Lubricating Grease

Abstract

Lubricating grease was practically known already in ancient times to the Pharaohs and Romans who used tallow and melted fat for lubricating the axles of their vehicles. Only since the middle of the last century mineral oil and soap have been used as basic components of lubricants for industrial purposes. Initially the production was based only on simple saponification of mineral oil with lime soap in open vats. Subsequent treatments like homogenization and deaeration as well as admixing special additives have developed gradually (deaeration devices since appr. 1940 only) with increasing standards as set by industrial development. Both the hot and the cold production methods are applied in modern plants by using autoclaves in which temperatures in the range of 200 to 250 DC can be reached for producing various sorts of grease under pressure.