John Crane helps lithium producer nearly halve seal expenditure in 12 months

(MENAFN- teamlewis) Dubai, United Arab Emirates- 14 September 2026: John Crane has helped a major global producer of battery-grade lithium reduce annual mechanical seal expenditure by 48% in the first year of a Managed Reliability Program. The programme also cut seal consumption by 37% and increased Mean Time Between Repair by 62% across 362 pumps, helping the customer reduce maintenance demand, improve equipment availability and make better use of engineering resources.
In practical terms, annual seal consumption fell from 427 to 267 units, meaning 160 fewer seals were required, while the average interval between repairs increased from 10.2 to 16.5 months. Fewer replacements mean fewer equipment interventions, less pressure on maintenance teams and a lower risk of disruption to production.
The result reverses a five-year decline in performance. Between 2019 and 2024, annual seal consumption had more than doubled, Mean Time Between Repair had halved and annual seal expenditure had risen above USD 1.2 million, excluding labour, downtime and potential production losses.
John Crane introduced dedicated on-site reliability engineering, digital failure traceability and application-specific engineering reviews. These were supported by optimised seal selection and materials, controlled repairs, improvements to seal support systems and targeted technical training for maintenance and operations personnel. Together, these actions created a single performance history across a mixed seal population, around 90% of which had been supplied by other manufacturers, allowing recurring causes of failure to be identified and priority assets addressed first.
"Within one year, this customer moved from rising costs and declining reliability to fewer maintenance interventions, longer repair intervals and much greater control of seal expenditure. The benefit is operational as well as financial: better protection for production, less workforce exposure to equipment interventions and more engineering time for planned, higher-value work. This result also matters beyond one site. It shows lithium and other process operators that substantial reliability and cost improvements can be unlocked from existing assets by combining accurate data, engineering expertise and workforce capability." Aziz Sallie, Vice President, Commercial & Service, John Crane
Battery-grade lithium is an important material for batteries and electrification. Improving reliability at existing production facilities helps operators sustain output, control costs and strengthen supply-chain resilience without wholesale replacement of installed assets. Extending seal life also reduces material consumption and waste, while controlled repairs return suitable components to service. The programme forms part of John Crane Performance Plus and provides a practical model for operators managing large, mixed equipment populations.

MENAFN14092026007657016522ID1111660638