PEFTEC - Abstract

Abstract Information :

The formulation of a lubricant ultimately determines how said lubricant will respond to low temperatures. Lubricant greases consist of a base oil blended with a combination of thickeners and other performance additives. Lower viscosity base oils tend to yield greases with enhanced cold-flow properties, while thickening agents boost low-temperature grease cohesion. As marine activity grows in the extreme cold climates of the arctic and sub-arctic regions, it is of utmost importance that a lubricant maintains performance in those temperatures. Failure to do so will result in cold-induced stiffening in the lubricant, resulting in under-lubricated components from the greases failure to circulate throughout the system as it enters an almost solid state. This would result in catastrophic damage to components of the machine, meaning hefty repair costs to return to an operable state. The US Steel Grease Mobility Method and the Lincoln Ventmeter Test are used for the development of greases for low-temperature applications, but are limited by the lack of standardization. The Kesternich Method DIN 51805 has been used to precisely evaluate the low-temperature properties of lubricant greases, while requiring smaller samples of the greases comparatively to other cold-flow measurement techniques. In this poster, we discuss the importance of low-temperature performance in lubricants and the use of a newly developed instrument to evaluate and compare the low-temperature properties of a wide range of lubricant greases following the Kesternich Method.rn