Lofrix choose Uni for lab tests
Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:44:00 BST
Centre for Efficiency and Performance Engineering evaluates oil additive
RESEARCHERS at the University of Huddersfield were called in to test the claims of an ambitious UK company that its chemical additive to oil can significantly reduce the operating costs of machinery by cutting down on wear and tear.
And after devising a special experiment, scientists at the University’s Centre for Efficiency and Performance Engineering found that the product manufactured and marketed by the firm Lofrix DOES reduce damaging levels of friction in moving parts.
It achieves this by delaying the breakdown of lubricating oil. Among the benefits could be savings in energy costs and a lessening of hazardous noise levels on the factory floor.
Lofrix bosses are delighted by the conclusions of a report compiled by a University team headed by Dr Faisal Al Thobiani. The findings provide academic back-up to field tests of the product carried out by several major companies, said the firm’s head of marketing, Ian Sibbick.
He explained that Lofrix – the exact composition of which is an industrial secret – was developed almost two decades ago by company founder Brian Strapps and it then underwent many years of testing by firms including BAE Systems and Scottish Power. The product has been used in many situations, with one of the main applications being the gear boxes of wind turbines. The firm claims that Lofrix can cut machinery operating costs by up 20 per cent.
“We got terrific results from these field tests, but we realised that we needed take a step back and have a set of results under controlled conditions undertaken by an independent and world-renowned diagnostic centre,” said Mr Sibbick.
“We picked the University of Huddersfield because of its reputation in diagnostic engineering,” he added.
Mr Sibbick acknowledges that there was some risk attached to the strategy, in case the Lofrix products did not perform well under laboratory conditions.
“But with all the evidence we had from working with those big companies, we were confident that the result would be positive. It has actually worked out better than we thought it would.”
The end results were “startling”, claimed Mr Sibbick, and they would help Lofrix to expand its operations. Also, there are plans for further research with the University of Huddersfield.
Positive report
The Centre for Efficiency and Performance Engineering tested the claims made for Lofrix by using a friction brake test machine. The scientists carried out a series of 60-minute tests with different amounts of Lofrix added to the lubricant – and without any Lofrix at all.
The team, including Dr Al Thobiani and his colleague Parno Raharjo, measured the breakdown in the lubricant by monitoring an increase in noise and by measuring the increase in amperage levels.
They also carried out minute examinations of the wear marks on roller bearings in the machine. Pictures of these graphically show big reductions in wear, according to the amount of Lofrix added.
The report concludes: “This evaluation has found that under very harsh wear conditions, adding Lofrix to a base oil has delayed the oil from breaking down and therefore causing wear on the contact surfaces. The gradual increase in the amount of Lofrix added to the base oil has seen the delay in the oil breaking down increase.
“The results from this initial research project do support the findings reported in the industrial case studies and strengthen the case for further long-term research.”
Among the areas that could be researched next, according to the report, are the impact that Lofrix makes on energy consumption and the extent to which the product could aid the reduction of noise levels and therefore cut down on hearing loss suffered by factory workers.
Pictured above [left to right] on a recent visit to the Centre for Efficiency and Performance Engineering at the University of Huddersfield are John Tomlinson, Chief Engineer with Romiley Board Mill, Brian Strapps the inventor and developer of Lofrix, Professor Andrew Ball, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, and Gordon Maclean, UK Sales and Service Manager with Scottish Power Renewables.
