JP2006182856A - Lubricant composition, safe for human body - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lubricant while having safety to a human body in a same degree to a lubricant used in a food machine, and also having rust resistance, waterproof property, water-repelling property and attaching property not different from those of the usual industrial lubricant. <P>SOLUTION: This lubricating composition contains liquid paraffin as a base oil, an aluminum complex soap as a thickening agent, and further, a polyisobutylene and sorbitan monooleate, and is suitably used for a wire rope for lifting up and down a gate of a sluice. The ratios of blending amounts of each of components of the lubricant are preferably 1-10 wt.% aluminum complex soap, 1-15 wt.% polyisobutylene, 1-7.5 wt.% sorbitan monooleate and the rest of the liquid paraffin. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a lubricant composition composed of components that are safe for the human body, and more particularly to a lubricant composition suitable for a wire rope that comes into contact with water, such as for a sluice.

  The sluice is installed in rivers, water reservoirs, and other water treatment facilities to block water and adjust the flow rate. The wire rope used for raising and lowering the gate of the sluice gate is lubricated for sliding between the wire rope strands and for lubrication against contact between the wire rope and the winding drum, and for rust prevention of the wire rope. Is essential.

  Conventionally, lubricants for industrial wire ropes have been used for such sluice wire ropes. In particular, as a lubricant for hoisting ropes in sluice gates, Japanese Patent No. 3151947 uses mineral oil as a base oil, thickens with hydrophobic silica, and contains paraffin for the purpose of improving color luster. In addition, a rust preventive grease containing dicyclohexylamine oleate as a rust preventive agent and zinc dialkyldithiophosphate as a lubricity improver has been proposed.

  However, since it is no exaggeration to say that the wire rope for the sluice is always in contact with water, the lubricant component is likely to be mixed into the water in contact with the wire rope. The lubricant component mixed in the water also contains harmful components because a normal industrial lubricant is used for the wire rope as described above. However, water mixed with harmful lubricant components may be used as agricultural water or as drinking water, so it is said that it is safe when ingested by humans over a long period of time. It was difficult.

  In recent years, there has been a growing interest in environmental issues, and there is a tendency for more stringent restrictions to be imposed, such as the introduction of a municipal ordinance that regulates the standards for drinking water even during drainage. Under such circumstances, as a lubricant for wire ropes that come into contact with water, such as for sluices, for the purpose of preventing pollution of rivers, etc., it is excellent in biodegradability that can decompose bacteria instead of the above industrial lubricants. An increasing number of other lubricants are used.

  For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-228983 proposes a biodegradable grease composition that uses vegetable oil with good biodegradability as a base oil and contains a metal soap of fatty acid as a thickener. However, since this biodegradable grease composition contains an extreme pressure agent of a sulfur-phosphorus compound as a lubricity improver and a sulfonate compound as a rust preventive agent, it is difficult to say that it is harmless to the environment. In other words, biodegradability standards such as the ability to degrade bacteria are fundamentally different from the evaluation criteria for ensuring long-term safety when ingested by humans. It is doubtful.

Japanese Patent No. 3151947 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-228983

  As described above, wire rope lubricants that come into contact with water, such as for sluice gates, are easily mixed with water, so if you use ordinary industrial lubricants or biodegradable lubricants, There were problems with human safety, such as when ingested by humans. In addition, although the lubricant for food machinery is safe for humans, it is extremely difficult to achieve the same performance as industrial use in terms of water resistance and rust prevention, so the wire rope for the sluice always in contact with water It could not be used for such as.

  In view of such conventional circumstances, the present invention has safety to the human body equivalent to a lubricant for food machinery, and at the same time, rust resistance, water resistance, water repellency, which are the same as ordinary industrial lubricants, An object is to provide a lubricant having adhesiveness.

  In order to achieve the above object, the lubricant composition provided by the present invention is characterized by comprising liquid paraffin as a base oil, aluminum composite soap as a thickener, and further comprising polyisobutylene and sorbitan monooleate. Is. This lubricant composition is particularly suitable for wire ropes used for raising and lowering sluice gates.

  In the lubricant composition of the present invention, the amount of each component is 1 to 10% by weight of aluminum composite soap, 1 to 15% by weight of polyisobutylene, 1 to 7.5% by weight of sorbitan monooleate, and the balance is Liquid paraffin is preferred.

  In the lubricant composition of the present invention, the average molecular weight of the polyisobutylene is in the range of 35,000 to 140,000, the saponification number of sorbitan monooleate is 145 to 160, and the hydroxyl number is 193 to 210. Preferably there is.

  According to the present invention, while having the same degree of rust prevention, water resistance, water repellency, and adhesion as industrial lubricants, it has safety to human bodies equivalent to that for food machine lubricants, and uses water. Thus, a safe lubricant composition can be provided even if it is accidentally mixed into the body. Accordingly, the human-safe lubricant composition of the present invention is not only used for food-related machinery, but also for machinery that comes into contact with water that can be used as drinking water, especially for use in raising and lowering gates of sluice gates. Suitable for ropes.

  The lubricant composition of the present invention contains polyparabutylene as a thickener and sorbitan monooleate as a rust preventive agent in addition to liquid paraffin as a base oil and aluminum composite soap as a thickener. These components are all safe for the human body. For example, each of the above components is stipulated in the following FDA21CFR of the US Food and Drug Administration and is said to be safe for the human body.

In other words, the Japanese Food Sanitation Law does not regulate the lubricants that can be used in places where safety is required, such as food factories, but the International Health Foundation (National
The Sanitation Foundation International (NSF) has provisions for lubricants that can be used under accidental food contact conditions. And the US Food and Drug Administration (Food), a public health administration that is subject to consumer protection under the US Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
and Drug Administration (abbreviated as FDA), in addition to safe food additives and the like, raw materials and blending amounts that can be used for lubricants under the above conditions are defined in the regulation FDA21CFR. Lubricants are specified in 21 CFR 178.3570, and use of lubricants made of materials that meet the specifications or GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) materials is permitted.

  The components used in the lubricant composition of the present invention will be described. First, liquid paraffin is used as the base oil. Since liquid paraffin is a substance that can be used as a lubricant under the accidental food contact conditions in FDA21CFR178.3570, as long as the prescribed specified values are observed, safety against the human body is not possible even if accidentally mixed in the body. Extremely expensive. Liquid paraffin is also a substance belonging to existing additives in food additives in the Japanese Food Sanitation Law.

  Moreover, an aluminum composite soap is used as a thickener. Aluminum composite soap is highly viscous among thickeners, and therefore has excellent adhesion to wire ropes and the like. Moreover, since aluminum composite soap is prescribed | regulated as a substance which can be used for a lubricant under accidental food contact conditions by FDA21CFR178.3570, it is a thing with high safety | security with respect to a human body.

  The blending amount of the aluminum composite soap in the lubricant composition is preferably 1 to 10% by weight, and more preferably 3 to 10% by weight. If the compounding amount of the aluminum composite soap is less than 1% by weight, the oil cannot be sufficiently thickened, and the lubricant is likely to flow out. Further, when the blending amount of the aluminum composite soap exceeds 10% by weight, the amount of the thickening agent increases, so that the lubricant becomes hard and the coating workability is deteriorated, and the blending allowable range described in FDA21CFR178.3570 It will be difficult to ensure safety because it will be out of the range.

  Polyisobutylene is used as a thickener. Since polyisobutylene is also a substance specified in FDA21CFR178.3570, its safety is high as long as the specified range is maintained. The average molecular weight of polyisobutylene is preferably in the range of 35,000 to 140,000, and those outside this range are out of the range defined in FDA 21 CFR 178.3570, so it is difficult to ensure safety for the human body. Moreover, such a high molecular weight polyisobutylene has the effect of improving adhesion and tackiness, and simultaneously improving water repellency.

  The blending amount of polyisobutylene in the lubricant composition is preferably 1 to 15% by weight, and more preferably 3 to 12% by weight. When the blending amount of polyisobutylene is less than 1% by weight, good adhesion and tackiness to a wire rope or the like cannot be obtained. Even if the blending amount exceeds 15% by weight, the thickening action of polyisobutylene reaches its peak, so it is preferable to set the upper limit to 15% by weight.

  Moreover, sorbitan monooleate is added as a rust inhibitor. Since sorbitan monooleate is also a substance specified by FDA21CFR178.3570, its safety is high as long as the specified value is observed. Sorbitan monooleate is produced by esterifying sorbitol with oleic acid, and preferably has a saponification value of 145 to 160 and a hydroxyl value of 193 to 210. It is because it will become difficult to ensure safety | security as a foodstuff component if it remove | deviates from these ranges.

  The blending amount of sorbitan monooleate in the lubricant composition is preferably 1 to 7.5% by weight, more preferably 3 to 7.5% by weight. When the blending amount of sorbitan monooleate is less than 1% by weight, a good rust preventive effect cannot be obtained. On the other hand, if the amount of sorbitan monooleate exceeds 7.5% by weight, the rust-preventing effect reaches its peak and the lubricant is easily washed away with water, which is not preferable.

  In addition to these components, a wax component can be blended in order to improve adhesion and water repellency. In particular, carnauba wax and beeswax described in 21 CFR 184 are GRAS substances, and can improve performance without sacrificing safety.

  Thus, the lubricant composition of the present invention composed of each of the above components is safe for the human body even when accidentally mixed in the body, and at the same time, it has the necessary rust prevention, water resistance, and repellent properties. Since it is water-based and adhesive, it can be used outdoors. Therefore, it can be used not only as a substitute for conventional food machinery lubricants, but also for machinery that comes into contact with water that may be used as drinking water, especially in rivers, water reservoirs and other places It is excellent for wire ropes used for raising and lowering sluice gates installed in water treatment facilities.

  Liquid paraffin was blended with stearic acid, benzoic acid and aluminum hydroxide, which are raw materials for the aluminum composite soap as a thickener, and heated and stirred to obtain a base grease of the aluminum composite soap. In this base grease, liquid paraffin as a base oil, polyisobutylene as a thickener, and sorbitan monooleate as a rust preventive agent were blended. In Example 3, carnauba wax was further blended and sufficiently stirred. Then, each lubricant of Examples 1 to 3 having the composition shown in Table 1 below was obtained by passing through a three-roll mill.

  As comparative examples, a food machine lubricant, a biodegradable lubricant, and a wire rope lubricant were prepared from commercially available lubricants. That is, the food machine lubricant of Comparative Example 1 is obtained by thickening liquid paraffin as a base oil with aluminum composite soap and adding calcium carbonate as a solid lubricant. The biodegradable lubricant of Comparative Example 2 is obtained by thickening rapeseed oil as a base oil with calcium soap and adding overbased calcium sulfonate as a rust preventive agent. Furthermore, the lubricant for wire ropes of Comparative Example 3 is obtained by thickening liquid paraffin as a base oil with calcium soap. The composition of each lubricant according to Comparative Examples 1 to 3 is shown in Table 1 below.

Next, the performance of each of the lubricants of Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 was evaluated by a water-resistant adhesion rust test and a strong rust test, and the results are shown in Table 2 below. First, in the water adhesion adhesion rust prevention test, a sample lubricant was uniformly applied to an iron plate, and water at 40 ° C. was applied to the iron plate at a flow rate of 5 ml / second from a nozzle having an inner diameter of 1 mm arranged at a position 5 cm away from the iron plate. Sprayed for a minute. After that, the steel plate was JIS
The salt spray test was conducted for 24 hours in accordance with the regulations of K2246. By this test, the adhesion of the lubricant to water and the antirust property (water adhesion antirust property) were evaluated. For the evaluation criteria, the ratio of rusting area to the total coated area is measured, ◎ when the rusting area ratio is 0 to 1%, ◯ when 1-5%, △ 10 when 5-10%. % Or more were judged as x, and are shown in Table 2.

  Further, the strong rust-proof test was carried out by assuming the rust-proof evaluation under severe conditions such as the exposure environment and making the salt spray test of JIS K 2246 more severe. That is, the sample lubricant and reagent grade or first grade iron powder are weighed so that the mass ratio is 9: 1 and the total weight of the sample and iron powder is 2.5 g. Mix evenly on the dish. This mixture was subjected to a salt spray test in accordance with the provisions of JIS K 2246, and observed every 24 hours to measure the time until rust was generated. In addition, according to this method, the generation | occurrence | production time of rust is significantly shortened compared with a normal salt spray test, and there exists an advantage that it is easy to observe the generation | occurrence | production degree of rust.

  As can be seen from the results of the water-resistant adhesion / rust prevention test in Table 2 above, the lubricants of Examples 1 and 3 and Comparative Example 1 showed very good results regarding the adhesion of the lubricant to water and the rust prevention properties. Example 2 and Comparative Example 2 also showed good results, but the lubricant of Comparative Example 3 was inferior.

  Further, as can be seen from the results of the strong rust prevention test, no rusting was observed in all the lubricants of Examples 1 to 3 even after 300 hours or more had elapsed. On the other hand, the lubricant of Comparative Example 2 showed no rusting even after 300 hours, but the lubricants of Comparative Examples 1 and 3 containing no rust preventive agent rusted within 24 hours.

  Further, each of the lubricants of Examples 1 to 3 according to the present invention and the food machine lubricant of Comparative Example 1 use only highly safe substances approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in accordance with Regulation FDA21CFR, and Since all the reference values are included, it is harmless even if these lubricants accidentally enter the body. However, the biodegradable lubricant of Comparative Example 2 and the wire rope lubricant of Comparative Example 3 contain substances not defined by FDA21CFR, such as sulfur and phosphorus, and cannot guarantee safety to the human body.

From the above results, the lubricant according to the present invention has the same safety as the lubricant for food machinery, and is safe when accidentally mixed into the body, and at the same time has excellent rust and water resistance. It can be seen that it has water repellency and adhesion.

Claims (4)

  A lubricant composition comprising liquid paraffin as a base oil, aluminum composite soap as a thickener, and polyisobutylene and sorbitan monooleate.   The compounding amount of each component is 1 to 10% by weight of aluminum composite soap, 1 to 15% by weight of polyisobutylene, 1 to 7.5% by weight of sorbitan monooleate, and the balance is liquid paraffin, The lubricant composition according to claim 1.   The average molecular weight of the polyisobutylene is in the range of 35,000 to 140,000, the saponification number of sorbitan monooleate is 145 to 160, and the hydroxyl number is 193 to 210. 2. The lubricant composition according to 2. The lubricant composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lubricant composition is used for a wire rope used for raising and lowering a sluice gate.