fome | Buyer Gude | Jobe | Glossary | Eres | Bookstore | Nowslters | Browse Topics SET Peston Ud De eee ee ed Step-by-Step Grease Selection ee Wl NEE) ae cS ee - fe How do you know f youre using the night grease? You might be using a hgh-aunty grease emery ap Ueto You may have puto tof efor and money nto seketng the best cuaty grease ithe pursut of hbrcoton excelance. Bt dart confuse the cualy of the lubcant wth the cualty of the specication. Consider tis urcating of analogy, the best quay turbine a Would mest ely net rake 8 ood engine ol Most users are aware of the importance of selecting the raht lubricant fora given application. When t coms to selecting ubricaing of for renufactured equipment, k's easy to determine a wich products meet the arginal equiprent manufacturer (OEM) requirements. OFM Specifications fra Iubrating of nonraly include viscesity at operating r arrbent b temperature, addtve requrements, base ol type and even specal consierations for dferent srvronmental conditions. Grease specications, onthe other hand, often lack the detail necessary to make a proper selecton, having up tothe breton engnesr to create the spectieation *A Riveting Road for ‘A common OEM grease specication might be to use an NLGI (National Lubrcation Grease institute) No. 2 Whium grease of good quaity. Using ths inforration alone, one could select the naht consistency and thickener type. A sine specication for an ol-uorcated application would be to use a “good qualty beating of" What?! ue to the lack of speciicty in most grease recommendations, fe important to learn now to propery select greases for each appleston in the plant, Proper grease specification requires all of the components our of oll selection and more, Other special consierations for grease selection include thickener type and concentration, consistency, dropping point and operating temperature range, worked stably, nication stablty, wear resstance, etc. Understanding the need and ‘the methods for appropriate crease selection wil go along way toward irproving ubrcation Related Articles. programe and the relabilty of lubricated machinery. Let's walk through the grease selection tw wilw Grease ean wom bate Process step by step, starting with the mast Important property Containers Base Oil Viscosity {Choosing the Right Grease ‘The most important property of any lubricant is viscosty. A common mstake when selecting 2 grease 6 to confuse the grease consistency withthe base ol vscosty. Because the majorty af grease-Libricated applications are element bearings, one shoul consider viscosity Selectlon Tos or Selecting the Right Graase for those applications. While most would nt use an EP 220 gear oll for an ol-hibricated kectite rotor bearing, many people wll use a grease contalning thet same oll for an Wentieal ‘Appleaton i Key in Grease Selection arease-lubricated bearing, There are several conrron methods for determining rnin andl Click Here! optirum viscosty requirements for element bearings, most of which use speed factors, commonly denated as DN or NO Speed factors account forthe surface speed ofthe bearing thments and ae determined by the following formulas DN = (rpm) * (bearing bore) and Nom = rpm * (bearing bore + outside diameter) /2) ve Nom value uses ptch dameter rather than bore dlamater because not all bearings of @ given bore have the sre elsment clameter, and thus have dfferent surface speeds. Knowing the speed factor value and likely operating temerture, the minimum viscosty requseent can be read dvectly from charts tke gue 1 White Papers ‘cost eftectve Wear Meta/CondtionMontoring Analyzer wees Wear Debris Partice Classification & Root ssa Case Study: Sver unig n Pants On coal Sauiab Sharm prema Cotastophic Selecting the ost Relable and Cost onl Sinden Ar Compressor 2 What he Huan Resouces Person i E ino ‘Thinking When They Are Interviewing You a Job Board a Lebreton = Oil Analysis. ome More. eae nw bem n Buyers Guide Teneciae “0 Lubricants ouriaton Figure 1, (Courtesy of ExxonMobil) Figure 1 assumes the base oll viscosity index. To be more precise, one woul need to use a {1a Storage ana iandlng ‘chart that identifies the viscosity at operating temperature, then determine the viscosity ‘grade froma viscosty/temperature chart for a given lubreant, Poll create yur own user edback stney Additives and Base Oll Type Once the appropriate viscosity has been deterrined, i's tine to consider addtives. The ‘acdtve and base oll types are other components of grease that should be selected in a fashion senlar to that used for ol-uoreated applcations. For instance, alightW loaded high- Speed element bearng does not require exreme pressure (EP) addzives or tacktying agents, while @ heavily loaded open gear set does. Most performance-enhancing addtves found in hibricating oll are ako used in grease formulation and should be chosen according to the demands of the application. Figure 2 shows some comeran addkive requiements by apalication, Most greases are formulated using APT Group I and It mineral ol base stocks, which are appropriate for most applications, However there are apolications that right beneft from the use ofa synthetic base of, Such applcations include higher low operating temperatures, a wide ambient temperature range, oF ‘any applcation where extended relubreation intervals are dase, naanwe | Zura Toller | Needle Bearings fanonderes| = > > . . an , , , agents ntwearleP : zi zi 5 ase : : : : - Inhibtors arene 7 7 Derby | = : : : : vi . . . . r Irorovers [conosion |, r r . rnibtors 7 Reauired,~ Depends on application Figure 2 Grease Consistency and Thickener Type Now for that extra step: The consistency of grease & controlled by the thickener concentration, thickener type and the viscosity of the base oll Even though base ol viscosity affects consistency, tis important to note that a grease can have a high consistency and a low base oll viscosty or vice versa, The NLGI has establshed a scale to indicate grease consistency which ranges from grades 000 (semiflud) to 6 (black grease). The mest corren TNLGI grade le two and is recommended for mast application. For bearings, speed factor and operating temperature can be used to determine the best ‘consistency o* NGI grade for a gwen applcation. It may seem countenntutive, but hgherspeod factors requir higher consistency greases. Table 1 provides a general gue to selecting NLGI grade based on speed factor ané operating temperature anectne | BN (Speed Factory | MLGENo.* 0- 75,000 7 -ante sour | 75,00 - 150,000 2 150,000 - 300,000 2 0 75,000 2 00 150%F 75,00 - 150,000 2 150,000 - 300,000 3 9 75,000 2 100 to 275% | 75,00 - 150,000 3 150,000 - 300,000 3 Depends on other factors as well eluding bearing type, thickener type, base ol viscosity and base oll tyae Tablet Numerous types of grease thickeners are currertly in use, each with its own pros and cons. ‘The most carmen types are sivple lithium soaps, Iehium complex and polyurea. Sirple Ith ‘soaps are often used in low-cost generekpurpose greases and perform relatively well n most performance categores at moderate temperatures. Complex greases such as ithium complex provide improved performance particlaly at higher operating temperatures. A conyron upper ‘operating temperature Imi for simple Ithium grease mght be 250°F, hile that for @ Wham ‘complex grease might be 350°F, Another thickener type that fs becorting more popular i polyurea. Uke Ithium comple, polyurea has good high-temperature performance as well as high oxcation stabity and bleed resistance, Thickener type should be selected based on performance requirements as well as compatibilty when considerng changing preduct types. Performance Properties Once the aporopriate base oll viscosity, additive requirements and consistency have been ‘determined, the remining criteria to consider are the performence properties. The is where the grease cualty factors in. Grease performance properties include any of the same properties used for lubricating ol, as well as others exclusive to grease. Properties exclisive to grease inchide dropping poht, mechanical stabil, water washout, bleed charactenstics ‘and pumpaoiity. The mast important performance properties are determined by the ‘pplcation. If an application operates continuously at room temperature, properties Whe ‘drooping and uoper operating temperature knits are not as inportant. 1 8n application operates under heavy loads at bw speeds, load caring Lests such as fourball EP or Timken 0k toad should be considered. Its important to remember that greases, Ike ol, have a careful balince of properties, & product may excel in one category and perform poory in ‘another. For this reason, iis important to weigh each property's significance relative to the Intended applications to selct the best overall ft Sometimes whie trying to cansoicate hbricants, is easy to overconsoliate, Over tine, the ‘can lead to inaccurate lube specifications. A generc ollspec, including performance Properties, should be configured for each lubncated point in the plant, Armed with ths genenc Spectfcation, tt § easy to select the right product no matter what brand is prefered. It ‘ako important to review these specifications an a perlodle basis to guars against specication ‘ereep. While improving a lubrication rogram can be 8 tough Jeb, lubscant specification relatively easy, Armed wth @ Fle bE of knowledge and a fem widely availed tools, i possible to rest easier knowing that the right grease i being use. For more information about grease selection, beoin a ree subscription te Machinery Lubreation magazine ochiery Lubrcation (9/2005) Rolated Articles Application is Key in Grease Selection 1ips for Selecting the Rght Grease cetsoquestonste Ask Yourtubicant LUME-Tips” Sa Supplier absolutely FREE when you sign Up for ourfree Lube-Tips™ newsleter. mat al (Get Free ReportBegin a Free Subscription Today Nechiney Lubriesion magazse elvers Lubrication Program Transformation, Sorvices Discover aw Nos can tranfrm your kbreaton Quick Links Home | Buyers Guce | Jobs | Glossary | Everts | Bookstore | Newsletters | Browse Tonics