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News & Events - Industry News

January 26, 2017 - What is the thickener in lubricating grease?

The thickener in a lubricating grease is the component that sets grease apart from fluid lubricants. Thickeners are molecules, polymers, or particles that are partially soluble in lubricating fluid; they arrange themselves in such a way that they impart a semi-solid consistency to the grease. Many different types of chemical compounds can be used to thicken grease.

Simple soaps are the most common grease thickeners. A simple soap is the reaction product of an organic acid (long-chain or fatty carboxylic acid) and an alkali metal to form an organic salt. Thus, simple soap is an acid-base reaction product. This reaction has a special name: saponification. Simple soaps are most commonly based on salts of lithium and calcium, and less commonly on salts of sodium, aluminum, and barium. Examples of simple soap thickeners include lithium 12-hydroxystearate and calcium stearate.

Complex soaps are also used widely as grease thickeners. The term “complex” refers to the combination of a simple soap and a complexing agent. For example, a lithium complex thickener typically contains lithium 12-hydroxystearate (simple soap) and a salt of a shorter chain difunctional carboxylic acid, boric acid, or an aromatic acid (complexing agent). Complex thickeners are usually based on lithium, calcium, or aluminum compounds. In some cases, dissimilar thickener types are combined in a grease. This type of thickener system can be referred to as a hybrid thickener or in some cases as a complex thickener.

Grease can also be thickened with non-soap materials. Common non-soap thickeners include polyurea, organophilic clay, fumed silica, fluoropolymers, and others.

Polyurea is a generic term that includes include diurea, tetraurea, urea-urethane, and many related chemistries. A typical polyurea thickener is the reaction product of a di-isocyanate with mono and/or diamines. The ratios of the ingredients determine the characteristics of the thickener. It should be noted that because polyurea thickeners do not contain any metallic elements, they are ashless and tend to be oxidatively stable.

Organophilic clay thickeners include the minerals bentonite and hectorite. These minerals are purified to remove any non-clay material, ground to the desired particle size distribution, and then chemically treated to make the particles organophilic (more compatible with organic chemicals). Clay particles are then dispersed in a fluid lubricant to form grease. Clay particles must be activated with a polar material to stabilize the thickener structure. No chemical reaction takes place in the production of clay thickened greases. Clay thickeners have no defined melting point, so they have been used historically in high-temperature greases.

Fumed silica powder is used in relatively few grease products. Like clay, silica particles are dispersed in lubricating fluid. These greases also have no defined melting point and can be used in high-temperature applications. Fumed silica is used to thicken only a limited number of specialty grease products.

Fluoropolymer powders such as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) can be used to thicken lubricating fluids to form grease. These greases are premium niche products with very good resistance to chemicals, oxygen, and water. They are formulated to withstand wide temperature ranges and often provide an extended service life in demanding applications.

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  • 2020
    • December
      • Potential Key Lithium Salts Classification as REPROTOX CAT 1A
      • NLGI Launches High-Performance Multiuse (HPM) Grease Certification
    • October
      • NLGI veteran member Raj Shah presented with numerous honors in 2020
      • Sea-Land Chemical Company Names New Director of Marketing and Announces Promotions
    • September
      • SKF and University of Twente Open State-of-the-Art Technology Center
      • NLGI High-Performance Multiuse (HPM) Grease Specification Update
    • August
      • Total Specialties USA, Inc. Announces Expansion of Team with New Hires in Sales Division
      • Azelis Americas Announces Expanded Lubricant and Metalworking Distribution Partnership between BASF and Monson
    • July
      • Asian Lubricant Industry Group Announces New Council
      • NLGI Welcomes New President, Jim Hunt
    • June
      • We are pleased to introduce Siddharth Grease & Lubes (INDIA) and Trinity Lubes & Greases FZC (UAE)
    • May
      • ALMU Base Oils Webinar to Address Market Uncertainty, Assist Lube Blenders with Long-term Planning
      • STLE Elects Paul Hetherington from Petro-Canada Lubricants as 2020-2021 President
      • F+L Webcast: New Fuels & Lubricant Industry Podcast Examines ILSAC GF-6A, GF-6B and API SP First Licensing
    • April
      • NLGI High-Performance Multiuse (HPM) Grease Specification Update
      • Castor Derivatives Supply Issue
      • SEA-LAND CHEMICAL COMPANY AND LOCKHART CHEMICAL COMPANY ANNOUNCE DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP EXPANSION
    • February
      • Sea-Land Chemical Company Announces Promotion of Matthew Mapus to Vice President of Marketing
      • Emery Oleochemicals LLC Welcomes New Area Business Manager to Support its Bio-Lubricants Business
      • Zschimmer & Schwarz adds synthetic esters to European Ecolabel LuSC-list
    • January
      • SEA-LAND CHEMICAL COMPANY ANNOUNCES ADDITION OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AND SEVERAL PROMOTIONS
  • 2019
    • November
      • Grease Manufacturing Plant Expansion
      • ARG names Gisela Miller Director of Sales
      • Dr. Raj Shah inducted as a Fellow into the Institute of Measurement and Control, UK
    • October
      • NLGI New Grease Specification Update
    • August
      • Koehler Instrument Company SRV Seminar
      • ELGI Call for 2020 Papers
      • NLGI Pursues Future Grease Specifications
      • ELGI - STLE Tribology Exchange Workshop
      • 2019 NLGI Annual Meeting Recap
    • July
      • Let the Games Begin: New trends in industrial grease lubrication - A brief summary of ELGI ’s Olympic Performance Meeting in Athens
      • Covenant Engineering Services LLC has Moved
    • March
      • AXEL Christiernsson Group (AXEL) wins 2019 Sweden’s Best Managed Companies Award
      • LSC signs letter of intent with Amalie Oil Co. for the sale of its US business
      • Dr. Raj Shah honored by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Energy Institute
    • February
      • It is with the deepest regret that we announce the untimely death of our dear friend, Mr. Sid Stone
    • January
      • Zschimmer & Schwarz Announces Opening of Esterification Plant in Ivey, GA
      • PCAS and All NOVACAP Subsidiaries Unify to Become SEQENS
      • ACME-HARDESTY WELCOMES JOHN RASTOKA AS REGIONAL SALES MANAGER FOR THE WESTERN REGION
  • 2018
    • September
      • Imerys Graphite & Carbon Enters Distribution Agreement with Soltex, Inc.
      • Rational Energies Marks Million Gallon Production Milestone
    • July
      • Dr. Raj Shah receives award at STLE Annual Meeting
    • June
      • Lexolube H1 Products Announcement
    • May
      • Emery Oleochemicals Announces New U.S. Distribution Partner
    • March
      • NLGI India Presents Dr. Raj Shah with Singular Honor
    • February
      • Monson, an Azelis company, hires Tony Yerkes
      • Pack Logix Completes the Acquisition of Spectrum / Phillips 66 Waukesha Packaging Facility
      • Schaeffer's Specialized Lubricants: Product Innovation Specialist Named Executive VP of Operations
    • January
      • ELM's Biobased Lubricants Debut in Japan
      • Sea-Land Chemical Company Expands Operations Team
  • 2017
    • December
      • NLGI Awards 2017 Research Grant
      • OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF ASIAN LUBRICANT MANUFACTURERS UNION (ALMU) - Singapore’s Enterprise Promotion Centres (EPC) Appointed As Association Manager For ALMU
    • November
      • Triboscience & Engineering, Inc. (TSE) Announces the Acquisition of Opus Tertium, LLC.
      • NLGI Announces New Executive Director
    • October
      • Lockhart Introduces Food Grade Overbased Calcium Sulfonate
    • April
      • The 2nd North American Industrial Lubricants Congress
    • February
      • Sea-Land Chemical Co. Announces Internal Promotion
    • January
      • Ashland Announces Price Increase
      • Lubricating Specialties Company Purchases VISTONE
      • Sea-Land Chemical Co. Expands Relationship with Ingevity
      • Croda Announces the Latest in Base Stock
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