CASE STUDIES
We help make it happen
Across the industrial sector, we work with businesses to overcome challenges and develop solutions to new problems. Here’s how we help make it happen.
The race for the world championship. We help make it happen
Castrol has worked with Renault Sport F1 for 2 years supplying Hysol XBB and Tribol to help translate marginal gains during the manufacturing process into increased performance on the track.
The mission
Ultimately, the ambition of the Renault Sport F1 team is to win championships. Together, Castrol and Renault are racing ahead to achieve that goal by translating technological and product innovations on the factory floor into success on the track.
Working with Renault to optmise lubricant efficiency, stability, and performance in the manufacturing process was critical in doing that.
The partnership
While Renault’s ambition is to win the world championship, Castrol’s ambition is to give Renault a leading edge by improving the way they manufacture vital components for the F1 car.
The Product
The performance
Unearthing the marginal gains needed in the factory to achieve the marginal gains on the track is the focus of the Renault Sport F1 team and Castrol partnership. For example, in the machine shop where many car components are manufactured, the ability to speed this process up and get those components to the track quicker than ever before enables Renault to have an edge in their performance.
The growth of wind
Renewables are here to stay, and so is Castrol
Castrol has been providing gear oils to the wind sector since the early ‘80s, and has played a crucial role in helping it to become the $94.5bn market it is today. And the key to that success has been a stringent focus on research, development, and becoming fully immersed in the wind industry.
The renewables market is only going to grow as companies and countries move away from fossil fuels, and the speed of that growth will owe a lot to wringing efficiencies out of renewable technologies wherever possible.
That’s where Castrol comes in.
Designing products for today and tomorrow
Castrol is passionate about harnessing its relationships with customers, distributors, employees, investors and original equipment manufacturers to figure out the wind sector’s key challenges so that we can come up with the most viable and effective solutions.
Castrol’s research into gear oils revolves around the following core aims:
With the industry continually evolving, it is essential that Castrol designs products that are not only capable of delivering optimal performance today, but can increase the effectiveness of wind technologies going forward.
Optigear Synthetic X gear oil
Much of Castrol’s research in this area has been to understand the value of Optigear Synthetic X, and to discover exactly how it benefits wind turbine operators.
Through the use of a highly accelerated life test (HALT), which can accurately predict a product’s lifespan and its long-term performance levels, it was discovered that Optigear Synthetic X could improve turbine performance by as much as 1% when compared to the nearest competitor.
Real-life benefits
The true value of any product or solution can only be determined when put into a real-life scenario. By working with a large customer, it was quickly established that by using Optigear Synthetic X, wind turbine operators could see savings of as much as $3,700 per year, per turbine.
Supporting the wider issue
As part of Castrol’s dedication to taking a more environmentally-conscious approach to all aspects of its operations, all gear oils are now carbon neutral.
The green revolution is going to continue in the years and decades to come, and Castrol is dedicated to being at the centre of the global shift towards greener, more renewable energy production.
Find out more about Optigear Synthetic X, and discover how it can help your business operate more efficiently
Renault Engine plant
Driving efficiencies at a massive scale: We help make it happen
Castrol has worked with Motores, one of Renault’s biggest mechanical plants, supplying Hysol XBB and the compatible cleaner Techniclean XBC. These hyper-optimized solutions have enabled Motores significantly reduce their water consumption while also working towards evolving environmental standards.
The mission
Motores, based in the Spanish city of Valladolid, serves 1.5 million engines a year - 40% of Renault’s entire engine production. This giant plant is constantly looking for marginal gains in its attempt to drive efficiencies, comply with ever-tightening environmental regulations and meet Renault’s relentless demand for self-improvement.
Castrol’s smart lubricants, allied with long-term vision and technical support, have helped meet these challenges.
Anne-Catherine Brieux
MOTORES -Valladolid PowertrainPlant Manager, GROUPE RENEAULT - Spain
The partnership
In its partnership with Castrol at the Motores plant, Renault demands more than just a lubricants supplier. It needs a genuine partner, one that can help anticipate industry changes and keep improving.
In addition to its core lubricant solutions, Castrol has furnished Smart Control machines to remotely monitor the performance of the fluids, backed up by technical support to anticipate problems and find solutions.
Brieux says that the partnership with Castrol “is not a [typical] supplier-customer relationship. Castrol is not expecting the request from Renault, but is very proactive in making new innovation proposals.”
The product
The core products selected for the Motores project are ideally suited to the challenge of minimising waste and environmental footprint.
XBB, free from boron and formaldehyde, complies with the most stringent environmental regulations. XBC, meanwhile, can be recycled back into the coolant system, dramatically reducing water usage and keeping waste to a minimum. The Smart Control system dovetails with these core products by controlling all the key parameters in the coolant and the cleaner 24/7.
The performance
Thanks to Castrol’s innovations Renault has saved 1 million litres of water this year alone, and there have even been savings in the core product. More than that, though, they have found a company which shares their desire for continuous improvement, a partner for the long term.
Maintaining a global machine: Grob and Castrol
Grob can’t afford its systems to go down. Castrol keeps them running
An international pedigree
Grob has earned a global reputation in the industrial systems market
Grobwerke Mindelheim (Grob) has been working in the manufacture of tooling and machine systems for over 90 years. The company’s product line ranges from assembly to electromobility systems and, as the company’s Department Sales Manager Klaus Eberts explains, its reputation is built on “highly innovative production and automation systems.”
The company is active across a range of sectors from medical to automotive, and its consistent excellent is reflected in a list of customers which includes several international brands.
Quick, responsive service
Grob relies on constant technical availability
As Maintenance Manager Alexander Boehm explains, Grob can only serve its global customer roster if it is always on.
This means that Grob needs dependable partners, with global availability.
MARTIN DEMMINGER
Account Manager
A personal, proactive approach
Grob and Castrol have forged a strong partnership over the past two decades.
Castrol has been working with Grob for the past two decades, supplying a range of products. Today Grob uses the XBB cooling lubricant range, as well as slideway oils and corrosion protection products, applied to machines prior to delivery.
When problems arise, Castrol adopts a proactive approach to their resolution. When Grob recently ran into problems with one of its products, Castrol was able to pour all its resources into finding the right solution.
Instant resolution
Grob is extremely impressed with the way Castrol resolves issues
Grob is full of praise for the speed of Castrol’s service, and views Castrol as an integral part of its own operation.
However, perhaps the real key is the two companies’ shared commitment to innovation. As Boehm says, “it is the permanent further development of products that influences the success of the partnership between Castrol and Grobwerke.”
Extending service life of mining haulage trucks
mining operator reduces gear wear by 30%: we help make it happen
Castrol delivers major reductions in wear, longer mechanical life spans, and significantly improves oil drain intervals.
The mining challenge
In the Australian state of Queensland, the operator of a large open-cut mine recently decided to test Castrol’s Optigear Synthetic PD 680 ES in the wheel motors of its Komatsu 930E haulage trucks, to gauge whether the lubricant could deliver any performance improvement.
Haulage trucks play a crucial role in the performance of a mine, transplanting produce from extraction sites to stockpiles. In surface mines, such as the test site in Queensland, around 40% of all energy consumed on site is related to diesel consumption, and haulage accounts for the vast majority of this usage.
So it is essential that mine operators:
The challenge is enhanced by the sheer size of haulage trucks. The Komatsu 930E weighs over 500,000 kilograms and its tyres weigh a combined 26,000 kilograms. This means that any maintenance or replacement operation is extremely time-consuming and expensive.
Key results
The solution
With these challenges in mind, the operator of the Australian mine identified Castrol Optigear Synthetic PD 680 ES as an ideal solution.
Manufactured from synthetic lubricants, the Optigear range also includes a special additive package that works to promote plastic deformation, reducing gear friction and equalising surface roughness under heavy loads – thereby alleviating abrasion on the gears’ surface.
The effectiveness of Castrol Optigear Synthetic PD 680 ES has already been proven in a series of tests. For example, the amount of frictional torque (the force which causes an object to wobble on its axis) is reduced by 30% compared to other commercially available industrial gear oils, and the lubricant has been shown to withstand temperatures of 120 degrees.
Before committing to Optigear, the mine operator and Castrol worked together to test it against a conventional synthetic gear oil that had previously been used in the Australian mine’s trucks.
The testers randomly selected four different trucks at the site, although one of them was subsequently withdrawn due to wheel stud failure and product contamination. Each month, an oil sample was drawn from each of the trucks and sent to Castrol’s Oil Laboratory for testing. In total, the tests covered a period of over 4,000 hours.
When analysing the samples, the testing team specifically looked at wear rate, or Fe, measured in parts per million per 100 hours.
