MOLYKOTE BG-20 Application Long-term Lubrication Solution for High-Speed Calender Roller Bearings in Textile Industry

In the textile and paper industries, calender rollers need to operate at extremely high speeds to achieve surface finishing of fabrics or papers. These working conditions not only involve very high speeds (DN values often exceeding 500,000) but also generate high operating temperatures (commonly between 100°C and 180°C) due to friction, while the maintenance windows for equipment shutdown are short. Conventional mineral oil-based greases tend to suffer from rapid base oil evaporation, fast oxidation deterioration, and high oil bleeding rates under such high-speed, medium-to-heavy load, and high-temperature conditions. This leads to lubrication failure of bearings, increased vibration and noise, and even bearing burn-out, forcing frequent line stoppages for re-greasing and affecting production efficiency.

To address this challenge, the equipment maintenance team selected MOLYKOTE® BG-20 Synthetic Bearing Grease​ to replace the original general-purpose grease. This product is formulated with polyolester (ester) oil as the base oil, combined with a lithium complex thickener and anti-wear/anti-oxidation additives.

• Excellent High-Speed Adaptability: It supports a DN value of up to 750,000, ensuring that the grease will not be thrown out or structurally damaged by excessive centrifugal force inside ultra-high-speed roller bearings
• Wide Temperature Stability and Low Volatility: The service temperature ranges from -45°C to 180°C (up to 200°C for short periods), and the ester synthetic oil has extremely low volatility, maintaining consistency under continuous high-temperature operation and extending re-greasing intervals
• High Load-Carrying Capacity and Wear Resistance: With a four-ball weld load of 2,400 N and a wear scar of only 1.0 mm under 800N load, it effectively prevents bearing wear under medium to heavy loads
• Good Low-Temperature Start-up Performance: Even in low-temperature workshop environments during winter, its low-temperature starting torque remains controllable, facilitating smooth equipment start-up.

• Extended Lubrication Maintenance Intervals: Thanks to the excellent oxidation resistance and low volatility of the synthetic ester oil, the grease, which originally needed replenishment weekly or bi-weekly, can now run stably for 2-3 months without re-greasing, reducing downtime for maintenance.
• Reduced Bearing Operating Temperature and Noise: The oil film stability is better at high temperatures; the bearing operating temperature slightly decreased compared to when using mineral grease previously, and the whining noise during high-speed operation was significantly reduced.
• Improved Equipment Reliability: During high-load operation, there were no more occurrences of premature bearing failure caused by grease drying out or bleeding, ensuring the stability of continuous production.

With the formulation advantage of "ester synthetic oil + lithium complex thickener", MOLYKOTE® BG-20 successfully overcomes the lubrication bottlenecks of textile/paper calenders, industrial high-speed motors, blowers, and clutch release bearings under combined "high-speed + medium-heavy load + high-temperature" working conditions. It is not only an ideal lubrication choice for such high-end industrial equipment but also provides a practical and effective solution for enterprises to reduce comprehensive maintenance costs.