The Power of PFPE Lubricant Selection

How Manufacturers Have Reduced Downtime and Costs | PFPE Lubricant | Krytox

From equipment selection to maintenance cycles and troubleshooting, we know you work tirelessly to achieve peak plant performance every day. With the average plant using more than 2,000 bearings – in addition to the valves, seals and other PFPE lubricant reliant components – lubrication plays a critical role in plant performance.

Finding a lubricant that can perform, even in the harshest of conditions, can help extend asset life, reduce downtime and control maintenance costs. Perfluoropolyether (PFPE) lubricants are proven to outperform traditional lubricants in four key areas: over time, under extreme pressures, in extreme heat and in extremely harsh conditions.

Learn how four manufacturing plants were able to improve plant performance by switching to Krytox PFPE lubricants.

The Test of Time

PFPE lubricants have proven endurance over time at extreme temperatures. In fact, a British bottling plant was struggling to keep its labeling machine gearbox operating fulltime because shaft seals lasted only two weeks. This led to frequent unscheduled downtime and high maintenance costs. The company needed a lubricant that would withstand extremely high temperatures over time, minimize leakage from failing seals – which produced a food quality concern – and was safe for its employees.

The company selected a Krytox PFPE lubricant, which offers lasting performance at temperatures greater than 400 °C (752 °F). The solution worked so well that the gearbox is now changed every two years during routine plant maintenance.

The Test of Pressure

Krytox lubricants are also proven to outperform hydrocarbon lubricants under extreme pressure. A German manufacturer of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valves needed to improve product reliability. Operating under extreme pressure, in a broad temperature range (-40 °C to 200 °C [-40 °F to 392 °F]), with heavy vibrations, the valves regularly failed.

A Krytox PFPE lubricant provided the answer the company needed – providing superior lubricity at the lowest temperatures, withstanding a rigorous vibration test and improving product reliability. The manufacturer estimates that the switch in lubricants saves nearly $90,000 annually.

The Test of Heat

Numerous tests have demonstrated PFPEs’ reliable performance under high heat, maintaining lubricity at temperatures greater than 400 °C (752 °F). A notable example comes from the ammonia industry. One company was plagued by frequent bearings failures in its reformer furnace blower due to the lithium grease decomposing at the high operating temperature (290 °C [554 °F]). The company sought out a chemically inert lubricant – capable of performing alongside ammonia – with a once-a-year re-lubrication cycle due to the maintenance safety risk, potential fire hazard involved with shutdown and production loss.

A high-temperature PFPE lubricant, specially designed to provide optimal performance between 200 °C and 300 °C (392 °F and 572 °F), met the challenge. Because PFPEs are nonflammable and chemically inert, safety improved. As a result, the bearings in the reformer furnace blower do not lose lubricity and the maintenance schedule can remain confidently at 12 month intervals, reducing the company’s operating costs
and safety risk.

The Test of Harshness

Lastly, PFPE lubricants provide optimal performance in extreme conditions. A Taiwanese manufacturer struggled to adequately lubricate the pressure gauge within its chlorine piping system, part of a titanium dioxide manufacturing operation. Gauge failures threatened worker safety, resulted in downtime and increased maintenance expense.

The company searched for a replacement lube that was stable at high temperatures, resistant to chlorine gas and could handle the harsh operating environment. The company met the challenge by using a nonflammable PFPE lubricant with good high-temperature stability, providing long-term stability at operating temperatures up to 150 °C (302 °F).

About Krytox™ PFPE Lubricants

Krytox™ lubricants are Chemours’ line of high quality PFPE oils and greases, which have been proven to offer longterm performance and superior value. These lubricants are PFPEs, resulting in exceptional chemical stability. Therefore, they are thermally stable, nonflammable and insoluble in water, acids, bases, and most organic and all non-fluorinated solvents.

Additionally, Krytox™ lubricants are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified, and several grades are NSF H-1.

The attributes of Krytox™ lubricants include:

Performance over a wide temperature range
Extreme heat or cold have no effect on the lubricity of these lubricants, effective from -75 °C to greater than 400 °C (-103 °F to 752 °F), depending upon operating conditions and product grade.

Resistant to chemical attack
Krytox™ lubricants withstand oxygen, acids and other aggressive substances.

Low evaporation
Krytox™ lubricants – within the recommended temperature ranges – experience almost zero evaporation or chemical changes over the many years of a machine’s service life.

Compatibility
Krytox™ lubricants won’t harm painted surfaces or most elastomeric materials. They are compatible with almost every material they may contact.