MechChem Africa November-December 2022

⎪ Power transmission, bearings, bushes and seals ⎪

at a significantly lower rate than municipal electricity tariffs. So as well as the real sus tainability benefit, we are also saving on our energy bills,” says Froneman. During a recent Team Sweden in South Afr ica networking event in Pretor ia, Froneman says a representation from Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB, pre sented a physical steel sample that was produced without using fossil fuels. Since steel manufacture is a very carbon intensive process, this is a big step in the right direc tion for the ambitions of SKF. Especially considering the commitment to have a net zero greenhouse emissions supply chain by 2050. As a proof of concept, SKF announced in September 2022 that, together with Swedish steel producer, Ovako, it had produced a Spherical Roller Bearing (SRB) that, compared to the company’s standard SRB bearings, produced 90% less emissions. Sarel Froneman’s new role is to take charge of sustainabi l ity for SKF South Africa. “But I am also still head of engineer ing. This changes the way I see all our work shop activity, which is why we are launching the Circular Economy Centre. “The circular economy takes recycling to a whole new level. We are all familiar with the traditional linear economy, where we mine some resources, process them, produce products, sell and consume these products. We then get rid of all the accumu lated waste and, ultimately, throw away the product itself. “My nine year old daughter is taught about recycling at school, and she is always saying we must: “reduce, reuse, recycle”. From a circular economy perspective, it's all in there. Reduce can mean use less coal to make steel; or maintain equipment for much longer, or remanufacture a used bearing to OEM standards. “I asked a good friend of mine what he thought the circular economy was about, and he said: ‘Making something so strong and so expensive that it doesn't fail’. But the rate at which we are consuming resources is not sustainable. So making things and adopting circular economy principles is not just a nice to have. At the current rate, we are going to run out of resources, we are going to destroy the oceans, we are going to run out of landfills. So the argument for op timising short term profits is irresponsible. Also, being socially and environmentally sustainable will ultimately improve longer term profitability,” Froneman assures. Something that is made to last much longer, is properly maintained and routinely remanufactured need not be more expen sive than buying inferior products that break down often and have to be routinely

The Circular Economy Centre also houses SKF’s seal manufacturing service.

discarded and replaced, he says, pointing out that the ‘high’ investment cost of the PV system at SKF’s new building, for example, has paid for itself in less than two years. “We anticipate our customers will soon see this sustainability argument and take responsibility onto their own shoulders. They will want carbon-free bearings as part of their efforts to be carbon neutral,” he argues. “That is why we are launching the Circular Economy Centre; to enable us to offer services to help our customers to be more carbon neutral and sustainable,” he explains. Typical services that are becoming central to this goal include SKF’s Bearing Remanufacturing offering, which offers a second, third and fourth life for high-value bearings – even a bearing remanufactured for the fourth time can be as good as brand new bearing. “On average, most bearings are dis carded after only 30% of their theoretical design life, because of poor lubrication, overloading, contamination and similar preventable issues. Which brings us to another of our circular economy offering, Onsite Services, which prevents bearings from being destroyed and enables them to be remanufacturedmore successfully, more cost-effectively and more often,” notes Froneman. As well as maintenance and repair ser vices, lubrication, condition monitoring and contamination management services are available to support clients on site. Project engineering is another key aspect of helping bearing users in South Africa to become more sustainable and environ mentally friendly. “Our applications engi neers in South Africa, are available to help customers resolve ongoing maintenance

issues and to identify ways of improving asset life, reliability and efficiency. We are able to custom design and/or re-engineer solutions to better meet the real needs of a rotating machine in its specific environ ment,” Froneman continues. The Circular Economy Centre will also house SKF’s seal manufacturing service. “We have a SealJet machine, backed by materials and a system that enables us to custom manufacture seals using 80 dif ferent profiles to the exact dimensions required. This further helps customers to reduce the overall cost of repairing a dam aged rotating shaft rather than replacing it. When a whole shaft and housing is repaired and polished down, a non-standard seal will almost always be required, but we can cus tommanufacture these seals to the precise dimensions required,” he advises. “RecondOil is another exciting new of fering that fits very well into our circular economy centre. Our patented double separation technology (DST) can turn in dustrial oil from a costly consumable into a reliable, circular asset,” Froneman informs MechChem Africa . “The oil can be purified down to nano lev el – with all the original properties retained. A plant such as a paper mill might replace or disposeof 5 000 ℓ of oil during a major plant shutdown. By using our RecondOil service, that same oil can last three times as long, so imagine the amount of CO 2 emissions and environmental damage that could be avoided if circular-economy services such as these were widely adopted. “That’s without mentioning the hard costs savings for the replacement oils or the safe and responsible disposal of the used oil,” concludes Sarel Froneman. www.skf.co.za

November-December 2022 • MechChem Africa ¦ 15