CA1184170A - Lubricating grease - Google Patents

Lubricating grease

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Publication number
CA1184170A
CA1184170A CA000378116A CA378116A CA1184170A CA 1184170 A CA1184170 A CA 1184170A CA 000378116 A CA000378116 A CA 000378116A CA 378116 A CA378116 A CA 378116A CA 1184170 A CA1184170 A CA 1184170A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
grease
weight
disulphide
borate
lubricating grease
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000378116A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Christopher P. Brooks
Stanley C. Dodson
Robert H. Newman
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to CA000378116A priority Critical patent/CA1184170A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1184170A publication Critical patent/CA1184170A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A light coloured, open gear lubricating grease is formed from:
a lubricating base oil a clay thickener a combination of a polymer, preferably atactic polypropylene, and a particulate mineral, preferably zinc oxide, as tackifier and filler, and an alkali metal borate as EP additive.
The ratio of polymer to mineral, may be from 1.5:1 to 1:1.5. An aromatic disulphide, preferably dibenzyl disulphide, may also be present as an EP additive and, if so, the wt.ratio of borate to disulphide may be from 5.1 to 7:1.

Description

L IC~TING GREASE
This invention relates to a lubricating grease suitable for open-gears.
Open gear lubricants are a special type of lubricant and have been marketed commercially for many years. As the name implies, the gears to be lubricated are open to the atmosphere and may thus be required to operate over a wide temperature range and in the presence of moisture. The lubricant is normally placed on the gear teeth and it has to have the quality of spreading uniformly over the teeth without dropping off. In one form of existing lubricant, bitumen is used as a basic component and in another form a lubricating base oil is thic]cened with carbon black and atactic polypropylene. These existing lubricants are, however, dark in colour and therefore dirty to use and do not have extreme pressure (EP) properties.
The present invention provides a clean, light coloured grease with EP properties.
According to the present invention a lubricating grease, suitable for use as an open gear lubricant, comprises a lubricating base oil, from 2 to 20%,by weight of total com-position of a clay thickener; from 2 to 12% wt., by weight of total composition oE an alkali metal borate as extreme pressure additive; and a combination of an olefin polymer selected from the group consisting of atactic polypropylene and polyisobu-tylene and a light coloured particular mineral which is zinc oxide, as tackifier and filler, the polymer and particulate material each being present in an amount of from 3 -to 12%
wt. by weight of total composition and the polymer; particulate mineral ratio being from 1.5:1 to 1:1.5 by weight.
The lubricating base oil may be a mineral or synthetic base oil. For simplicity and cheapness it is preferably a lubricating base oil derived from petrole~m. Thus, the base oil may be a refined oil obtained from petroleum having a viscosity of from 10 to 900 centistokes at ~0C.

The clay thickener may be of the type well known in the grease-making art, i.e. a colloidal clay whose particles are coated with an oleophilic substance. An example of a clay thlckener is a material consisting of platelets of montmorillonite coated with a quaternary ammonium salt~ Such materials are sold under the Trade Marks "Baragel" and "Bentone", The clay thickener may be present in an amount of from 2-15% wt by weight of the total composition.
The grease may also contain, in conventional manner, a dispersant for the clay type ~hlckener~ e~g. from 0.1 to 3% wt of propylene carbonate.
One of the problems associated with clay-thic~ened greases is that of finding additives which are compatible with the clay and its polar coating. However, for open gear lubricants, a clay thickened grease without addltives is of little value.
In one aspect of the present invention, .herefore, it has been found that the combination of a polymer and a particulate mineral is an additive combination which is compatible with the clay and which imparts to the grease good spreading properties without giving rise to excessive drop off from the gears. It has been found that the ratio of polyMer to particulate mineral is important in this respect and that the required optimum balance of properties is obtained if the polymer:particulate mineral ratio is Erom 1.5:1 to 1:1.5, and preferably 1:1. The total quantity of each material is from 3 to 12~ wt by weight of total composition.
The polymer is preferably an olefin polymer having elastic properties. The polymer may be a polyisobutylene (e.g. a material sold under the Registered Trade Name "Vistanex") with an average molecular weight of 40000 (viscosity average molecular weight (Flory)), or more preferably an atactic polypropylene9 molecular weigh~ approximately 3QOOO and a melt viscosity of 5000 to 10000 cPs at 170C and 2.7 sec~1-The term "mineral" i9 to be understood as including both naturally occurring and synthetic materials.
Another important aspect of the inventlon is the choice oE
extreme pressure additive which, again, should be compatlble with the clay thickener and should, preferably, provide extreme pressure qualities beyond those of existing open gear lubricants.
It has been found that an alkali metal borate alone gives good extreme pressure qualities. Alternatively the alkali metal borate may be used in combination with an aromatic disulphide, particularly dibenzyl disulphide. Again it has been found that the weight ratio of borate and disulphide is relevant to obtaining an optimum EP
performance and the preferred weight ratio of borate to disulphida is from 5:1 to 7:1 and pr~f~rably 6:~. The ~o~al quantitieQ of material are from 2 to 12% wt of borate, and may be 0.2 to 2% weigh~
of aromatic disulphide, if this is present, by weight of total composition.
The alkali metal borate is preferably borax and it has been found that the borate confers anti-rust properties as well as EP
properties. Despite its solubility in water, it has also been found that the borate is not leached out to any substantlal extent by moisture and that the finished grease gives less than 1~ wt washout in the water washout test at 79C (ASTM D1264 or IP Method 215).
The borate may be inccrporated into the grease using the technique known for incorporating alkali metal nitrites lnto clay thickened greases. Thus a solution of borate in water may be formed into an emulsion with a portion of the lubricating base oil and a portion of the clay thickener, The water may then be evaporated off leaving a dispersion of borate particles in the base oil which may then be blended with the remaining base oil and the other components of the grease. The size of the borate particles is believed to depend on the relative proportions of borate and oil. With a dispersion of about 50% borate in oil che particles may have a size of about 1 to 5 microns diameter, but sub-micron particles may be obtained by lowering the concentration of bora~e in the borate/oil dispersion.
The invention is illustrated by the following ~.xamplesO
~e:~
A lubricating grease was prepared having the followlng composition:

% wt Clay thickener 6.5 Propylene car~onate 0.9 Atactic polypropylene 5.0 Zinc oxide 5.0 Borax 5 0 Dibenzyl disulphide 0.~
Lubxicating base oil 76.8 The clay thickener was the material sold by Berk Chemicals Ltd. under the Registered Trade Mark "Baragel". The atactic polypropylene had a melt viscosity of 5700 cPs at 170C, 2.7 sec . It was sold by Chemie Linz AG
as grade APP8. The zinc oxide had an average particle size of 0.2 ~m and was sold by ~5Orris Ashby Ltd. as "Zincoli" Red Seal grade. The borax was a laboratory grade of sodium tetraborate, Na2B4O7 lOH20, sold by BDH
Chemicals Ltd. The lubricating base oil was a refined mineral lubricating oil having a viscosity of 30 centistokes at 40C and a viscosity index of 100.
The grease was prepared in three stages as follows. Firstly, a concentrate of the thickener and filler was prepared by dispersing the zinc oxide; Baragel and propylene carbonate in 60% of the base oil, at ambient temperature.
Secondly, the borax was dispersed in 20% of the base oil in a second mixing vessel. The borax was dissolved in water at 90C and added to the base oil at 90C. A small quantity of Baragel and propylene carbonate were added to stabilise the water in oil emulsion. The temperature of the emulsion was then increased to 140C whilst mixing vigorously to boil off the water. The resultant dispersion of borax in oil was then cooled to 100C and added to the grease concentrate.
Finally the polypropylene was dissolved in the remaining base oil at 160 C. When the polypropylene had dissolved the temperature of the blend was reduced to 120C and the dibenzyl disulphide added and dissolved~ The total blend was then added to the grease concentrate.
The resultant grease was then homogenised on a Manton Gaulin Homogeniser at 2000 psi to provide a smooth structure.
The grease was submitted to the following tests to evaluate its suitability as an open gear lubricant:-_ 5 O n Gear Riq The rig consists of a gear driven by and lightly loaded against a pinion. The gear axes are vertical. Running conditions are as follows:
Gear: Cast Iron, 3DP 40 tooth. 3O5 inches wide Pinion: Steel 16 teeth Pinion Speed: 40 rpm Load: 12.5 lbf ft torque load on gear shaft.
A total of 110 g of grease is applied to the gear. Grease is applied to the driven face of each gear tooth. The rig is then run for two hours.
At the end of the test only the minimum amount of grease should have dropped off the rig and the driven surfaces of the pinion and gear should be completely covered with grease.
Open Gear Rig 2hr run drop off: 8O0% wt coverage: Complete coverage of teeth Cone Penetration: (IP Method 50/69) Unworked = 235 Worked = 275 Four Ball EP Performance (IP Method 239): Mean ~lertz Load = 67.9 kg Initial Seizure Load = 158 kg Weld Load = 355 kg Water Washout (IP Method 215) 79C: = below 1~0%wt Dynamic Anti Rust Test (IP Method 220) = rating 2,2.
Example 2 A series of greases was prepared according to Example 1 the only variant being the ratios and amounts of atactic polypropylene and zinc oxide.
Each grease was tested for its spreadability over the teeth of the open gear test rig described in ~xample 1 and for the amount of grease which dropped off the gears during the tests.
The results are shown in Table 1 below~

6 ~ 98~
r Table 1 ~ . . . _ .:
i ~wt Zlnc Oxide 20 15 10 5 10 15 %wt Polypropylene 5 5 5 5 10 15 ~ . _____ ._i_._~ .. .... ... . _ _ % Drop Off 15 10 9 3 11 27 Coverage insufficient total some bare coverage of coverage of spots on gear teeth gear teeth gear teeth ~ .
Taking the results of Table 1 in succession from left to right it will be seen that, as the ratio of zinc oxide to polypropylene decreases from 4:1 to 1:1 there is a steady improvement in % drop off and in coverage, the best result being at a 1:1 ratio and 5% wt of each. If the ratio is kept at 1:1 and the amount of each is increased, however, ~rop off increases and coverage becomes less certain.
Example 3 A series of greases was prepared according to Example 1 the only variant being the ratios and amounts of borax and dibenzyl disulphide~
Each grease was tested for EP properties using the 4 Ball testO
The results are shown in Table 2 below.
Table 2 --. . _ . j ___ .~_ _. t %wt Borax 1 7.5 - 5.0 5.0 2.5 5.0 %wt DBDS ¦ - 2.2 0.5 loO 2.0 0.8 4 Ball EP (IP 239/73) ¦
Mean Hertz Load kg 1 53.956.850.2 63.0 63.6 67.9 Initial Seizure Load kg ¦141 79 126 141 89 158 Welding Load kg 1398 335 282355 398 355 J
; Table 2 shows that good EP properties were obtained using borax alone. When mixtures of borax and DBDS were used, the optimum borax:
DBDS ratio was about 6:1.
Exam~e 4 Two lubricating grease were prepared as in Example l except that 7 ~

no dibenzyl disulphide was added.
For grease A the omission of the dibenzyl disulphide was the only difference; for grease B there was the additional difference that the filler was added after the polypropylene.
The greases were also tested as in Example 1. The compositions of the greases and the test results are shown in Table 3 belowO
Table 3 . _ .
Grease A B
_ .
Clay thickener %wt 7.2 10.5 Propylene carbonate " 1.0 1.5 A,actic polypropylene " 5.0 5.0 Zinc oxide " 5.0 5.0 Borax " 4.9 5.0 15 Lubricating base oil " 76.9 73.0 __ Cone penetration, unworked 247 219 worked 274 283 Cpen gear rig, 2 hr. run.
drop off % wto 8.2 8.2 coverage complete complete 4 ball EP performance, Mean ~ertz Load, kg 55.7 Initial Seizure Load kg 141 25 Welding Load kg 251 _

Claims (4)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A lubricating grease, suitable for use as an open gear lubricant, comprising:
a lubricating base oil;
from 2 to 20%, by weight of total composition of a clay thickener;
from 2 to 12% wt., by weight of total composition of an alkali metal borate as extreme pressure additive; and a combination of an olefin polymer selected from the group consisting of atactic polypropylene and polyisobutylene and a light coloured particulate mineral which is zinc oxide, as tackifier and filler, the polymer and particulate material each being present in an amount of from 3 to 12% wt. by weight of total composition and the polymer; particulate mineral ratio being from 1.5:1 to 1:1.5 by weight.
2. A lubricating grease as claimed in claim 1 wherein the grease also contains from 0.2 to 2% wt. by weight of total composition of an aromatic disulphide as extreme pressure additive.
3. A lubricating grease as claimed in claim 2 wherein the aromatic disulphide is dibenzyl disulphide.
4. A lubricating grease as claimed in claim 2 wherein the ratio of borate to disulphide is from 5:1 to 7:1 by weight.
CA000378116A 1981-05-22 1981-05-22 Lubricating grease Expired CA1184170A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000378116A CA1184170A (en) 1981-05-22 1981-05-22 Lubricating grease

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000378116A CA1184170A (en) 1981-05-22 1981-05-22 Lubricating grease

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1184170A true CA1184170A (en) 1985-03-19

Family

ID=4120023

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000378116A Expired CA1184170A (en) 1981-05-22 1981-05-22 Lubricating grease

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1184170A (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN109370711A (en) * 2018-11-20 2019-02-22 杨广双 A kind of open-type gear lubricant and preparation method thereof

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN109370711A (en) * 2018-11-20 2019-02-22 杨广双 A kind of open-type gear lubricant and preparation method thereof

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