Patent Application
20130225460
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for improving the physico-chemical and usage properties of lubricants having a liquid or a solid consistency.
2. Brief Description of the Background of the Invention
Including Prior Art
Numerous lubricants are already present and co-existing on the market. Details of the process of improving the properties of the lubricants are given further down, with a description of the invention, and are referred to as a method for ‘modernization’ or ‘reforming’ of the lubricants.
It is already possible to buy solid lubricants, thick gels with lubricating properties, gear oils, engine oils and all-purpose oils, that consist of a base oil (for example mineral, synthetic, silicone, organic oil or mixtures thereof), a variety of thickeners, such as soaps and waxes, as well as other substances which improve the lubricating properties of the lubricants, increase their adhesion to the base or increase the resistance of the lubricants to high mechanical loads. However, these lubricants, and particularly the lower-priced ones, are generally of lower or medium quality and have significantly worse usage characteristics, resulting from the poor quality of the additives used in their composition.
There are also higher quality lubricants, but these are generally very expensive, so their use on the market is limited. Their high cost stems from their components, as well as sometimes from more complicated manufacturing methods.
An average quality lubricant (grease), existing in the present market, has a large friction resistance, in other words, it is has a high coefficient of friction μ, small grease life time expressed in working hours at the temperature 125° C. up to the seizure in accordance with the American standard ASTM-D 3336-05, but apart from that, it has a very small and disadvantageous weld load on a four ball tester—this four ball tester is the primary indicator of the quality of a lubricant. Small values of the weld load are in the following range 1600-2500 N (Newtons), average values of the weld load are 2500-4000 N (Newtons). Good quality lubricants achieve the value of at least 4000 N. Weld load values that are in a range from 4000 to 8000 N indicate that the tested lubricant has a very good quality. This coefficient represents the amount of test force that must be applied to a four ball tester so that the ball could weld onto a machine base.
A combination of such substances, designed to improve the properties of lubricants, was previously used in the creation of a completely new type of grease and was included in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/373, 653 (US Patent Application Publication US 2012/0135897 of May 31, 2012), which is hereby incorporated by reference. A combination of such substances, designed to improve the properties of lubricants, was previously used in the creation of a completely new type of grease and was included in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/373, 653. This combination of three or four stearates or hydroxystearates: lithium stearate, calcium stearate, magnesium stearate, and aluminum stearate in accordance with patent application Ser. No. 13/373,653, resulted in a greases and lubricant oils with a completely different practical and important use—as an additive improvement for existing greases, gear oils or engine oils of a solid or liquid consistency. This is a fundamental change and a significant expansion of the role and use of technical lubricant additives.
1. Purposes of the Invention
It is a purpose of the present invention to provide advanced lubricants and additives for lubricants.
2. Brief Description of the Invention
The invention process is based on the addition of a set of loose materials or loose substances, that is, lubricant thickeners to a lubricant, and on extensive mixing in a mixer in order to achieve a new, improved lubricant.
The lubricants employed according to this invention include different kinds of greases, gear lubricants, synthetic lubricants, semi-synthetic lubricants, mineral oils, engine oils, and all-purpose oils.
The above mentioned expression “Already existing on the market” means any lubricant which is sold having an average quality (weld load in a range of 2500 N to 4000 N given above such as a gear lubricant, engine oil, all-purpose oil. A chemical composition given at this point does indicate some of the materials, where there are hundreds of different products and types of products available, for example: calcium greases, lithium greases, gear lubricants, synthetic, semi-synthetic, mineral oils etc. etc.
The present invention is concerned with lubricant thickeners. Grease is a base oil plus a set of thickeners consisting of various substances. A gear lubricant is a base oil plus a set of thickeners consisting of various substances. Engine oil is a base oil consisting of one or more oil liquid substances and a set of thickeners as well as various additional modernization materials. For example—grease is, according to the definition given, an oil (mineral, synthetic, vegetable) plus some thickeners.
A thickener is an organic or inorganic substance such as aromatic urea, an inorganic alkaline soap, inorganic silicon, aluminum silicate, poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE) (Teflon is a registered trademark of the Du Pont company), another substance, or a solid substance. All the above thickener substances are solid substances. A thickener can be an organic or inorganic material which increases the viscosity of a base oil without substantially modifying the other properties of the base oil. Only a base oil cannot be called a thickener.
The properties of thickeners can be very different—but they determine the properties of the mixture of substances later referred to as a lubricant.
As a result of completing a thickening and mixing process, existing low or medium quality lubricants can gain a significant improvement in their properties, including their friction coefficient, their welding load, the degree of their micro-penetration etc. As a result of such modernization, machines and parts lubricated with the improved lubricant can meet higher user expectations during operation, and fetch higher prices on the market.
As a result of the present invention, the existing lubricant obtains still a second part of features, which are new, and completely unexpected properties.
The method of refinement presented here is adequate to notably and substantially improve the properties of most low and medium quality lubricants. After carrying out the modernization process, these lubricants can then be used in various industries, e. g. in the ship building, aerospace, electric power generation, automotive, machine and engine building industries, as well as in repair works and in domestic households as a lubricant, gel grease, for gear oils, engine oils or as all-purpose oils or for worm gears etc.
In the example 1 of the present description, an existing lubricant was subjected to modernization according to the present application had a weld load=1600 N, after a modernization process which included mixing the lubricant with addition of 10 weight percent set of stearates relative to the weight of the lubricant, and 2% poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE) in powder form relative to the weight of the lubricant as well as other specific chemical substances, while the weld load increased to a gigantic value of 6200 Newtons in a series of tests. The present application describes only a few lower values of 3150 and 5000 Newtons so that the content of the application would be more objective. This increase from 1600 N to 5000 Newtons for the average lubricant as a result of the modernization is a sufficient evidence of an improvement. The improved lubricant has better anti-seizure and sliding properties. In the described example 2, the existing lubricant achieved a weld load increase from 1600N to 3150 N and then to 5000 N. In fact, the increase was even greater—to 6200 Newtons, which was confirmed in 6 measurement attempts. This represents an essential improvement of quality and a reason for filing the instant patent application.
The basic improvements in usage and operational property include:
An increase in the life span of the lubricant, a reduced coefficient of friction—the friction resistance during the operation of a machine, especially during the start-up, a reduced amount of heat given out from a joint—all as a result of applying the modernized lubricant instead of any other lubricant taken from the shelf in a shop. The improvement is substantial—especially when concerning the functioning of heavy machinery—tank detachment and engines—it extends the life span of the machinery and equipment—engines, transmissions, etc. The improvement also gives a greater protection against seizure of friction pairs; they warm-up and break down and cause a failure known as a seizure of lubricated node.
A better protection against aging of a lubricant can be furnished. The aging of the lubricant is the process during which a decomposition of the lubricant or oil takes place; the time, temperature, or too intensive working cause the lubricating properties to deteriorate. Each lubricant has a definite exploitation period—this is the period in which the properties are maintained at the proper level. If one applies a better lubricant or oil to a machine this will extend the life span of the machine, one does not have to replace parts, and the operational properties are maintained for a longer period of time (anti-aging effect).
The so-called “anti-seizure life span of the lubricant” is a different property, it does not mean “aging”, but “functioning of a bearing up to the time a failure occurs”—it is based on measuring the working time in hours until the seizure of the bearing: warming up and raising its temperature while working above the emergency level causing the failure of the machinery.
Lubricants according to the present application can be subjected to high bearing or mechanical loads. Some lubricants and oils are more resistant than others to heavy loads on a node, that is a guide. Resistance is obtained by using different types of base oils plus components—suitable thickeners in a solid or liquid form. The thickening agents (thickeners) determine whether the lubricant would be able to withstand high pressures. To do so, the base oil is complemented with substances, such as: molybdenum disulfide or tungsten disulfide or graphite as well as bentonite and others. Some bearings, for example, are exposed to enormous forces—for example, they support the weight and centrifugal forces of a turbine runner in a power plant. Therefore the lubricant must be able to withstand high mechanical pressures during the operation and working of the turbine.
The present invention furnishes significant improvements of the physico-chemical and usage properties of unimproved lubricants. The importance of introducing changes to the composition of the lubricant is tremendous. After the introduction of the set of thickeners of three or four metal stearates in accordance with the present invention in an amount of 5 to 35 percent by weight relative to the initial weight of the existing lubricant or oil, one obtains a change of the properties of the lubricant, for example, the time of the lubricant's or oil's replacement in machinery can be postponed, the temperature of the lubricated node (bearings, guides etc . . . ) can be decreased, the danger of the bearing seizure can be delayed and thus, a failure of the entire machinery is delayed. Furthermore, a low coefficient of friction of the lubricant or oil is measured on the tribometer, and one achieves significant power savings on the machine shaft, which is particularly important for wind turbines, where bearing losses arise due to oil friction in the bearings.
After improvement with a set of thickeners according to the invention, the treated lubricant obtains much better physico-chemical and usage properties, which give a lower friction resistance to machinery and equipment, a longer life span, better protection against aging of the lubricant, lower operating temperature of the equipment so lubricated, as well as lower energy losses from decreased friction during operation.
However, it has been found that use of the method specified by the present application does result in significant improvement of the physico-chemical and usage properties of readily available low and medium quality lubricants. It is important then, to note that these improvements cannot be achieved by implementing only one or two substances, but adding and mixing must be a set of at least of three or four substances—thickeners—such as metal stearates or metal 12-hydroxystearates.
A lubricant according to the invention is improved by adding in 5 to 35 weight percent relative to the weight of the initial lubricants, with a set of three or four substances to the lubricant. Four stearates - lithium, magnesium, calcium and aluminum can be employed to furnish the three or four substances. Instead of lithium stearate, one may use an alternative compound, close to the 12-hydroxystearate of lithium. Also, instead of the calcium stearate one may use an alternative compound, close to the 12-hydroxystearate of calcium. These alternative substances are appropriate only in the case of lithium stearate and calcium stearate.
Three of these substances of the four listed may be a combination of three the following substances:
This can be the following sets:
1) lithium stearate, calcium stearate, magnesium stearate in a relative amount of from 1 to 40 weight percent relative to the weight amount of the lubricant;
or 2) lithium stearate, calcium stearate, aluiminum stearate each substance in a weight amount of 1 to 40 percent relative to the weight of the complete set,
or 3) lithium sterarate, aluminium stearate, magnesium stearate each substance in a weight amount of 1 to 40 percent relative to the weight of the complete set,
or 4) calcium stearate, aluminium stearate, magnesium stearate each substance in a weight amount of 1 to 40 percent relative to the weight of the complete set.
This lists all combinations of the 3 ingredients out of 4 available.
While in the case of introducing a lithium and calcium group we may alternatively admit and replace them with lithium 12-hydroxystearate or calcium 12-hydroxystearate.
The preferred four substances which improve the lubricant are the following four substances:
1. lithium stearate or alternatively lithium 12-hydroxystearate
2. calcium stearate or alternatively calcium 12-hydroxystearate
3. magnesium stearate
4. aluminium stearate
The chemical formulas of the four substances are:
1. Lithium stearate, Li (C17H35C00) (as a powder) in petrochemical products
2. Calcium stearate, Ca (C17H35C00) 2—(as a powder) an addition to powders used in the petrochemical industry,
3. Magnesium stearate, Mg (C17H35C00) 2—(as a powder) an addition to powders in pharmaceutical products,
4. Aluminum stearate, Al (C17H35C00) 3—(as a powder) used for the manufacture of paints, varnishes, powders, and impregnating agents.
The stearates are metal salts of stearic acid. Stearates—the salts and esters of stearic acid. The stearic ion is C17H35C00. Stearates as salts are fatty acid derivatives of a yellow or white colour and of a relatively low solubility in cold water. Stearic salts are widely used in the cosmetic industry and petrochemical industry.
Only 4 substances and 2 alternative substances—lithium 12-hydroxystearate and calcium 12-hydroxystearate improve the lubricants.
For example, in a mixture (in a set of thickener substances) you may have 33 weight percent of lithium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, 30 weight percent of calcium 12-hydroxystearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, 35 weight percent of magnesium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, and 2 weight percent of aluminum stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, wherein the thickener total amount is 100 weight percent of the weight of the existing lubricant.
Second example: 40 weight percent of lithium 12-hydroxystearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, 30 weight percent of magnesium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant and 30 weight percent of calcium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant—3 components. Thickener total amount=sum of 3 thickeners added to existing lubrication=100 weight percent relative to the weight of the lubricant.
These substances are clearly defined further in the presented application.
It is an important aspect and advantage of the present invention that there are combined two sets of thickeners with the purpose to improve the properties of the grease, oil, gel:
1. First composition, which sticks from the beginning in the existing lubricant, which is the described factory preparation,
2. densified composition thickener added to the existing lubricant in the form of three or four metal stearates or hydroxy stearates.
In this manner, by the combination of these two sets of thickeners and really through their mutual unexpected cooperation, there occurs a clear and substantial increase of the physico chemical and use properties of the lubricant, performed according to the description of the present invention.
By combining sets of thickeners with existing lubricants, new, innovative qualities can be obtained, which can be important in the development of the lubricant industry. Improvement of existing lubricants with average technical features at relatively low cost, to a much better quality, has a vital economic benefit. The set of loose substances included in this particular application is inexpensive, and can thus be an important factor in the mass introduction of the invention to a number of lubricant brands, creating significant savings in energy costs and other technical effects.
Examining a typical medium consistency lubricant, before and after the addition of the set of loose thickener substances described by this application, an improvement in several quality parameters was seen. For example, in the basic rate of improvement of the quality of the lubricant, in the so-called welding load, on a 4-ball apparatus, and under loads between 1600 N and 3150 N, as seen in Example 1. Similar improvements in welding load rates on a 4-ball apparatus were achieved after modernizing other average quality, inexpensive lubricants, in accordance with this application. The modernized lubricants also developed other, better characteristics, which indicate their improved quality, such as a significant reduction in the friction coefficient μ, a useful change in their micro penetration, and the wear scar under 600 N load etc.
The importance of the coefficient of friction is a crucial one because it determines the sliding properties of a lubricant, which are characterized by the friction resistance of lubricated surfaces in motion. The coefficient of friction is the ratio of the force that maintains contact between an object and a surface and the frictional force that resists the motion of the object. It means that when applying a poor lubricant with a high coefficient of friction, one has to apply 20 kg force in order to move one steel plate on another, whereas, if one applies a lubricant with low coefficient of friction on the moving plates one needs to put only 8 kg. The coefficient of friction varies from 0.05 to 0,058 for the good quality lubricants to 0.13 for lubricants of bad or very bad quality. The coefficient of friction states the possible low friction resistance of bearings and their ability not to heat up during a bearing operation.
The “weld load” indicator is also of a great importance—weld load on 4-Ball tester is the second most important indicator, right after the coefficient of friction. It characterizes the anti-seizure properties—indicates at what amount of load (expressed in Newtons) a seizure occurs. In case of the 4—ball tester, the ball welds onto the machine base.
The importance of the micro-scale penetration test is average. It means the change in volume of the lubricant (expressed in percent) after 100.000 cycles of churning. The smaller difference between the lubricant churning between 60 and 100,000 cycles the better the lubricant. A lubricant which achieves the micro-penetration indicator between 2-5% is a very good product. Values above 6-8% indicate an average product.
The procedure for modernizing a low or medium quality lubricant of a solid or liquid consistency, in accordance with this application is as follows:
A readily-available lubricant of a solid consistency such as a grease, gel, gear oil, engine oil or an all-purpose oil, is treated and combined with an additive mixture of three or four loose substances (powders) from a set of four lubricant thickeners, as defined below, in an amount of 5 to 35 weight percent each relative to the weight of the existing lubricant (existing lubricant nominally equal to 100 weight percent), wherein the weight percent of each thickener is calculated in proportion to the weight of the existing, initial lubricant itself. These thickeners include:
1. Lithium stearate or lithium hydroxystearate, in an amount of from 1 to 40 weight percent in proportion to the whole mixture of loose materials,
2. Magnesium stearate, in an amount of from 1 to 40 weight percent in proportion to the whole mixture of loose materials,
3. Aluminium stearate, in an amount of from 1 to 40 weight percent in proportion to the whole mixture of loose materials.
In the first variant of this process, the modernized lubricant is additionally complemented with poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE) in an amount of from 1 to 20 weight percent of the poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene relative to the weight of the existing market lubricant being equal to 100 weight percent.
In a second variant of this process, the lubricant, the set of thickeners and the PTFE mixture of the first variant is additionally complemented with a solid substance or solid substances that further improve the properties of the modernized lubricant. These additional solids can include molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), tungsten disulfide (WS2), bentonite, graphite, and a variety of others.
In a third variant of the process, the lubricant, the thickeners and the PTFE mixture of the first or second variant is additionally complemented with a liquid substance or liquid substances that further improve the properties of the modernized lubricant. These additional liquids can include, inter alia, certain substances obtained as a result of higher chemical technology, produced by specialist companies, which do considerably improve the qualitative features of lubricants. There are for example liquid substances offered as follows: HiTEC®1656 produced by Afton Chemical Corp., USA, HiTEC®312 produced by Afton Chemical Corp., USA and others. Can also introduced to the final lubricant according to the present application different additional liquid substances without high technology such as for example polymethylsiliconoxide oil of a viscosity from 10 centistokes (cSt) to 1000 cSt and others, which are available on the market.
The framework in the present invention, that is the weight percentage of the set of substances of three or four stearates (or 12-hydroxystearates) amounted to anywhere between 5 and 35 weight percent relative to the original existing lubricant weight (grease, oil, gel). The framework is structured in such a way as to include all types of lubricants, gear oil, gears as well as oils destined and suitable for modernization. However, the particular amounts of the 4 or 3 substances, which were in the set of thickeners (set of substances) range from 1 to 40 weight percent relative to the weight of the lubricant, and in this way any mixture of 3 or 4 substances of a set of thickeners can be made.
The weight of the lubricant employed can be equal to the sum of the weight percentages of the thickeners relative to the weight of the lubricant.
For example, in a mixture (in a set of substances) one can have a 33 weight percent lithium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, a 30 weight percent calcium 12-hydroxystearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, a 35 weight percent magnesium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant and a 2 weight percent aluminium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant which in total is equal to =100 weight percent of the whole thickener added in a set of 5 to 35 percent of the existing lubricant, wherein the initial weight of the existing lubricant is calculated as 100 weight percent.
In another example: 40 weight percent of lithium 12-hydroxystearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, 30 weight percent of magnesium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant and 30 weight percent of calcium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant—3 components. The sum of the weight percentage amounts of the combined thickeners equals to =100 weight percent of the weight of the lubricant.
The LOTOS company's ‘LT 43’ solid lubricant was complemented with a set of solid thickeners consisting of 30 weight percent of calcium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, 30 weight percent of magnesium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant, 30% aluminum stearate, and 10 weight percent of lithium stearate relative to the weight of the lubricant. These substances were introduced in an amount of 12 weight percent relative to the weight of the LOTOS LT43 lubricant. In addition, a poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene PTFE in an amount of 4 percent of the incremental weight was added to the lubricant. The overall result was an increase of the basic lubricant's quality; its so-called welding load, measured on a 4-ball apparatus, rose from 1600 N to 3150 N. Subsequently, a complementary additional modernization of the improved lubricant with 3 weight percent relative to the weight of the lubricant of a liquid substance produced by a USA chemical company No. HiTEC®1656 by AFTON Chemical Corp., USA, and 1 weight percent relative to the weight of the lubricant of another USA liquid chemical substance No. HiTEC®312 by AFTON Chemical Corp., USA, further increased the welding load from 3150 N to 5000 N.
The Timken company's ‘GR220’ solid lubricant was complemented with a similar set of loose thickeners as those described in Example 1, in an amount of 12 weight percent relative to the initial weight of the GR220 lubricant. Again, an increase in welding load was achieved, as measured on a 4-ball apparatus: from 1600 N to 3150 N. However, adding a similar amount of a European chemical product in an amount of 3 weight percent of the lubricant GR220′s base weight, and a second preparation in an amount of 1 weight percent relative to the weight of the GR220 lubricant, further increased the welding load from 3150 N to 4000 N.
The increase in weld load was measured on a 4-Ball tester. It increased from 1600 N to 3150 N. After the introduction of an additional similar amount of preparation No. HiTEC®1656 by AFTON Chemical Corp., in an amount of 3 weight percent relative to the weight of the GR220 lubricant and of another preparation No. HiTEC®312 by Avon Chemical Corp. in an amount of 1 weight percent of the GR220 lubricant further growth in weld load was observed from 3150 to 4000 N.
A gear lubricant of an average quality, that can be bought on the market in Poland, was added and complemented with a set of thickeners consisting of four stearates, as defined in the present application, each in an equal 25 percent weight share. This combination was then introduced to the gear oil in the amount of 15 weight percent relative to the oil. The oil's friction coefficient was then measured on a vertical tribometer by checking the friction torque created on the ground head surface of the cylindrical sample, during rotation of the sample on a counter-sample, under load, (with 10 second measurement periods). The friction coefficient (received after recalculating friction torque into friction coefficient), after the addition of the four loose substances as described above, was found to have been reduced from 0.09 to 0.076. This can be regarded as a significant reduction in friction resistance.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| P.398226 | Feb 2012 | PL | national |
