LURICATING EFFICIENCY

Performance and efficiency are core to any equipment and therefore it becomes crucial to have superior lubricants to improve productivity to meet the industry needs. Prajakta Karnik speaks to industry experts about the new technology trends adopted in this segment, the challenges and opportunities.

Lubricants have always played a vital role in construction. With rapid urbanisation, there has been a steep rise in construction activities. Heavy-duty equipment are used in the construction of streets, highways, bridges and buildings.

From bulldozers, dump trucks and draglines to scrapers and shovels, construction equipment are subjected to harsh environs. Exposure to extreme cold or heat, moisture, dust and dirt can hurt lubricant performance and lead to premature equipment failure.

Construction companies always tend to avoid breakdown of any machinery as it increases completion time of the project as well as cost of maintenance. OEMs have also adopted technology and introduced newer machines to not just improve productivity but also to comply with the latest emission norms. Lubricant manufacturers are also gearing up to these changing trends. 

Technology Trends

Contracting companies are increasingly demanding highly productive and multifunctional machinery to perform in complex and difficult terrains under severe conditions, while avoiding downtime as any breakdown has a major effect on increasing yeild and return. OEMs are therefore constantly upgrading their equipment.

As a result, lubricant manufacturers are also constantly upgrading and updating their offerings to meet the needs of the industry. With innovations at the fore, new age lubricants and oils are set to offer a smooth functioning of construction equipment and impart longevity.

“Lubricants are technology-driven products. Equipment technologies, OEM requirements, environmental norms, chemical regulations, etc. drive the lubricants development. The lubricants manufacturers need to continuously upgrade their product ranges as per technological evolution. Currently, we see a significant shift in the Indian market from mineral to synthetic-based products. The lubricants industry is gradually moving towards low viscosity grades for lower energy consumption or fuel economy. There is a sharp rise in the demand for products with higher performance specifications, for example, API CI-4 Plus, API CJ-4, or latest API CK-4, etc. BS-VI compatible product range is being introduced in the market. Oils with extended drain interval, biodegradability, compatibility with biofuels, etc. are some other technological trends adopted by lubricants manufacturers. Services such as analysis of oil-in-service are offered by lubricants manufacturers to reduce downtime of equipment,” Anupam Amar, Assistant Vice-President, Technical Services of Lubricants, Total Oil India said.

He further noted that for future products, computational tribology and tribo-modeling are increasingly used in product engineering. With the rise in electrification, lubricants manufacturers are spending a significant amount of resources on R&D to make products for the future. Total is a leader in the development and manufacturing of fluids for hybrid/battery-operated vehicles or other systems, Amar said.

According to a recent report titled “Construction Lubricants MarketForecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking – Global Market Insights 2018 to 2028”, by Fact.MR, synthetic oil would continue to maintain its status as a preferred construction lubricant. Also, stringent emission norms as well as regulations are also acting as prime motivators towards the growing demand for synthetic oils.

Having Right Products is the Key

Any lubricant consists of 3 main components- the base oil, viscosity modifiers and an additive package containing friction modifiers, inhibitors to protect copper parts, detergents, and emulsifiers to keep water droplets in suspension.

Using the correct fluid with the right set of solutions and adhering to proper lubrication regimes is crucial not only to achieve higher productivity but also to reduce cost of repairs and downtime. Even though using the correct specialised fluid can result in more cost, but experts believe that it will still outweigh as compared to the cost of the equipment, repairs and lost revenue in downtime.

“The selection of right lubricant starts with OEM specification and recommendation. The right product is recommended by the OEM after designing and evaluating the product performance for longer and complex trials in all possible duty cycle to ensure the reliable operation of the product with all component compatibility and optimizing the user output at the maximum possible extend,” Amit Biswas – Head – Parts Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company said.

He further noted that the most critical point here is how long the lubricant can hold its property in higher load and high temperature application without much degradation of the oil.

“In the construction industry, customers are constantly striving to meet deadlines; lower operating costs and want to maximize equipment availability. Right mix of base oil and additive chemistry of lubricant will enhance the machine reliability and reduce the total cost of ownership in three fronts:

• Longer machine life
• Longer oil life
• Improving the efficiency of machines

Any degradation of oil properties will impact the machine performance and its efficiency, that make the importance of using a right product in any of the machine applications,” Biswas added.

Sreejit Banerjee, Chief Operating Officer SBU-Greases & Lubricants, Balmer Lawrie & Co said that partnering with the OEMs to develop the right products for their equipment & machines has been an ongoing trend in the market for last few ye1ars & we are actively engaging with OEMs in construction, fleet & infrastructure segment .

“Currently we are associated with Sany, Tata- Hitachi, Tata Motors , M&M to name a few & we are working with few others as well. We are also actively taking OEM approvals from few leading global OEMs like Cummins, Volvo etc., so that our customers have the choice of using an approved product & not just an equivalent product meeting the specification. We believe in offering more choices to the customers,” Banerjee added.

Sandeep Ganjoo, Sr. AGM Business Development Apar Industries said there are specifications laid down for each application. Beyond this, there are also OEM requirements based on the type of base oil technology to be used.

“Service and oil analysis play a major role in selecting the lubricants and oils for the right application. We work closely with customers to bring in the awareness about the various aspects of using right lubricant or oil for optimum performance. Each OEM recommends the specification and the performance standards of the lubricant grade to be used based on various environmental aspects. The recommendation is normally done based on key factors including function/ application, ingredients /composition, physio-chemical characteristics & performance standards, longevity, cost and after sales support,” he added.

Emission Norms

On April 1 last year, the government announced the implementation of the Bharat Stage VI emission norm from existing BS-IV, skipping BS-V. For construction equipment vehicles, CEV Stage IV & Stage V will be implemented in 2021 and 2024 respectively.

All these new emission norms require a drastic reduction in key pollutants such as NOx, PM, CO, and HC, etc.

“Technology upgradation, its validation & assimilation of this technology by customers are some of the major issues faced by the auto sector. In case of diesel engines three devices – Catalytic Converter, DPF & SCR – are filled in series to make the engine BS VI compliant. In case of petrol engine redesign of ports and exhaust system improvements with direct injection methods (replacement of normal carburetor) & other design changes has to be made to make the engine BS VI compliant. For oil marketer/oil refineries , reduced timeline, selection of appropriate refining technologies, revamping of existing units & simultaneous distribution of two types of fuels are major challenges to be overcome,” Banerjee said.

Covid Impact

India is the 3rd largest lubricants market in the world after China and the USA. It is the largest 2-Wheeler and 3-Wheeler market in the world. Almost all major OEMs are present in India.

“Last year, due to the COVID pandemic lubricants industries were facing a significant slowdown. We observed a quick market recovery in the last quarter of 2020, as the situation became better. As the situation is worsening now, we might see the impact again. The pandemic has evolved the services proposed by lubricant suppliers such as distance troubleshooting, more use of sensors, etc,” Amar said.

Echoing similar views, Banerjee noted that the pandemic definitely has dampened the market sentiments which is likely to continue till the time it becomes manageable. “However FY 2020-2021 has been a better year for us in comparison to FY 2019-2020 & one of the main reason is for the growth that we have been able to get in our distribution business . As we want to grow our distribution business to 30,000 KL level by 2025 & with  enough space available  for us to achieve this, we don’t see that our volume is going to come down despite the difficult situation which is likely to continue in current fiscal,” he added.

According to Ganjoo, though the country is going through challenting times, the Central government has already embarked on huge investment plans for infrastructure building and has also made a record of completing more than 35 km per day roads despite of huge issues faced initially due to relocation of migrant labourers. However, coal mining sector has faced a decline to the tune of 25% due to the pandemic, he noted.

Way Forward

According to the report by Fact.MR, growing demand for zinc-free construction lubricants is emerging as a key trend in the industry, owing to their ability of preventing corrosion of construction machinery, and improving the equipment lifecycle.

Additionally, zinc-free construction lubricants offer high performance even in high temperature, high pressure, and high moisture conditions, which in turn is fuelling their demand as an ideal type of construction lubricant.

It further stated that manufacturers of construction lubricant are also focusing on diversifying their product portfolios via incorporation of bio-based variants, against the backdrop of rapid end-user inclination toward environment-friendly products “Extensive analysis of the end-user specifications and requirements continues to be vital for growth in the construction lubricants market. Manufacturers are vying to devise effective strategies for extension of their portfolios with new product developments, while expanding their core product lines,” states Fact.MR report.

According to the study, the construction lubricants market is expected to register a volume CAGR of approximately 4% through 2028.

“Demand for lubricants in the agriculture and transportation sector is witnessing huge growth, thanks to the high agricultural output of India. Also, development of road & infrastructure projects fuels the demand for lubricants in the off-highway segment. The implementation of BS-VI has made a significant change in the lubricant industry and the upcoming vehicle scrap page policy will upgrade the vehicle parc in the coming years and will boost the demand for high-performance lubricants. In the long term, as the EVs will grow, automotive lubricants will see a major transition towards EV fluids. Industrial lubricants will continue to grow due to the government’s push for the industrial sector,” Amar said.

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