Industrial lubricants are chemical compounds that take different forms, which include liquids, greases, and fluids. The lubricants get applied to different running parts of small and large machinery and equipment. These specialty lubricants may consist of mineral oils, petroleum, emulsions, and synthetic lubricants.
These lubricants perform the role of friction reduction between surfaces of moving machine parts. By reducing friction, the lubricants prevent accelerated wear and tear while also keeping out moisture that can cause rusting. Some heavy lubricants also act as thermal cushions that reduce the heat resulting from friction generated from the moving parts. This article will review different categories of industrial lubricants and their roles.
Read on to get tips before visiting your lubricant distributors to make a choice.
Oils
Oils are thin liquids made from long polymer chains. They also contain additives, which give them extra desirable properties. Oils work well in bearings, hinges, and tool maintenance. They are ideal when lubricating into limited spaces, where you can wick them in without taking machine components apart.
These lubricants aren’t suitable for surfaces prone to dirt and dust exposure. Such debris can create sticky surfaces that may generate more friction. Lubricating oil solutions have more viscosity than other thinner lubricants, and it tends to run or drip. As such, you should not apply oil on lubrication surfaces that should be clean. Oil can also get washed away by water. More so soapy water.
Greases
Greases are industrial lubricants that are thicker than oils. To make greases you have to mix oil and thickeners. The lubricating performance of greases may also improve through the addition of fine lubricating particles such as polytetrafluoroethylene, disulfide, molybdenum, and graphite. The additives improve the stickiness of oil, and this helps them to protect the surfaces that they lubricate. Like oils that come in varying levels of viscosity, greases also have different levels of viscosity depending on the amount and kind of additives added.
Greases are often applied to linkages, chains, bearings, and gears. Oils aren’t ideal for fast or delicate moving parts. Fast-moving parts may fling the oil around and cause a mess. Greases can cover wide ranges of load, speed, and temperature, and this increases their spectrum of use.
Penetrating lubricants
Penetrating industrial lubricants are thin oils with low viscosity and some additives. This lubricating mix can infiltrate tiny cracks between machine parts to wash out debris and lubricate the surfaces. Examples of such lubricants include vegetable oils and acetone. These lubricants are ideal for parts that move too fast.
Dry lubricants
Dry industrial lubricants are lubricating substances made from fine particles that can lubricate moving machine parts. This type of lubricants contain particles such as silicone, PTFE, disulfide, molybdenum, and graphite.
These lubricants work well on locks, hinges, threaded rods, and 3-D printer rails. The dry lubricants are in spray form, and they contain alcohol or water, and particulate matter.
Factors that lubricant distributors consider when choosing an industrial lubricant
There are various industrial lubricant properties that you should consider when deciding to buy any industrial lubricant. Some of these factors include:
Viscosity – an estimated 89% of lubrication professionals often look at the viscosity index when making choices related to industrial lubricant buy.
Thermal stability – this is a property that determines the temperature at which the lubricant gets broken down by heat
Oxidation resistance – this is the lubricant’s ability to resist breakdown even when exposed to oxidizing agents
Boiling and freezing points – this factor determines the level at which the industrial lubricant freezes or attains it’s the boiling point, and it influences its stability and uses in cold or hot temperatures
Demulsibility – this is the industrial lubricant’s ability to remove or shed its water content. Poor demulsibility often leads to corrosion problems. The corrosion problem can go away through the addition of corrosion preventatives.
If you’re looking for specialty lubricants, you should talk to lubricant distributors with experience and extensive knowledge in the industry to get ideal products. Lubricant distributors provide comprehensive information on lubricants within their websites. You can visit their sites to learn more about what the lubricant distributors can provide.