Liquid Tungsten and grease shine at broadacre farming operation
Techenomics to expand reach into agricultural sector
The use of Liquid Tungsten, which is distributed by Techenomics, your partner in lubrication reliability, has made a difference on a broadacre farming operation in northwest New South Wales by reducing the operating temperature of a crucial pump used for irrigation.
Another product from Techenomics, specially formulated grease, has also proved invaluable at the large irrigation property by immediately reducing the temperature of a bearing on a stubble buster, enabling the operator to finish a large task rather than a time-consuming and costly stop to replace the bearing.
“These examples provide evidence that our products and services can also benefit the agricultural industry,” Techenomics CEO Chris Adsett said, “in fact, any operation in which lubricants are used to keep equipment running efficiently, effectively and productively.”
John Hamparsum operates a 1,500-hectare irrigation property south of the town of Gunnedah and the primary crop is cotton with wheat and canola also grown.
He said after adding Liquid Tungsten to the Randolph angle drive gearbox used in an irrigation pump, a considerable drop in the operating temperature of the gearbox was observed.
“You couldn’t hold your hand on the side of it before we put the additive in it but once we did, you could actually hold your hand there,” he said. “As a result, it is using a lot less horsepower and less wear and emissions would go hand-in-hand with that.”
Hamparsum also has a stubble buster used to mulch cotton stalks after harvest and “we had a bearing that was starting to get a bit hot on one end.
“We didn’t have much to do to finish the large job and it would have been time-consuming to fix that bearing, so we used some of the grease and were astounded how quickly the temperature came down.
“The bearing went from around 65 degrees to around 53 and then crept back up to around 65 but it was still operating and we were able to finish the job.
“The grease kept the bearing going and it probably would have failed if we had used the standard grease we had been using.
“We have switched all of our grease over to use the Techenomics grease on our high-speed bearings and gear like that,” he said. “With all of our older farm equipment we are also putting the Liquid Tungsten into the gearboxes and drives.”
He says with any new bearings purchased, the Techenomics product is now injected into the bearings to get them to last longer “as the bearings you get today don’t last anywhere near as long as they used to”.
“We have switched all our electric irrigation pumps over to Techenomics grease and they seem to be running quieter, which is a good sign. There are a lot of diesel irrigation pumps out there and I imagine that this product would improve fuel efficiency.
“We are pretty impressed with the Liquid Tungsten and the grease to be honest,” Hamparsum added.
Chris Adsett said. “The benefits of Liquid Tungsten have been demonstrated time and time again in our laboratories and in the field in mining, transport, marine, power generation and industrial applications.
“Now we can add agriculture to the list and we intend to build stronger relationships with farmers and farming equipment distributors.”
Liquid Tungsten has previously also reduced operating temperatures and energy use in the gearboxes at an Australian oilseed crushing, refining and packaging plant, which also resulted in extended lubricant life and a lift in production.
“As well as promoting the use of Liquid Tungsten and grease in the agricultural sector, we aim to develop testing services for soil at first and then water, fertiliser and foliage testing,” Adsett said.
“This is further evidence that at Techenomics we ‘support engineering excellence, one sample at a time’,” he concluded.
For more information about Techenomics International contact Chris Adsett, c.adsett@techenomics.com; in Indonesia Freddy, freddy@techenomics.com; in South East Asia Siti, siti@techenomics.com, in Mongolia Tumee, tumee@techenomics.com, in Australia Dr. Abu Bakkar Siddique, siddique@techenomics.com; in Western Australia Dr Gopal Kumar, gopal.kumar@techenomics.com, in Africa Sugraa, sugraa@techenomics.com; or for Liquid Tungsten globally Chris Adsett, c.adsett@techenomics.com.
Liquid tungsten applications for farming – click here to download this release as a pdf file