Lubrication solutions tailored for the modern brewery

Brewing beer is a craft. But that does not alter the fact that the modern brewery is an industrial enterprise in which, in addition to quality, speed and efficiency are central objectives. This places heavy demands not only on personnel and machinery, but just as much on the oils and greases that must provide the necessary lubrication in just about every facet of production. Anderol and Verolub go over the most important lubrication points and associated concerns.

Anderol is a producer of synthetic oils and active in several niche markets. With an extensive range of food-safe lubricants - backed by NSF H1 registration, ISO 9001 and ISO 21469 certifications, Kosher and Halal labels - it has also been specifically targeting the food sector for several years. Both at home and abroad, numerous breweries now work with the manufacturer's synthetic lubricants.

No more compromises

"In the past, companies in the food sector almost by definition had to make compromises," insists Kurt of Belgian distributor Verolub. "Indeed, in order to comply with food safety regulations, a lot of mineral lubrication solutions compromise somewhat on functionality and quality. This is not the case with our synthetic solutions. Through balanced formulations of base oils and additives, we manage to develop lubricants that meet the highest functional and safety requirements, both within our standard food grade range and, if necessary, customized."

Four central concerns

The high demands referred to relate to the extreme conditions under which lubricants must perform today. "To drive up plant efficiency, higher and higher temperatures, pressures and production speeds are being worked on. At the same time, machines are becoming more compact and therefore the oil content smaller. This is a challenging situation, because it leads to faster aging, while of course production stops due to maintenance must also be avoided as much as possible." To ensure the longevity, efficiency and overall performance of lubricants - and consequently the complete plant efficiency - in these harsh conditions, Anderol is betting on several areas. "First, synthetic lubricants have high thermal stability, so our products deliver optimal performance at both very low and very high temperatures. Second, we ensure less rapid aging through high oxidation stability to extend maintenance intervals. Third, we always strive for the cleanest possible machine lubrication, in particular by reducing carbon deposits to a minimum. As a result, components last longer without the need for cleaning. Finally, a fourth focus in our formulations is high film strength. This ensures good adhesion of the lubricants to the materials, even in conditions with a lot of water or steam, and thus optimal lubrication and again less wear."

Lubrication of compressors and vacuum pumps

Lubricants apply in just about every part of beer production, from malting and brewing itself, to transporting, cleaning, filling, sealing, labeling and stacking bottles and other containers. "Each of those process steps also has different lubrication points. Broadly speaking, and across the entire process, we thus distinguish five types." First, Verolub cites the compressors and vacuum pumps. "Here, performance at high temperatures, low oxidation and limited carbon deposition are crucial, as are low volatility and high resistance to water and steam. In most cases, we suggest Anderol FG XL lubricating oil for this purpose, but for extra long life, the new Anderol SynCom FG HiPerf is also an option. In the brewhouse itself, where the fermentation processes sometimes release a lot of acids, there is also an additional inert yet still performing solution, namely the Anderol C-NRT."

Lubrication of hydraulic systems

A second typical lubrication point is the hydraulic systems. "Here it is important to be able to start up cold and for the lubricating oil to perform well even under high pressure. The type solution is therefore the Anderol FGH series."

Lubrication of conveyor belts and chains

For conveyors and chains, the third category, Anderol has the Chain Oil FG 220 XL in the range. "This retains its strong performance even at very high temperatures, penetrates nicely into the links and has an absolute minimum of carbon deposits, so links do not block."

Lubrication of drives

Fourth are the drives. "Here it is important that lubricants reduce friction and wear. Generally we revert to the Anderol 6000 series for this, but especially for worm wheels there is also the 7000 FG series."

Lubrication of bearings

Finally, as the last category, Kurt refers to bearings. "For this we have a wide range of greases such as aluminum and calcium sulfonate complexes, which are used depending on the application. Among others, the Anderol 783 series, the PQAA series and the FG CS series are regularly used."