Marley Building Materials has installed high-performance Filtroil hydraulic oil filters to improve the operational performance of mechanical handling equipment at its highly automated works.

Marley Building Materials has installed high-performance Filtroil hydraulic oil filters to improve the operational performance of mechanical handling equipment at its highly automated Thermalyte aerated concrete manufacturing plant at Coleshill, Birmingham. The filters, which can eliminate particles as small as 0.1 micron, have been installed by Peterborough-based hydraulic cylinders manufacturer Garfield Hydrol as part of a large-scale investment project by Marley to protect handling equipment from abrasive dust at its 8.5-hectare (21-acre) production centre. The US-manufactured Filtroil units extend component life and minimise replacement and downtime costs by eliminating the chief causes of fluid deterioration and machinery damage - contamination, condensation, oxidation and viscosity reduction.

Paul Fessi, Engineering Manager at Marley's Coleshill plant, said: 'The Filtroil units are fitted to three mechanical handling machines that retrieve Thermacrete blocks from the curing plant prior to packaging and shrink-wrapping.

Two machines have hydraulic fluid capacities of 600 litres and one of 200 litres.

'Debris in the hydraulics system was creating excessive wear on the valve gear and we wanted to extend the operational life of the valves.

The machines operate continually, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, so it was important to eliminate unplanned downtime as much as possible.

'This is a highly automated site and we have invested heavily in a massive capital project to relocate the hydraulic systems inside new air-tight plant rooms, complete with air filters, noise insulation and cooling systems, so the Filtroil filters were the icing on the cake.' Garfield Hydrol managing director Trevor Garfield said: 'An aerated concrete block manufacturing plant must be the ultimate challenging environment for hydraulic equipment components.

In addition to minimising component wear, Filtroil units achieve considerable savings associated with replacing and disposing of contaminated hydraulic oil and offer additional benefits in improved output and better operational performance.' Filtroil units are designed to filter 10 to 20 per cent of a system's oil per operating hour through elements of finely wound cellulose fibre.

They are installed in bypass or 'slipstream' positions to facilitate fitting and element replacement while machinery continues in full operation.