Texaco Lubricants’ Europe OEMs manager offers his expert insight into how operators can manage the challenges facing the off-highway sector.
What are the biggest challenges facing the off-road industry today?
Eddy Devriese: One of the challenges the mining sector in Europe has recently faced is an increasing emphasis on stricter emissions requirements. This has meant that mobile equipment used in mining, such as excavators, must now subscribe to the latest legislative requirements. These are currently known as EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Tier 4 rating for the United States and EU (European Union) Stage V standards in Europe.
Both requirements put tighter limits on particulate matter (PM) emissions, which has seen the introduction of diesel particulate filters (DPFs). DPFs are familiar to many in the passenger car and on-highway sectors, but have become more prevalent in the off-highway sector over the past four years. The challenge with this for mobile mining rigs in particular has been the engine designs. It is not easy to extend the life of a DPF, or even in some cases maintain its performance.
It used to be common in the industry to use high sulphated ash, phosphorus and sulfur (SAPS) oils, but now operators have had to start using low and medium SAPS products. With the DPFs now fitted, it is no longer possible to use a high SAPS oil, which limits the choice of lubricants on offer.
Another challenge is that DPFs installed in mining and construction equipment typically have a lifespan of about 4,000 to 4,500 hours. After this, DPFs should usually be removed and cleaned. Now, mining operations run conventionally 24/7, and customers don’t want to have to shut down their entire operation to clean the DPF.
With this in mind, we worked with several OEMs to introduce the Texaco Delo 600 ADF. This product is well suited to equipment used in the mining and construction sectors, and across the off-road sector as a whole. Delo 600 ADF offers extended drain intervals for the engine as well as extended cleaning intervals and additional protection for the DPF. This helps operators reduce the downtime of their equipment.
Off-road industries can be quite conservative in adopting new technologies. The motor oil viscosity levels used in these industries are typically 15W-40, and this has been the case for a long time. These oils aren’t as helpful when we look at areas like fuel economy, which is something we’re trying to address.
Fuel economy is an essential part of business operations, and will become even more so over time. The road sector has seen CO2 emissions addressed through strict requirements, which has not really been the case so far for off-road operations. This, however, will not last. Over time, operators will need to transition from using oils with 15W-40 viscosities to oils with 10W-30 viscosities, and this is something we are already focusing on with some of our OEM customers.
The impact of these changes for off-highway applications is not as significant as it was in the highway sector. This is due to the great difference in the typical mode of operation, which is undertaken in both industries. For example, a crane does not really travel a great distance and therefore the impact is not as great as it would be on a vehicle on the road.
Therefore, operators must use other methods to increase their fuel economy. Our tests on excavators show that using the right hydraulic fluid is the key to improving fuel economy, as during operation, the engine’s hydraulic cylinder can seize up momentarily. This is commonly called stick-slip, and this problem can take a lot of energy to rectify in order to free the cylinder. The good news is that a high-performance hydraulic fluid can prevent this from happening.
How do the products in the Texaco Lubricants range help operators manage these challenges?
ED: On the fat side, we’ve been working hard to develop our product offering. We are currently working on the development of a new suite of calcium sulfonate greases. The reasons for this are twofold: firstly, they offer improved performance, and secondly, they serve as an alternative to lithium greases, which is useful due to the significant increase in the cost of lithium. In this way, we seek to offer our customers improved performance at a more competitive price.
Further afield, in the off-road sector, agricultural equipment is also equipped with DPFs and therefore the industry is also overseeing a transition from using 15W-40 viscosity oils to 10W-30 viscosity oils. We have been recommending the use of Texaco Delo 600 ADF to many of our agricultural customers.
With the stop-and-go nature of the agricultural sector, and with increased operating hours during the harvest season, the Texaco Delo 600 ADF offers the advantage of increased drain intervals, which can help with idle equipment during the winter period.
