Eddy Devriese, the Europe OEMs manager for Texaco Lubricants, has given an interview in which he discusses the challenges facing off-road operations like mining and construction and what Texaco is doing to help overcome these challenges.
One of the biggest hurdles for the off-highway sector is meeting new standards on particulate matter emissions that have been introduced in Europe and the United States, causing operators to rethink their choice of commercial vehicle oil. This has also led to the adoption of diesel particulate filters (DPFs). While these have been commonplace in passenger and freight vehicles for some time, Devriese said that the DPFs of heavy-duty, off-road vehicles:
“….typically have a lifespan of about 4,000 to 4,500 hours. After this, the DPFs usually need to be removed and cleaned. Now, mining operations conventionally run on a 24/7 basis, and customers don’t want to have to halt their entire operation to clean out the DPF.”
He added that this led Texaco to develop the Texaco Delo 600 ADF in cooperation with various OEMs. According to him, along with being very relevant to the off-road sector, this heavy-duty lubricant helps to reduce the downtime of equipment by lengthening the intervals between DPF cleaning and engine drains.
Devriese also talked about the need for the sector to transition to lower viscosity oils to improve fuel efficiency and how using the right hydraulic can improve energy efficiency by avoiding the “stick-slip” problem. The full interview can be read on the Offshore Technology website.
