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“ I got into the industry by circumstance really ,” begins Leyla Alieva , CEO and co-founder of NEOL . “ One day my co-founder asked me to join forces with the CuGlide TM technology developer , whose expertise lies in engineering and tribology , and who needed support on the business side . So , that ’ s basically where I came in with my financial and business development background and I think we make a great team . We ’ re currently focused on trying to raise awareness surrounding the technology . As it ’ s relatively new , we ’ re talking a lot about the underlying scientific discoveries ( dating 60 years back ) and the possibilities thereof for our users .
“ At the same time ,” she continues , “ we are testing our technology and working with field test partners to showcase the effects of CuGlide TM . I ’ m also in the process of fundraising . We are currently in our first institutional round , having been self-funded until now . We ’ ve just hit that wonderful growth stage where we can no longer do it alone .
“ Although we are a technology company , we ’ re also a lubricant developer and manufacturer . Our key competence is in developing lubricants that can preserve equipment ’ s moving parts . While lubricants are obviously readily available , we believe our products can significantly extend the lifetime of equipment and from what we ’ re seeing in our field trials , even have a rejuvenating effect on older equipment . Over time , for example , an engine will get polluted and lose fuel efficiency . We ’ re trying to preserve that initial efficiency level . Consider the large dump trucks used by mining companies and how much fuel they consume . Even a slight improvement can generate large savings in terms of operational expenses and emissions ,” she elaborates .
“ We don ’ t use significant amounts of copper in our products . We use copper in ionic form , which is extremely effective in forming a film over steel components to protect surfaces and bring various benefits during the lubrication process . There ’ s no need for any special coating procedure , retrofit or significant investment .
Powerful pilot projects
“ Many of our clients appreciate the opportunity to run a pilot project first to see for themselves how the technology works . My co-founder , Dmitry Privalov , worked in metals and mining for 20 years , the last 13 of which he was based in Indonesia . As such , recent projects are in Indonesia and that ’ s why our current small manufacturing base is also there . We trialed a full cycle of 500 motor hours on dump trucks that operated on an open cast mine and the results were significant . There was more than a ten percent reduction in fuel consumption , a reduction in oil usage that signifies enhanced engine health as well as an increase in productivity in terms of slightly higher operational speed ,” Leyla elaborates .
Indeed , the lifetime of equipment is enhanced by as much as two-to-four
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