Case Studies
Wire Rope Lubrication
Challenge
Background
- A large coal to liquid fuel plant uses a wire rope driven mechanism to “shunt” rail tank cars for filling.
- Previously a mixture of grease and diesel fuel was used to lubricate the 16 wire ropes.
- The wire ropes frequently broke, resulting in 4 hours downtime for repair each time.
- The ropes typically had to be replaced every 3 years at a cost of $115,000 each.
Crane cable lubricants dry out, trap dirt and fail to prevent corrosion after 12 months.
Solution
Product
Chesterton 715 Spraflex® Gold applied manually to rollers every 3-4 months. After 2 years of using Chesterton 715, the plant had not experienced any production delays due to rope breakage.
A side-by-side trail with OEM Lubricant proves the value of Chesterton 715.
Results
The wire rope replacement period has been extended from 3 years to 5 years.
Previous Wire Rope Costs (3-yr. life cycle)
16 wire ropes @ $115,000/ea: $1,840,000
$1,840,000/3-yr. life cycle: $613,333/yr.)
New Wire Rope Costs (5-yr. life cycle)
Current $1,840,000/5 yrs.: $368,000/yr.
Savings (5-yr. vs 3-yr. life cycle): $248,333/yr.
(+ reduced labor costs and downtime)
$=USD
Cleaned, lubricated, and protected.