Reduce down-time by lubricating smarter
A production stop at bakeries is very costly (up to 10K per hour), since the making of bread, pastry or pizzas is a process that cannot be interrupted. The environment the equipment has to operate in is a challenging one, giving the maintenance people headaches.
Flour, temperature, humidity and the severe food safety regulations (HACCP), set high demands to maintenance in general and lubrication in particular. Some components are not even lubricated, because the ‘medicine is worse than the illness’, accepting high replacement costs.
Some applications in Bakeries
Chains in the kneading and dough proofer area
All the chains lubricated with conventional 'wet' lubricants in the kneading and dough proofer areas suffer from flour sticking to them. It not only creates a dirty appearance (not very desirable in a food processing plant), but the chains also suffer premature wear and tear (elongation) due to the abrasiveness of the build-up. Many of them are hidden behind protective caps to avoid flour sticking too much to the chains. They have to be dissambled in order to clean and lubricate; very time consuming, leading to more down-time.
Interflon Food Lube leaves a dry MicPol® film preventing the flour from sticking to the lubricant, making cleaning easier and faster and allowing lubrication intervals of 4 to even 6 months on most of the chains. Since there is no abrasive build-up, chains don’t stretch that quickly, extending their service life, bringing down the number of interventions (less down-time). And they look clean, satisfying auditors and more in accordance with what you expect in a food processing area.
Tags: Interflon Food Lube | MicPol®
Chains in the proofer chamber
Due to the high humidity level in these chambers, the chains corrode rapidly when applying conventional lubricants. The way to avoid this, is lubricating them frequently, but this increases the risk of dripping and generates a build-up. It’s either this or accept chains have to be replaced frequently, resulting in high maintenance costs and down-time.
With Interflon Food Lube G these issues are solved since the lubrication film MicPol® offers, repels moisture and protects again corrosion, extending their service-life and lubrication intervals (up to 4x), at the same time avoiding dripping since it’s a dry film. No build-up, clean aspect. Most of the bakeries have automatic lubrication systems, but for those who haven’t, Interflon Food Lube G also comes in aerosol.
Spiral and tunnel freezers
Lubricating the chains, bearings and gearboxes at temperatures of -35°C is tough. When chains are lubricated automatically, you mostly see dirty chains due to the ‘wet’ conventional lubricant used. In order to clean and lubricate them and grease the bearings, the line is down for some hours which is very expensive and most food grade NSF-H1 gear oils freeze solid after being exposed to lower temperatures, making the restart very difficult.
Interflon Food Lube LT (-40°C) is a food grade (NSF-H1) oil with MicPol® technology that will not only allow you to extend lubrication intervals up to 5x, but also leaves a clean dry film lubrication bringing down the need to clean the chain often. Can be applied manually and through an automatic lubrication system.
Interflon Food Grease LT2 (-45°C) is a food grade (NSF-H1) grease with synthetic base oil and MicPol® technology. The lubricant will not only remain fluid under extreme low temperatures, but also provides high performance and excellent wear protection under these circumstances. Due to the MicPol® particles, greasing intervals can be extended up to 4x, bringing down the need to shut down the line that often, saving a huge amount of money.
Interflon Food Lube LT food grade (NSF-H1) gear oil with MicPol® not only resists the extreme low temperatures (-40°C) but also does not freeze solid when freezing up after shut-down and extends the service life up to 3x.
Tags: Interflon Food Lube LT | Interflon Food Grease LT2 | Interflon Food Lube LT food grade
