After a rewinder pilot ended monthly shutdowns, Euro-Mit Staal cut lubricant consumption almost 10 times factory-wide.
From monthly shutdowns to a 7-month lubrication interval ON HOLD
Euro-Mit Staal in Vlissingen identified excessive wear in the rewinder of a slitting line and looked for a structural solution. The cause turned out to lie in the lubrication mechanism. This article explains how the application of Interflon Grease LS2 with MicPol® technology extended the maintenance interval by a factor of seven.
Dennie Minderhoud
Technical Service Planner, Euro-Mit Staal B.V.
In less than eighteen months, Interflon has raised the lubrication maintenance of our entire factory to a higher level. Thanks to their advice and the right lubricants, we have avoided having to shut down a slitting line every month for disassembly and cleaning. We are now on an interval of 7 months, use almost 10 times less lubricant and have control over our quality.
Dennie Minderhoud, Technical Service Planner, Euro-Mit Staal B.V.
The application: high load, low speed
EMS's slitting lines process master coils of transformer steel weighing approximately 9,000 kg. The rewinder recoils the cut steel under constant high load at low surface speed. The comb-and-wedge mechanism in the winder shaft must slide with sub-millimetre accuracy on every cycle.
This combination of high contact pressure and low speed places the lubricant in the boundary lubrication regime: the zone on the Stribeck curve where the lubricant film is at its thinnest and most at risk of being squeezed out between the contact surfaces. It is precisely this regime where most lubrication failures begin in practice.
Wear analysis: why boundary lubrication requires a specific lubricant
In applications with high contact pressure at low speed, such as the comb-and-wedge mechanism in the rewinder shaft, demanding requirements are placed on the lubricant. A standard universal EP grease is insufficient in this regime because a critical mechanism is missing: durable surface adhesion.
The wear pattern when surface adhesion is absent:
Metal particles from the sliding comb and wedge surfaces migrate into the grease
The grease has no adhesion to the metal surface and keeps the particles in suspension
Over time, the particle concentration forms an abrasive paste
The paste accelerates wear on the sliding surfaces
Increasing wear leads to a loss of accuracy in the winder shaft
Galling marks in the shaft chamber, where the comb/wedge shifts.
During the annual major maintenance, black grease was observed in the rewinder, without any action initially being taken. When functional problems with the moving parts arose, Interflon recognised this as an indication of wear failure caused by the lubricant used. To map the scale of the issue, a pilot was set up in which the unit was first disassembled, cleaned and regreased monthly as a baseline.
The solution: MicPol® technology in the boundary lubrication regime
Interflon Grease LS2 is a long-fibre EP grease containing MicPol® technology. It has been specifically developed for applications with high contact pressure at low speed. The micronised particles in MicPol® technology flatten the micro surface roughness while the polarised particles adhere to the metal surface. The result is an adhesive barrier that does not rely solely on film thickness. Even under the high contact pressure of a 9 tonne steel roll, the surface bonded layer remains intact. Contamination with metal particles does not affect the adhesion mechanism. The lubricant film remains intact, wear is inhibited and the lubricant retains its protective effect for up to 7 months.
Left: Competitor product: black contamination caused by wear particles Right: Interflon Grease LS2, the lubricant film is palpable to the touch
Does your lubricant determine your maintenance interval?
At Euro-Mit Stal, a lubrication audit delivered a fully documented lubrication programme for five production lines in under 18 months. Interflon carries out the same analysis at your site.
MicPol® technology combines micronised particles that flatten micro-surface roughness with polarised particles that bond chemically to the metal surface. This creates a durable adhesive barrier that does not rely solely on film thickness, so it stays intact even under high contact pressure. At Euro-Mit Staal, this extended the relubrication interval on a slitting line rewinder from a 1 month baseline to 7 months.
Boundary lubrication is the regime on the Stribeck curve where contact pressure is high and speed is low, so the lubricant film is at its thinnest and most likely to be squeezed out between contact surfaces. Most lubrication failures in industrial equipment begin in this regime, because standard greases lack the surface adhesion needed to keep a protective layer in place. The comb-and-wedge mechanism in Euro-Mit Staal's rewinder, operating under roughly 9 tonnes of load, sits exactly in this regime.
Switching to a lubricant with MicPol® technology can reduce lubricant consumption significantly, as shown at Euro-Mit Staal, where the company cut consumption by almost 10 times after replacing its previous lubricant with a MicPol® based grease. This reduction is possible because the lubricant adheres to the metal surface instead of being displaced or contaminated, so less product needs to be reapplied to maintain protection. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners saw a similar effect at a different scale, reducing lubricant consumption by approximately 80% after switching to MicPol® technology.
ILAC® is Interflon's cloud based lubrication management software that supports extended maintenance intervals by automatically scheduling lubrication tasks at the right time, digitally recording every action, and exporting a complete audit trail. ILAC® is what allowed Euro-Mit Staal to move from ad hoc monthly disassembly to a documented 7 month interval across all five slitting lines.
Metal contamination usually makes wear worse because, without surface adhesion, metal particles migrate into the grease and form an abrasive paste that accelerates further wear, a pattern seen in Euro-Mit Staal's rewinder before the switch. Interflon Grease LS2 with MicPol® technology prevents this because its polarised particles bond to the metal surface, so contamination does not affect the adhesion mechanism and paste build up is avoided.
