INSIGHT: GREASES Calcium Sulphonate
Grease Soaps – stepping away from Lithium dependency
Chris Pether, Customer Technical Support Chemist, Industrial Lubricants, Afton Chemical Ltd
Thanks to an almost perfect balance of cost and performance, Lithium and Lithium Complex grease soaps have long been the predominant choices of grease thickener. It can be argued that other grease soaps may be more cost effective, and many grease soaps may have better performance attributes for specialised applications, but Lithium has always had that near perfect balance that makes it the obvious choice for multipurpose greases, found in many industries such as automotive, mining, marine, steel and power.
In recent years this cost performance dynamic has been disrupted by the rising cost of Lithium. This raw material has been rising in cost steadily these past few years, reaching the point where another grease thickener, Calcium Sulphonate, has moved into focus with its advanced performance attributes and (now) competitive price. The cost of Lithium has been driven up by the increasing demand for batteries, firstly in our increasing dependence in mobile electronics, and secondly - with greater impact - the electrification of vehicles internationally.
This increase in Lithium pricing has given grease suppliers the opportunity to evaluate alternative grease soaps on merit of performance and equipment longevity, as the cost difference to move to alternative thickeners is now much decreased. At the recent NLGI India Chapter conference, several papers were delivered that discussed the use of alternative grease thickeners to improve the performance and reliability of industrial equipment applications, which goes to reinforce this change in approach to lubrication.
Recently, Calcium Sulphonate technology and production processes have been developed to support customers with these macro-economic changes.
36 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.150 APRIL 2019
Calcium Sulphonate has traditionally been used in the lubricant industry as a detergent for engine oils, as well as a few limited uses in industrial and automotive applications. Leveraging a new experimental grease kettle to develop simple and complex Calcium Sulphonate greases, chemists have been screening performance areas such as the quality of the grease soap, the dropping point or thickening consistency.
Following some in depth analysis, a unique set of components coupled with a new process formula produced a successful grease every time. This system and formulation coupling is now patent pending. The next challenge coming out of the R&D phase was to ensure that scaled up production would reliably replicate the unique solution in a full-size grease production facility - in collaboration with a commercial grease producer in India. After further refinement of the process, scaling up revealed two further key benefits: • The amount of Calcium Sulphonate needed in the formulation was significantly reduced
• The time taken to process the grease was significantly reduced
As with all new developments, the product also needs to be at the right price for customers. Early estimates indicate a typical grease blender manufacturing about 10 metric tonnes a day could save in the region of $50,000 per year thanks to these technology and process benefits. The opportunity for saving is even greater when considered in the context of switching from traditional Lithium-based technology to Calcium - with savings potentially exceeding $300,000.
These are clearly tangible benefits to producers of such a grease, but Calcium Sulphonate grease is a small market isn’t it?
Continued on page 38
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