Suggestion for Lubrication Improvement of Spray Line Conveyor Chain
April 13, 2023
Equipment lubrication situation: At present, the conveyor chain is lubricated with a mixture of chain oil and lubricating grease. The chain oil is filled with automatic oil injection equipment, and the lubricating grease is manually applied twice a week. Existing problems: 1. The conveyor chain experiences crawling, shaking, and high frictional resistance during operation; 2. Some guide roller bearings of the conveyor chain are stuck and cannot rotate smoothly; 3. After adding chain oil, there is oil dripping from the chain; 4. The high-temperature grease currently used on the chain is silicone grease. On site, it was learned from equipment maintenance personnel that when the conveyor chain was first put into use, a colorless and transparent high temperature resistant lubricating grease (confirmed to be silicone grease) was used to assist in lubrication. After applying silicone grease to the chain, the friction resistance between the chain and the track was reduced to a certain extent. However, at this time, equipment maintenance personnel found that the chain oil was more prone to dripping than before. Analysis of on-site situation: The high temperature resistance of the originally used chain oil did not meet the requirements, and carbon deposition was generated under high temperature conditions, which made some guide wheels unable to rotate or even stuck, resulting in sliding friction between the guide wheel and the track, so the friction resistance increased. After silicone grease is applied, the sliding friction resistance can be reduced to a certain extent. However, because silicone grease is incompatible with other oils, it will repel other oils. After chain oil is added, it cannot form an oil film on the metal surface of the chain, cannot play a lubricating role, and is also easy to drip. Moreover, silicon atoms have mobility (organic silicon is often used as the main component of the release agent), which can prevent the coating from adhering to the surface of the workpiece, seriously affecting the coating quality. Therefore, many organic silicon compounds have always avoided being used on the coating line.
Lubrication improvement suggestions:
1. It is recommended to immediately stop using silicone grease on the conveyor chain of the coating line and clean and maintain the chain, with the aim of removing silicone grease and carbon deposits from the chain, restoring the performance of the chain, and eliminating the risk of silicone compounds on the coating process.
2. It is recommended to use fully synthetic high-temperature chain oil, which can reach a temperature of 250 degrees. And special additives are added inside to make the chain oil itself have cleaning function, which can reduce maintenance costs. The chain during transportation and propulsion can remain clean during lubrication, even under extreme high temperatures, increasing the service life of the chain and saving on replacement costs.
3. Cleaning method: Silicone grease is difficult to dissolve in ordinary oil and chemical polar solvents, so its cleaning is relatively difficult. Xylene solvent can be used for cleaning, and the operation method is to soak first and then brush away the silicone grease and carbon deposits. The acceptance criteria for cleaning are that the surface of the chain and the inside of the guide wheel bearing are clean and free of attachments, and the guide wheel rotates flexibly.
