About Industrial Lubricants and Industrial Lubricant
Manufacturers Including: Automotive
Lubricants, Food
Grade Lubricants, Lubricant, Lubricating
Grease & Lubricating
Oil.
Industrial lubricants are an essential part of the
proper function and maintenance of machines and components which require
lubrication. A lubricant is the agent used to reduce friction between
two parts, but can also be used as a conductive agent to increase the
flow of a current between parts. Industrial lubricant manufacturers often
design products, which used to prevent corrosion and rust of a non-moving
part. The two major categories of lubricant are those that are organic
and those that are synthetic. Organic lubricants usually are derived
and refined from petroleum, and synthetic are created via a process of
chemical synthesis. Industrial lubricants are also used as part of a
larger lubrication
system which feeds a number of grease distribution lines to many lube
points found throughout the machinery or system in need of lubricant.
Grease, oil and silicone and their various compounds create the majority
of the industrial lubricants available and used in industries today.
Biodegradable lubricant is becoming more and more preferred in such areas
as the food service industry, where incidental contact with food is a
reality. A secondary and more practical use of lubricant is the cleaning
and filtering of unwanted particles away from areas, such as seals and
gaskets. Industrial lubricant manufacturers are often niche specific
and create a certain type of lubricant, such as automotive
lubricants,
but others are more wide ranging in the industries they serve.
The automotive industry uses a wide range of lubricants in the creation
and daily function of their vehicles. Using oil for engine lubricity
is only one of the many types of lubricant that can be used throughout
an automobile. Food processing factories and manufacturers require a
specific grade of lubricant in their machinery that will not contaminate
the product being created if contacted by it. The metal fabrication industries
use lubricant extensively in the creation of metal products and parts.
Industrial lubricants provide an efficiency of movement that would otherwise
not exist between such hard surfaces as metal.
The lubricants available by most manufacturers are divided into machine
and device specific categories. Chain and rope, hydraulics, gears and
bearings are some of the ways in which companies make the purchasing
of the proper lubricant easier for the shop manager and broader consumers.
Working out a long term supply contract with the manufacturer or supplier
may be a more economical choice. Understanding the nature of lubricant
and your machines lubrication system needs is what many of these manufacturers
help the customer identify and maintain. Many industrial lubricant manufacturers
offer programs and incentives for the reuse and recycling of the lubricants.
Types of Industrial Lubricants
-
are oil and grease based but also can have synthetic properties. Automotive
lubricants are used in a car's transmission, engine, and on seals gears
and chassis points.
-
are derived from plant or animal based sources and are used often in
conjunction with agricultural implementations.
-
is mineral oil with vegetable, animal or chemical lubricating oils added
to enhance certain physical or chemical properties of the finished blend.
-
are used in a compressor, a device which converts mechanical force and
motion into pneumatic fluid power.
-
lubricate and improve electrical and thermal connections between sliding
surfaces, while providing protection from moisture and corrosion.
-
consist of no liquid between the parts to be lubricated. They are made
of silicone or a related compound and used in areas where oil or grease
is not recommended.
-
are formulated, extreme-pressure synthetic lubricants developed for
use in industrial machinery where incidental food contact from lubricants
may occur.
-
are lubricants composed of oil or oils thickened with a soap, soaps
or other thickener until a semisolid or solid consistency is formed.
- is applied to moving parts to prevent wear from friction.
- is a combination of oil and soap used for lubrication applications.
- is oil used to lubricate parts and prevent friction.
-
are lubricants which are used during the metal
stamping fabrication process. These can range from synthetic to
straight oil with the latter needing much more aggressive clean-up.
-
are lubricants produced by chemical synthesis rather than by extraction
or refinement of petroleum in order to produce a compound with planned
and predictable properties.
Industrial Lubricant Terms
-
Also referred to as "cutting wear." This occurs when hard surface
asperities or hard particles have embedded themselves into a soft surface.
- The force or forces
causing two materials, such as a lubricating grease and a metal, to stick
together.
- A refined mineral oil,
free of additives, used as a component in a lubricant blend.
- The separation of
oil from a grease structure. A certain amount of bleeding is considered
desirable in greases, since this tends to provide continuous oil lubrication
to bearings.
- A liquid in which
another immiscible liquid is suspended. Water and oil can be emulsified
under certain conditions of oil type and severe agitation. Emulsifying
agents are sometimes added to oils for production of cutting fluids, which
are to be mixed with water.
- In lubricating grease,
the form in which soap thickeners occur, the soaps crystallizing in threads,
which are of the order of 20 or more times as long as they are thick.
- A resistance to motion
between two surfaces in contact.
- The fluid entering
a component.
- A positive displacement
(oil or grease) lubricant measuring valve that dispenses lubricant when
main line pressure rises and resets when its compressed return spring
forces the measuring piston back to its rest position.
- Any substance used
to separate two surfaces in motion and reduce the friction or wear of
the surfaces.
- Liquids capable of
forming a liquid solution or uniform mixture between themselves, e.g.
gasoline and oil are miscible.
- Numbers
assigned by the NLGI to classify greases according to their hardness as
measured by a cone penetration test.
- An electrical or electronic
device that compares (monitors) a lubrication systems operation to a user
selected time frame, or delivery rate.
- A general term for a water-insoluble
thick liquid that possesses lubricating properties.
- Term applicable
to crude oil and the hydrocarbon products and materials that are derived
from it.
- The ability of
a lubricating grease to flow under pressure through the line, nozzle and
fitting of a grease dispensing system at varying temperatures.
- Loss of liquid lubricant
from a lubricating grease due to shrinkage or rearrangement of the structure.
- The measurement
of a fluid's resistance to flow. It is defined as the shear stress on
a fluid element divided by the rate of shear; "high viscosity"
applies to a fluid which does not flow easily, "low viscosity"
to a fluid, such as water, which flows easily.