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Mobilgrease XHP™ 322 Mine helps company potentially save USD 1,141,038 annually

Situation

M/S Aneesh Khan & Company (AKC Mining) is a major Mine Developer-cum-Operator (MDO) in Central India, operating in the Shivpuri and Urdhan mines of Western Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited. The customer was using a conventional EP-2 grease for lubrication of the bush-pins. This caused loss in productivity due to higher downtime caused by re-greasing, once in a shift, premature pin failures and higher exposure to risks. The customer was looking for a solution to enhance productivity under existing working conditions.

Recommendation

ExxonMobil carried out on-site inspections of the failed operational bush-pins on the Volvo and TATA Hitachi excavators, existing working conditions with challenges and re-greasing practices being followed. Along with correct re-greasing procedures, ExxonMobil engineers recommended the use of Mobilgrease XHP™ 322 Mine, an advanced lithium-complex, soap-based grease with ISO VG 320 base oil and fortified with high quality MoS2 solid additive for adequate lubrication of the bush-pins under existing conditions.

Impact

The re-greasing intervals were extended from once in a shift (6-8 hours) to once in 2 days (48 hours) as established by used grease analysis at the LTS Lab. On-site monitoring of the bucket pins in TATA Hitachi and Volvo machines also revealed that the pins were not making any sound even after 48 hours of continuous use. This led to an increase in excavator up-time by more than 2 hours per day along with superior protection of the bush-pins, leading to safety, lower grease consumption and a potential annual saving of USD 1,141,038.