Where is the future development direction of mining machinery lubricating oil?
March 24, 2023
1. Industrial grade oil products may become a new growth pole It is understood that lubricants in China are divided into industrial grade and traffic grade. With the continuous improvement of mining mechanization, industrial grade lubricants play a huge role in the automation and large-scale of mining equipment, known as "blood flowing in the mine". Affected by the epidemic situation in 2020, the operating rate of mining enterprises is insufficient, resulting in weak demand for lubricating oil downstream. Some experts predict that after 2022, with the improvement of the epidemic situation, the demand for industrial grade lubricants will continue to increase. It is estimated that by 2025, the demand for industrial grade lubricants will reach 8.8128 million tons, and the demand for industrial grade lubricants will reach 4 million tons, accounting for nearly 50% of the total demand. In addition to the large increase in demand and consumption in the future, high-end and diversified products are also the inevitable trend of future development. With the improvement of the high-end of mining equipment, the products on the market are also constantly introduced. According to the reporter, there are more than 100 kinds of lubricating oil samples applied to mining equipment at present, and they have different effects for different equipment, such as anti-friction, anti-tension, high-temperature resistance, etc. In addition, in the future, high-quality lubricating oil will gradually replace the original low-end products and become the main choice of various mining machinery and equipment. There are three main reasons. First, with the improvement of the level of mining equipment, a large number of precision and automation equipment need high-quality and personalized lubrication products to ensure its efficient operation; Second, the level of China's lubricant industry has improved, and it has been able to provide various high-quality, personalized and differentiated lubricant products for end customers; Third, at the policy level, the country vigorously promotes the concept of "reasonable lubrication", advocates reducing various losses caused by improper lubrication and improving economic benefits by selecting high-quality lubricating oil products. The appearance of nano-lubricating materials since the late 1990s marks a new stage in the research and application of friction, wear and lubrication. From the traditional fluid lubrication and chemical extreme pressure lubrication focusing on viscosity to reveal the mechanism of friction, wear and lubrication at the molecular and atomic scales, the theoretical research and practical application of "film lubrication" and "nano lubrication" have been started. Experts pointed out that the breakthrough of "extreme pressure and anti-wear" performance is really the core breakthrough of lubrication technology. The modern advanced lubrication technology is to improve the extreme pressure bearing capacity of the lubricant, and then improve the anti-wear and anti-wear performance of the friction pair, so as to achieve the purpose of life extension, energy saving and efficiency.
2. Additives make mine equipment more lubricating Lubricating oil with good quality is an important link to ensure efficient operation of machinery, improve working efficiency and extend the service life of equipment. In order to ensure the use in different environments, scientific research institutions and production enterprises have developed lubricating oil additives. China's research and development of lubricating oil additives for mining equipment began in the 1950s. In the 1960s, China vigorously developed additives for internal combustion engine oil, and successively built industrial devices for detergents and anti-oxidant and anti-corrosive agents. By the end of the 1970s, the production capacity of lubricating oil for mining machinery in China has been significantly improved, which can basically meet the needs of mining machinery and equipment. In the 1980s, China continued to organize relevant scientific research institutions to develop new varieties of lubricating oil for mining machinery and equipment, and further expanded its production capacity by learning and absorbing foreign advanced technologies. By the beginning of the 21st century, China's mining machinery lubricants have more than 100 varieties, and the number of products has reached the international level. At present, China has become the second largest consumer market of lubricating oil additives in the world after the United States. According to statistics, China's domestic production of lubricant additives will increase to 710000 tons in 2020. It is understood that lubricant additives are divided into single agent and composite agent. Single-agent products usually only have a single effect on improving the performance of lubricating oil, and composite agents usually have a composite effect. Because the composite agent is easy to use and sell, most lubricating oils at home and abroad are produced with composite agent, and single agent is used as the raw material of composite agent.
3. The research and development of high-quality lubricating oil should pay attention to the needs of the production line It is understood that mining machinery and equipment will be exposed to moisture and dust for a long time, and there are also high requirements for lubricating oil, which should not only play the role of normal lubrication, but also have the basic properties of rust prevention, dust prevention, corrosion prevention, and emulsification resistance. For the same equipment, different lubricants will be selected according to the climate and season. For example, lubricants with low viscosity should be selected in cold winter; For equipment that often works in water and humid environment, mixed oil shall be selected to avoid deterioration and failure too quickly. Reasonable lubrication management of equipment is directly related to saving energy, materials and labor, improving equipment productivity, reliability, service life and safe operation. In the past, equipment lubrication management was regarded as refueling or oil change, and now it has been raised to the theoretical level of tribology and re-recognized. Compared with advanced countries, China has made great progress in scientific research, implementation technology, personnel training, development and application in this field. As for the future development direction of lubricating oil for mining machinery in China, at present, China's lubricating oil industry has ranked among the forefront of the world's production, but there is still a certain gap between China and the world's leading manufacturers. In the next step, China should strengthen the research of high-quality lubricating oil and develop more high-end and more efficient lubricating oil to meet the needs of domestic mining machinery and equipment. This requires the seamless connection between the lubricating oil enterprises and the mining enterprises. It requires the lubricating oil enterprises to go deep into the front line of the mine and the equipment production workshop to understand the more real production data of the equipment operation, so as to produce the lubricating oil that is more suitable for the use of the equipment.
