It is no secret that the crane industry is tough, equipment is required to lift extreme amounts of material and machines have so many parameters needing to be considered, including ensuring they are operating in an environmentally friendly way.
For the longest time, making use of equipment or products that were environmentally friendly would often mean reduced performance or greater challenges. Panolin’s biodegradable lubricants have eliminated these challenges and have surpassed the performance of mineral oil-based lubricants.
Panolin has been operating in Switzerland since 1949 and has been creating environmentally considerate lubricants since 1983. The company has grown an impressive amount since its first iteration and now exports its products to over 56 countries.
Panolin services industries such as construction, marine, dredging, offshore wind farm construction and railways, among others.
Panolin’s HLP Synth is one of the world’s leading fully synthetic, long life, readily biodegradable hydraulic fluids. Having been available since 1985 and used in equipment for in excess of 1 billion hours the credibility and experience of HLP Synth is unparalleled and supported by over 200 original equipment manufacturer (OEM) approvals.
Panolin’s biodegradable lubricants, including HLP Synth, are the products of choice for improved environmental and technological performance and cost effectiveness in major construction, dredging, piling, bridge building, offshore construction and subsea projects. HLP Synth is also used extensively in railway maintenance and, very importantly, the crane industry.
Imperial Oil & Chemical, Panolin’s Australian distributor, has been bringing the Panolin products to Australia for many years. For some time now Imperial Oil has been supplying shuttle boom grease two and HLP Synth, to the mobile crane industry.
More recently, HLP Synth has been adopted as the bio-hydraulic fluid of choice by a major Australian crane company and, for the first time in Australia, HLP Synth will be used in a fleet of hydraulic tower cranes.
It’s great to see an iconic Australian company taking such a responsible position in protecting the environment, said Imperial Oil’s MD, Brad Langford.
The company selected Panolin’s HLP Synth, based on biodegradability, high performance, and overall cost savings, due to its exceptionally long fluid life, and plan to use it in its entire fleet of tower cranes.
Panolin’s HLP Synth was originally chosen for a project located near the coast. It has since decided to convert all of its cranes to HLP Synth.
HLP Synth is the only biodegradable hydraulic fluid approved by Bosch Rexroth and qualifies for the very stringent RDE 90245 standard.
“Panolin’s products are world renowned, with HLP Synth being used in the Eiffel Tower, the Panama Canal, the London Eye, Niagra Falls, and the Sihwa Tidal power plant in Korea, among many others, standing up to the challenges of all.
Originally chose
Panolin has, for many years, supplied HLP Synth to a number of OEMs in the Asia Pacific region. HLP Synth was originally approved and used in machines that were being exported to the European market.
More recently, some of these OEMs have been using HLP Synth in equipment that is being used in Asian domestic markets.
In Europe most construction sites require equipment, including cranes, to use biodegradable lubricants, due to restrictions implemented by governments across the European Union. Australian operators are now also moving towards the use of environmentally friendly biodegradable lubricants.
The benefit for the Australian crane industry is that it allows operators to look toward the European market and understand where Australia may be moving to in the next five to 10 years. This insight allows crane companies, to prepare for more stringent regulations in the future.
“When considering the conversion to biodegradable lubricants, crane operators have to consider the performance and life expectancy of the lubricants. HLP Synth is higher performing than many competitor products.
Under the right conditions, HLP Synth can offer crane operators a product capable of ‘fill for life’ performance.
The point of concern for many users of lubricants in Australia is whether they can stand up to the rigours of the often harsh environment and extreme temperatures. Some operators may have machines operating in temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius. HLP Synth can easily handle extended operating hours in high ambient temperatures.
Another very important factor in supplying biodegradable lubricants is being able to provide aftersales service, including product sample analysis.
Panolin recommends that customers sample their oil every 500 hours and provides a free oil testing and evaluation service from its laboratory in Switzerland.
Imperial Oil can also arrange for local sample analysis for a very quick turnround.
Panolin has been consistently developing environmentally friendly products for the crane industry for many years, including the very successful Shuttle Boomgrease 2 and the wire rope lubricant Biotrack E 700, which is more than capable of standing up to the tough challenges of lifting heavy loads.