscheduled downtime resulting in SAVINGS of:

In the four years after switching to Petro-Canada Lubricants’ PEERLESS LLG, Singleton Birch has limited their unscheduled downtime to just 125 hours 

 

'The team at Wymark Limited recommended a premium performance Petro-Canada Lubricants grease with a higher specification than the OEM advised and since we have switched, we’ve seen an incredible improvement in reliability'

Nick Redhead, Engineering Manager at Singleton Birch

 

'Despite the tough conditions after 1,500 hours of use, when the bearing is removed for routine inspection, the condition inside the bearing is essentially brand new. When you have unscheduled maintenance, it has a significant impact on the supply chain. Not having these unplanned interruptions means product can be delivered on schedule to customers. We’d definitely recommend Petro-Canada Lubricants and appreciate the specialist advice of Wymark Limited.'