Two years ago, Silca South Africa introduced Ecosafe Plus to the South African market with a mission to educate the local manufacturing industry about the benefits of the product and its environmentally friendly properties that had been accepted worldwide.

“Ecosafe Plus was developed by Italian company Foundry Alfe Chem and the University of Torino and Silca Refractory Solutions, an internationally operating service and sales company of the Calsitherm group that specialises in high temperature materials as well as lightweight thermal insulation in different fields of application. Silca Refractory Solutions have signed an agreement to market the product in Europe and Africa. The German manufacturer of calcium silicates has been developing innovative products to improve both safety and productivity. In refractory technologies, they cover areas in a wide variety of industries, ranging from aluminium casting to domestic fireplaces and chimneys to heat treatment plants,” explained Alex Saam of Silca South Africa.

Ecosafe Plus is a biodegradable hydraulic fluid particularly suitable to be used in hydraulic circuits located near sources of heat, for example a high-pressure die-casting machine, due to its complete non-flammability

“Ecosafe Plus was a new product that represented a breakthrough in the class of non-flammable hydraulic fluids. Ecosafe Plus is a biodegradable hydraulic fluid particularly suitable to be used in hydraulic circuits located near sources of heat, due to its complete non-flammability. Ecosafe Plus’ formulation is glycol-free and, compared to traditional water/glycol based hydraulic fluids, it allows for easy disposal of the exhausted fluid and it is recognised to be environmentally safe – a big factor in the European countries and the rest of the first-world industrial nations,” continued Saam.

“The product was rapidly accepted by many manufacturing industries including die-casting and metalworking companies servicing the automotive industry, rolling mills, equipment manufacturers, material drawing companies, extrusion and forging companies, as well as aerospace companies such as Airbus and Aerospatiale. Great reference points for us to start off with.”

Application
“Thanks to its absolute non-flammability Ecosafe Plus is suitable in particular for hydraulic circuits in the direct vicinity of heat sources. The product has an extraordinarily long life and the optimised performance characteristics of the individual components in the formulation give the product its outstanding lubrication properties.”

“Additionally, it has a high compatibility with most of the seals and the elastomers normally used in hydraulic plants.”

Ecosafe Plus has very stable physical and chemical properties and is environmentally friendly. Additionally, the client can claim credits against CO2 emissions for the carbon footprint regulations when using Ecosafe Plus

“Areas of application for Ecosafe Plus include pressure casting machines, foundry machines, centrifugal casting machines, continuous casting facilities, forging and extrusion presses, reels for bar and strip steel as well as upenders, manipulators for bars and billets, furnace charging and tipping devices, coke oven door mechanisms, clamping devices for welding, cranes, lifting devices and elevators, forklifts and glass forming machines.”

Local acceptance
“We are very pleased with the local acceptance of the product. We have now successfully implemented the system in Borbet SA, Supreme Spring, Pressure Die Casting, Hulamin and KPL Die Casting and are currently implementing it at a large manufacturer of aluminium wheels in South Africa. With these clients for their existing machines we have replaced the hydraulic fluids with Ecosafe Plus and for any new equipment that they have purchased recently they have used Ecosafe Plus from inception or once the machine has been commissioned.”

“We are starting to gain momentum in the local manufacturing industry. Like any new product you have to build up the trust, and once the client experiences the benefits he is convinced. Besides being fire-resistant and environmentally friendly, Ecosafe Plus has very stable physical and chemical properties. Additionally, the client can claim credits against CO2 emissions for the carbon footprint regulations when using Ecosafe Plus.”

For further details contact Silca South Africa on TEL: 011 825 0522 or visit www.silca-online.de