Different types of greases are typically formulated with three grease components: base oil, thickener and additives. Grease thickeners. Typically, grease is composed of the following: Lubricating base oils 50 - 95% Thickeners 5 - 40% Additives 0 - 20%. Usually has much better high temperature properties. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. A common mixed soap is Ca/Li soap, which is made with calcium hydroxide and lithium hydroxide. These greases are premium niche products with very good resistance to chemicals, oxygen, and water. There is a small range of soaps and non-soaps available with a similar range of pros and cons. Base oil provides the lubricity and foundation consistency of grease while thickener constitutes the major structure of the grease, giving it a solid to semi-fluid consistency.Additives enhance its performance. Find information on Mobil industrial oils and greases designed to meet the demanding performance needs of your industry. The oil is literally being squeezed out of the thickener . Clay particles must be activated with a polar material to stabilize the thickener structure. It is best to consult OEM guides or speak with your grease manufacturer or distributor to get a recommendation. Types of Non-Soap base thickener 1. Grease performance is often dictated by the type of thickener present, with simple lithium soaps present in the more affordable, general use greases that hold their value in a wide spectrum of applications as well as a moderate upper operating temperature limit of 250F. The Mobil grease product line whether mineral based or synthetic is designed for all-around balanced performance even in extreme operating conditions. and the proportions in which . The second group is a dispersion of particles in oil that includes silica, organo-clays, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE's), and carbon black. Over 80% of the worlds bearings are lubricated with grease. A simple soap is the reaction product of an organic acid (long-chain or fatty carboxylic acid) and an alkali metal to form an organic salt. Above is a table indicating the various uses of greases based on the thickener types. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. This type of thickener system can be referred to as a hybrid thickener or in some cases as a complex thickener. Simple soaps are most commonly based on salts of lithium and calcium, and less commonly on salts of sodium, aluminum, and barium. In The Grease Experts series, grease veterans Chris and Toby answer questions sourced from real operators to help answer some common questions about grease. The water is removed and the remaining soap is used as a thickener for grease. I=Incompatible, C=Compatible, and B=Borderline. The additives supplement the lubricating capability of the base oil, improving upon characteristics such as wear protection and rust prevention. The first group is comprised of thickeners that undergo a chemical reaction to form the thickener, such as calcium sulfonates and polyureas.The second group is a dispersion of particles in oil that includes silica, organo-clays, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE's), and carbon black. Simple lithium soaps are often used in low-cost general-purpose greases and perform relatively well in most performance categories at moderate temperatures. The primary type of thickeners typically used in grease are metallic soaps. Im frequently asked if synthetic oil-based greases are really better than mineral oil-based greases. Used for over 3000 years, grease is a key lubricant used to operate a variety of machines and bearings. Greases are classified into two major families: soap and non-soap thickeners. Calcium sulfonate grease can be used in virtually any application where lithium-type thickeners have been used, including automotive, industrial, and agricultural. Mobil Serv Lubricant Analysis (MSLA) delivers a full spectrum analysis of your current lubricants, which no other service can provide. The end-result is a soap and water mixture. Grease can feel like a complicated lubrication topic, but were here to help. NLGI viscosity grade is a rating of a grease's consistency. See the chart to the left for a full breakdown NLGI grades. Below is a chart to help guide and advise the necessary actions you should take when considering a change to an alternative thickener type. Despite a decline in overall volume, mineral oils contribute the lion's share of base fluids for grease production (86.6%) followed by synthetic (7.42%), semi-synthetic (5.12%) and emerging bio-based fluids (0.87%). Strategic Reliability Solutions Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Above is a table indicating the various uses of greases based on the thickener types. The thickener acts like a sponge; its job is to hold oil in reserve until needed to lubricate. Over 90% of greases worldwide are classified as soap thickeners. These soaps include lithium, aluminum, clay, polyurea, sodium and calcium. Thickener Type The thickener of the grease performs an important jobholding the lubricant in place. These greases also have no defined melting point and can be used in high-temperature applications. While there's a lot to choose from, the most common types of specialty greases are anti-seize grease, dielectric grease (also known as silicone grease), assembly grease, chassis grease, etc. Thickener Type 3. Polyurea is a generic term that includes include diurea, tetraurea, urea-urethane, and many related chemistries. These thickeners can be broken into three groups: Simple A simple soap resulting from the reaction of a single acid, usually 12 HSA and a metallic hydroxide, usually lithium, aluminum, calcium or sodium. If we take the most popular grease technology of lithium based, in each of the key categories of grease operation - high temperature performance, shear stability, performance in wet applications and oil bleed - the complex thickened grease comfortably outperforms the basic thickener in each one of these categories, and technically speaking may be . Complex thickeners are usually based on lithium, calcium, or aluminum compounds. 2). What are Thickeners? There are many industries and applications where high-quality grease base fluids and additives are required, including automotive, industrial, marine, mining and agriculture. Single-row maximum capacity, filling notch, Type M . The range of grades is 000 to 6. You also need to consider the operating conditions of the grease (temperature, sheer rate, etc.) Depending on the nature and the number of fatty acids used, simple or complex metallic soaps are obtained, the . Soap greases are described as sponges where the base oil is entrapped in the thickener network that slowly releases in use, providing lubrication. For a better experience please use a browser other than your current version of Internet Explorer. Hi Robert, thanks for an interesting question! Morphology of the PTFE particles also plays an important role in the thickening efficiency. Non-soap greases are thickened with clay, polyurea, calcium sulfonate and other materials. It should be noted that because polyurea thickeners do not contain any metallic elements, they are ashless and tend to be oxidatively stable. Some common compounds used are: Simple Soap: This results from the reaction of one fatty acid and a metallic hydroxide. When stress or pressure is applied to the grease, oil is released to provide lubrication. The thickener type is a very important consideration in grease selection. A standard test, specifically ASTM D217, measures cone penetration after five (5) seconds for a grease at 77 F (25 C). The most common soap, lithium soap, is produced. Types of Thickeners. They are formulated to withstand wide temperature ranges and often provide an extended service life in demanding applications. Other: Polyurea and clay thickeners are the most used non-soap greases, but there are some other specialty thickeners that are used. Simple soaps. The end result is a soap and water mixture. Single-row angular contact, split . The following grease properties are directly related to the type of thickener: Amount determines consistency Shear stability Oxidation resistance Water resistance Dropping point Compatibility Oil separation Cost Different types of greases are typically formulated with three grease components: base oil, thickener and additives. In high temperature applications, synthetic oil thins out less than comparable mineral oil, providing greater protection by forming a thicker oil film between surfaces. When the stress is released, the thickener and oil return to their semi-solid or solid state. They are classified in two main categories: soap and non-soap thickener. Grease with clay thickener has excellent heat resistance and good oxidation resistance. It is interesting to note that these grease compatibility charts focus only on the family of thickener involved. ). The water is removed and the remaining soap is used as a thickener for grease. Black cells indicate compatibility testing not performed. Additionally, these oils are less prone to degradation at elevated temperatures a phenomenon called oxidation. No chemical reaction takes place in the production of clay thickened greases. Mixing of grease can be determined by looking at thickener type and additives. Complex Reaction of an acid with a short chain complexing acid, like azelaic acid. Greases are classified into two major families: soap and non-soap thickeners. Bearing Greases, NLGI Grade: 2, Lithium Complex Grease Thickener. There are three or four different types of materials that go into thickeners. When mixing oils, the key considerations are the viscosity of each product, the base oil type and the thickener. Types of thickeners that are commonly used are simple and complex soaps, which are based on lithium, calcium, aluminium, sodium, and barium compounds. By signing up for ExxonMobil Lubricants marketing communications using this form, you agree to accept the frequency of communications as deemed appropriate by our campaign manager. More complex thickeners, as well as lithium, polyurea, silica, calcium, are short fibered thickeners. Thickeners are molecules, polymers, or particles that are partially soluble in lubricating fluid; they arrange themselves in such a way that they impart a semi-solid consistency to the grease. Grease can also be thickened with non-soap materials. At 100C the interval decreases to 250 hours. Help on switching browsers can be found online. Most greases today fall in between the 1 and 3 grades with NLGI 2 being the most common. Know your applications and their environments when choosing the right grease! More than 90 % of thickeners are soap based. Calcium Provides good water resistance and shear stability at the cost of pumpability and heat resistance, Sodium Provides good heat resistance while sacrificing utility in the other properties, Barium Good heat and water resistance, but poor pumpability, Lithium 12 OH Stearate Makes improvements to all areas, particularly to shear stability and water resistance, Lithium complex Provides a boost to all properties, Calcium Complex Provides strong water resistance, but not very pumpable. Lubricating grease consists of 65-95% base oil, 3-30% thickener and 0-10% additives. Grease is an excellent lubricant to use when liquid lubricants fail to do the job. This is measured by penetration. Offering excellent lubricity, shear stability, and thermal resistance, lithium complex thickeners provide superior high-temperature performance. It components are as follows: 70-90% Base Oil 1-10% Additives 5-20% Thickener / Soap The base oil and additive package heavily influence a grease's behavior. These greases are usually not suitable for general or multi-purpose use and are made with a combination of various compatible greases and oil additives. As mentioned above, the overwhelming majority of any grease is composed of base oil. Single-row 15 angular contact, Type R and XLS . Expands Relationship with Ingevity. Simple soaps are the most common grease thickeners. 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Fluoropolymer powders such as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) can be used to thicken lubricating fluids to form grease. Silica is not to be confused with silicon or silicone. Urea: Also known as polyurea, these thickeners are a reaction product of di-isocyanate combined with mono and/or diamines. The specific liquid lubricants and thickeners are used to define its basic properties. In some cases, dissimilar thickener types are combined in a grease. The primary type of thickener used in current grease is metallic soap. Different types and combinations of base fluids and thickeners, along with supplemental structure modifiers and performance additives, combine to give the final product its special lubricating properties. NLGI Grade 2 offers a standard grease thickness, with a consistency similar to peanut butter. These salts are used to thicken mineral oil and create greases. Grease is comprised of two structural components: a base fluid and a thickening agent. Applications by Thickener Type Greases are usually marketed and recognized by thickener type. It is dependent on the type of thickener used and the cohesiveness of the oil and thickener of a . All website features may not be available based upon your cookie consent elections. In addition, certain non-soap thickeners, such as those based on clay . Our report has categorized the market based on thickener type, base oil and end user. However, these charts rarely tell the whole story, even just in terms of the thickener compatibility. The ratios of the ingredients will determine the characteristics of the thickener. Silica Silica greases have excellent heat resistance. Clay thickeners have no defined melting point, so they have been used historically in high-temperature greases. Sign up for a free trial today to see how MSLA can help your business. The base oil lubricates, reducing friction between moving surfaces; this is exactly the same role that the base oil plays in a lubricant oil. PumPac 8000, 8000BB, and 8000AAB series . Announces Internal Promotion, Lubricating Specialties Company Purchases VISTONE, Sea-Land Chemical Co. More than 90% of the thickeners used worldwide are soap based. They are being selected because of their high dropping points and excellent load-carrying abilities. It is modified bentonite, as a grease additive. Organophilic clay thickeners include the minerals bentonite and hectorite. Compatibility testing is always the best option, since the base oil and elastomer must also be taken into consideration. Most thickeners do not mix together and there are specific greases that are not compatible with others. The thickener defines the type of grease. Every thickener gives the grease different characteristic properties and is used according to its advantages. Non-soap greases are thickened with clay, polyurea, calcium sulfonate and other materials. It is an oil-based product composed of lubricant and thickener that comes in solid to semi-fluid forms. The type of soap thickener will depend on which acids and bases are used in saponification. At 115C the interval further decreases to 125 hours. Therefore, when choosing a grease to lubricate at elevated temperatures, consider its oxidation resistance, base oil viscosity (for conventional greases), and thickener type used. The thickener in a lubricating grease is the component that sets grease apart from fluid lubricants. The right grease could vary greatly depending on your application, operating environment, and other factors. Polyurea, clay and fluoropolymers are common non-soap grease thickeners. Common non-soap thickeners include polyurea, organophilic clay, fumed silica, fluoropolymers, and others. Announces Expansion of Team with New Hires in Sales Division, Azelis Americas Announces Expanded Lubricant and Metalworking Distribution Partnership between BASF and Monson, Asian Lubricant Industry Group Announces New Council, We are pleased to introduce Siddharth Grease & Lubes (INDIA) and Trinity Lubes & Greases FZC (UAE), ALMU Base Oils Webinar to Address Market Uncertainty, Assist Lube Blenders with Long-term Planning, STLE Elects Paul Hetherington from Petro-Canada Lubricants as 2020-2021 President, F+L Webcast: New Fuels & Lubricant Industry Podcast Examines ILSAC GF-6A, GF-6B and API SP First Licensing, SEA-LAND CHEMICAL COMPANY AND LOCKHART CHEMICAL COMPANY ANNOUNCE DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP EXPANSION, Sea-Land Chemical Company Announces Promotion of Matthew Mapus to Vice President of Marketing, Emery Oleochemicals LLC Welcomes New Area Business Manager to Support its Bio-Lubricants Business, Zschimmer & Schwarz adds synthetic esters to European Ecolabel LuSC-list, SEA-LAND CHEMICAL COMPANY ANNOUNCES ADDITION OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AND SEVERAL PROMOTIONS, ARG names Gisela Miller Director of Sales, Dr. Raj Shah inducted as a Fellow into the Institute of Measurement and Control, UK, NLGI Pursues Future Grease Specifications, Let the Games Begin: New trends in industrial grease lubrication - A brief summary of ELGI s Olympic Performance Meeting in Athens, Covenant Engineering Services LLC has Moved, AXEL Christiernsson Group (AXEL) wins 2019 Swedens Best Managed Companies Award, LSC signs letter of intent with Amalie Oil Co. for the sale of its US business, Dr. Raj Shah honored by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Energy Institute, It is with the deepest regret that we announce the untimely death of our dear friend, Mr. Sid Stone, Zschimmer & Schwarz Announces Opening of Esterification Plant in Ivey, GA, PCAS and All NOVACAP Subsidiaries Unify to Become SEQENS, ACME-HARDESTY WELCOMES JOHN RASTOKA AS REGIONAL SALES MANAGER FOR THE WESTERN REGION. Imerys Graphite & Carbon Enters Distribution Agreement with Soltex, Inc. Grease manufacturing is a highly complex and detailed process that starts with base oil, thickener and additives. Protective coatings and linings are often made from polyurethanes or polyureas. We are going to examine the second component: thickeners. Thickening agents can be classified as either soap-based or non-soap-based. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Clay greases have no melting point and are traditionally used in high-temperate greases (however the oil will oxidize quickly at elevated temperatures). *Required fields. Clay, Polyurea and Calcium Sulfonate Good water and heat resistance. These soaps include, among others, lithium, aluminum, clay, polyurea, sodium, and calcium. This type of thickener system can be referred to as a hybrid thickener or in some cases as a complex thickener. [1] Greases are usually shear-thinning or pseudo-plastic fluids, which means that the viscosity of the fluid is reduced under shear. Shell Gadus - Greases. A grease consists of three components: a thickener, a base oil and additives. However, what are the propertiesthat these thickeners give to the grease? Know your applications and their environments when choosing the right grease! Function: Viscosity Modifier, Thickener. 2022 Twin Specialties Corp. All Rights Reserved. Comparison of properties of grease due to thickener Soap Thickener O: Outstanding E: Excellent G: Good F: Fair P: Poor Non-Soap Thickener O: Outstanding E: Excellent G: Good F: Fair P: Poor Industrial lubricants by equipment builder. clicking on Submit you agree to terms and conditions and ourprivacy policy. There are simple greases and complex greases, depending on the types of fatty acids used. 2017-2022. We are going to examine the second component: thickeners. While you're busy planning next trip, we'll focus on finding you the offers and content that you care about. Common non-soap thickeners include polyurea, organophilic clay, fumed silica, fluoropolymers, and others. This soft grease is ideal for low-viscosity applications, such as in centralized lubrication systems. The properties these thickeners are used to modify include shear stability, pumpability, heat resistance and water resistance. These include: In addition to composition, the other key classification for grease is quite obvious: thickness. The most common types are simple lithium soaps, lithium complex and polyurea. The end-result is a soap and water mixture. When the grease washes off quickly, the pins holding the bucket can become damaged. PTFE has a small surface area which makes it an inefficient thickener, meaning a relatively high percentage (compared to other thickener types) is required for a grease to be formed when added to a base oil. You can not select more than 25 topics Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long. Different types of greases are typically formulated with three grease components: base oil, thickener and additives. Contamination is given a red rating. Since there are no metallic elements in polyurea grease, the grease is ashless and subsequently more oxidatively stable. Fumed silica is used to thicken only a limited number of specialty grease products. The Grease Thickeners Category includes 11 substances comprised of the lithium and calcium salts of fatty acids.
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