Shocking statistics reveal that approximately 50% of lubricants used on industrial machines and equipment eventually make their way into the environment, where just one litre of used oil has the capacity to poison about a million litres of water.
The global market for lubricants is rising, and in 2019 it increased by 2% to more than 45 million tons, showing how dire the consequences are becoming. These figures also indicate just how much needs to be done in order to reduce the amount of pollutants making their way into our water sources every day.
Solutions are hard to find, considering the importance of lubricants in machines ranging from cars to tractors, ships and manufacturing equipment. Almost every moving application that bears weight or creates friction needs lubrication to avoid abrasion and heat. Bearings, shafts, spindles and gears are just some of the items that keep the wheels of industry working like a well-oiled machine; but there is hope, with newer and better ways having already been developed to mitigate the need for grease and oils.
At the forefront is world-leading motion plastics manufacturer, igus. The company has embarked on a decades-long development journey to produce thousands of different formulae of polymers that are tribologically designed with built-in lubrication to operate without oils and grease. As a result, polymers such as iglidur are rapidly replacing steel in applications such as bearings, bushings, gears, and robotics. It is even used in tandem with steel in applications such as shaft linear guides, energy chains, and other friction and abrasion applications.
With no requirement for lubrication, these developments have quickly found favour globally in clean room, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and other applications. Its applications in heavy industry, earthmoving, agriculture, and other tough environments have had a slower uptake, thanks to scepticism over plastic’s ability to withstand tough tasks. However, the skyrocketing cost of lubrication and the ongoing cost of maintenance in recent years has pushed the agenda, and has steadily filtered through to the point where today the use of plastic bearings is commonplace in the heaviest machines, where they have outlasted other materials in a wide range of applications.
“One must remember that in earthmoving alone, a small 16-ton excavator uses about 60 litres of grease a year, which is mostly destined to end up in the ground, and ultimately in our rivers. Larger machines and industrial plants use proportionately much more and can often be replaced by igus motion plastics solutions,” says igus South Africa managing director, Ian Hewat.
He adds that South Africa is rapidly catching up with global benchmarks. The uptake of igus motion plastics solutions is gaining pace across applications in heavy engineering, chemicals, agriculture, food and beverage, and other clean environments that already enjoy the benefits of igus lubrication-free products. Several high-profile instances of igus’ products outlasting other materials in bearing, anti-abrasion, noise reduction, and corrosion resistance applications have shown local engineers and designers the value of its polymers across all applications.
More recently the company has introduced a free app for smartphones that automatically scrutinises photographs of machines or applications uploaded to the application to identify igus solutions to improve performance with solutions that negate the use of lubricants. The igusGO App is a cutting-edge solution that is free for anyone to download and use. Wherever more complex solutions are required, igus’ team of polymer experts is at hand to advise users on applications, and can call on its German and other international laboratories and counterparts to find solutions for customers’ unique requirements.
| Tel: | +27 11 312 1848 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.igus.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about igus |
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