What makes a world-class lube room world-class?

by

For a worldwide company like pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co., it is a dedication to excellence in machinery lubrication. Since taking the reins of Eli Lilly’s corporate lubrication technical team, Rendela Wenzel created a lubrication assessment and an end-user guide to assess each manufacturing site’s overall lubrication program performance. The assessment covers seven different sections – storage, handling/dispensing, safety, training, lubrication PMs, oil analysis and recycling.

When reliability and predictive maintenance in general were not improving as quickly as desired, Eli Lilly’s management realized that some areas were better than others in the reliability space and as a result started to integrate these improvements into their business plans.

For storage and handling and dispensing, the company turned to storage and dispending systems from The IFH Group. The IFH Fluid Storage and Dispensing System improves lubricant storage by providing a better way to handle all kinds of oils, lubricants and industrial fluids that is easier, safer, cleaner, and more cost efficient.

Eli-Lilly-Co-luberoom

One of Eli Lilly’s world-class lube rooms

Written by Warren Byers is the owner of M. W. Byers Co., Carnegie, PA.
He can be reached at warren@byersequipment.net

Key elements to address when designing mobile and industrial reservoirs

by

Do you have questions about the finer points of mobile hydraulic oil reservoir design? And the special design considerations that mobile reservoirs require?

Mobile hydraulic reservoirs are expected to perform as well as industrial reservoirs, even though they are typically operating under more extreme and often adverse conditions. It’s important that you (or your reservoir supplier) understand the special problems hydraulic reservoirs used in mobile equipment face, such as machine motion, extreme ambient temperatures, and size limitations.

Size is the most striking difference when comparing industrial and mobile designs. Industrial standards, developed by NFPA (National Fluid Power Association) and accepted by ANSI (American National Standards Institute), specify that reservoir capacity should equal 3x to 12x maximum pump output. However, size and weight limitations may require the equipment to operate with reservoirs as small as the volume the pump discharges in a single minute.

Because of the special limitations of mobile hydraulic reservoirs, they typically require custom design. Custom made hydraulic reservoirs have an advantage over off-the-shelf reservoirs because they can be designed to fit the exact space and technical requirements necessary for optimal performance.  Cost, size, and weight can be minimized while maintaining performance and efficiency.

Does your supplier employ techniques such as 3D modeling to develop the most efficient design for your application and for the manufacturability of your reservoir?

Details on design considerations for mobile hydraulic reservoirs can be found on our website in a free white paper download by IFH Group president Keith Ellefsen.

Ryan McCarty is Vice President, Sales & Marketing, at The IFH Group.

He can be reached at rmccarty@ifhgroup.com.