India’s rising population comes with equally accelerating energy needs; and duly, the country’s diverse energy demands are met through a variety of avenues. While coal continues to be the mainstay, renewables and natural gas will be playing a bigger role in India’s future power mix. Whether conventional or renewable, power plants today are in urgent need of improving capacities to aid the country’s energy transition while attending to the needs of an ever-expanding population. A key aspect that determines performance of power plants is the choice of lubrication solution and, subsequently, thorough monitoring of equipment for maximum performance.
With 150 years of experience in developing superior lubrication formulations, Mobil™ Lubricants has developed a range of engine oils, gear oils, greases and more for the energy-generation industries – whether coal, natural gas, nuclear, solar or wind. Mobil’s solutions for wind energy plants and gas turbines deserve special mention here.
Winds of change
Wind power generation capacity in India has increased significantly in recent years. As of March 2021, the total installed wind power capacity was 39.25 GW, the fourth largest in the world, as recorded by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Govt. of India. With windmills driving majority generation, the fulcrum of energy efficiency rests in the performance of turbines. And, for turbines, lubricants play a fundamental role in ensuring continuity, reducing downtime and curtailing breakdown. Mobil’s state-of-the-art industrial lubricants, wind turbine lubrication services and application expertise provide advanced solutions that are designed to enhance long wind turbine lubrication intervals, minimize unscheduled maintenance, and enhance equipment life and productivity.
For instance, the Mobil SHC™ Gear 320 WT advanced wind turbine gear lubricant is a fully-synthetic industrial gear lubricant designed to provide optimum equipment protection for wind turbine gearboxes and extended lubricant life even under extreme conditions. This advanced wind turbine gear lubricant is the first lube oil which has been independently certified to not contribute to oil related effects of White Etching Cracks (WEC) by the world leading certification body DNV-GL. Similarly, the Mobil SHC™ Grease 460 WT is especially suited to exceed the demanding requirements of wind turbine applications at extreme temperatures. This grease is specially formulated to lubricate yaw, pitch and main bearings of wind turbines and has earned a reputation based on its exceptional quality and reliability. Similarly, the Mobil SHCTM 524 synthetic hydraulic oils and Mobil DTE 10 Excel™ 32 mineral hydraulic oil cater to specific demands of high-performance modern industrial systems, such as wind generation plants. These products together ensure continuity and profitability of wind energy plants that are today powering India’s energy transition journey.
Strengthening gas infrastructure
Gas turbines are at the heart of power plant operations as they drive the conversion of natural gas or other liquid fuels into useful forms of energy. Mobil’s industrial solutions with turbine oils and bearing lubricants are designed to meet or exceed OEM requirements. For instance, gas engine oils under the Mobil Pegasus™ Series of high-performance lubricants has been aiding enhanced performance standards. Under this series, the Mobil Pegasus™ 1005 has been designed to provide high output and low emission in four-cycle gas engines with the highest levels of protection while maintaining superior performance in earlier model engines. It has proven performance over the years with a balanced, durable formulation that helps reduce oil consumptions and frequent top-ups, improves reliability by controlling deposit formation and helps minimize wear on critical engine components
Additionally, the Mobil™ DTE 932 GT – a next-generation high performance turbine oil – has been designed for use in large frame turbines under severe operating conditions. This product is based on selected high quality base oils balanced carefully with a proprietary additive system to provide long oil life in combination with industry leading “keep clean” performance. The formulations also include a non-zinc anti-wear system to meet the load carrying requirements of geared turbines.
Service with care
While choosing the correct lubricant is key to power plant performance, ensuring continuous machine operations with minimal downtime is another important consideration. Mobil’s superior lubrication formulations are complemented by Mobil’s service expertise under the Mobil Serv℠ Lubricant Analysis (MSLA) program, which has been ensuring continuity and good health of turbines and gas engines used in power plants.
Under MSLA, Mobil’s skilled engineers provide hands-on guidance and application expertise through lubrication services that include wind turbine flushing and filtration, as well as start-up and cleanliness guidance. MSLA assists power plant operators in monitoring wind turbine oil and equipment condition, to consequently avoid unscheduled maintenance. MSLA includes a program specifically tailored to wind turbine applications that ensure maximum efficiency in wind energy and wind power generation.
For continuous power plant performance, thus, a variety of product requirements along with servicing demands must be fulfilled to enhance output and achieve desired business outcomes. Simultaneously, ensuring correct oil usage with regular monitoring of equipment must complement superior solutions choice. In transitioning economies like India, energy demands are unlikely to decelerate. Duly, empowering power plants in the country towards achieving heightened productivity will ensure profitability across sectors of the economy.
For more information, please visit https://www.mobil.co.in/en-in/business/energy
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