Wire Rope Lubricants -- New Product Trends

2025-03-13

Application Background

Wire ropes are used in industrial sectors such as mining, forestry and shipping; and in applications such as building elevators, construction cranes and suspension bridges.

They provide flexible energy transmission with an amazingly high weight-to-power ratio. They can also handle various types of loads, including high stress loads, high-speed loads, shocks, jerkiness, and rapidly accelerating or decelerating loads. They can be used in hot, cold, dry, wet, or submerged in water. Yet, many users choose to ignore them. The service life of a wire rope can be greatly extended by applying wire rope lubricants. The variability in its use determines the required lubricant properties.

Environmental considerations

Today, new market guidelines are forcing users to consider not only the typical lubricants used to lubricate and protect wire ropes, but also consider environmental considerations.

For many years, many people have been marketing various lubricant grease, including Wire Rope Lube, as being environmentally friendly and not harmful to the environment . Often, this claim is based primarily on biodegradability. Today, various organizations have established product marketing guidelines, such as the EU Ecolabel, Germany's Blue Angel or the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. The US EPA Marine General Permit Regulation gave binding force to environmental attributes for the first time. Whether a company wants to comply with the regulation or simply pursue the aforementioned ecolabel approval, it can have a huge impact on the ingredients that can be used in the formulation.

New technology product trends

Bio-based Wire Rope Lubricant technology relies primarily on lubricants extracted from natural sources, such as vegetable oils, animal fats or synthetic esters. Thesewire rope grease are designed for use on wire ropes to reduce friction and wear and extend service life. They work by forming a protective film on the metal surface of the wire rope, reducing internal friction and external wear between the strands while providing protection against rust and oxidation.

Wire ropes have a complex structure, usually consisting of multiple strands of steel wire wrapped around a central core (which may be steel, fiber or plastic). Wire lubricant need to penetrate the interior to reduce internal wear and corrosion during dynamic use. Traditionally, mineral oil or petroleum-based lubricants are added during the manufacturing process, but bio-based wire rope lubricants are gradually replacing traditional formulations due to their renewable and environmentally friendly properties.

FRTLUBE's new trend product

Wire cable lubricant are widely used in cranes, tractors, marine cables, and mining equipment, especially in areas with high environmental protection requirements. For example, FRTLUBE 's new trend product FRTLUBE HT115 E Wire Rope Lubricant meets EPA guidelines. In the future, with the strengthening of global environmental regulations such as the EU Ecolabel and the US VGP, the market demand for bio-based lubricants is expected to grow.