Not properly lubricating your equipment is more than an oversight when it can lead to extended downtime, costing you 27 hours of productivity and possibly millions in revenue loss. No matter your industry, knowing the types of lubrication you need to maintain and operate your machinery is vital to keeping revenue flowing and your equipment working as it should. Read on to find out about the types of machinery lubrication to suit your needs.
Basic Types of Lubrication
There are four main types of lubricants that vary in viscosity and utilization. One of the most common types of lubricants is grease, which is a mixture of oil, a type of thickener, and occasionally extra lubricants. Grease types can vary in thickness from a similar viscosity to oil to thicker and near solid.
Grease is for surfaces where lubrication needs to stick for extended periods of time or to protect the surface against dust or water. These can include gears, chains, and bearings.
Oil is a thin liquid lubricant. It’s best used for equipment or tool that need a lubricant with less resistance or thickness than grease. It’s also useful for surfaces or parts that can’t be disassembled with ease.
But it shouldn’t be used in areas with dirt or dust as this will increase the amount of friction. Nor on wet surfaces as the adhesive will wear off due to the absorption of water. Types of equipment that work best with oils are bearings, hinges, and tools such as wrenches and nail guns.
Dry lubricants are best used in cases where there are smaller components that either need to remain clean or can’t come into contact with high pressure or heat. These are generally formatted as sprays that once dried, will leave a thin layer of lubricant. Parts you may use these on include locks and threaded rods.
Penetrating lubricants do best at lubricating and loosening rusty parts and breaking up that rust. This usage differs from others as these aren’t designed to be general-purpose lubricants. They also have other loosening properties in removing adhesive stickers and other stuck-on items.
Industry Utilization
Three of the biggest industries that use lubricants are the automotive, marine, and agricultural/food-processing industries. Lubricants in these industries are primarily used to maintain engines, machinery, and other vital moving parts.
Automotive
For automotive usage, lubricants are used both in the engine and other parts of the machine. In the engine, they protect from rust, keep pistons at the proper temperature, and generally moderate the wear and friction of the engine.
But there are also more specific lubricants such as gear, transmission, and engine oil. These all work to protect and maintain the functions of the transmission and engine.
Automotive grease is generally used for wheel bearings to lubricate the steering and suspension systems. And waterproof grease is used for joints that connect metal to metal, along with electronic greases that don’t conduct electricity.
There are also special lubricants for electric vehicles, which provide lubrication for electric powertrains as they’re designed with high temperatures and electrical power in mind.
Marine
Marine lubricants are also used to control friction and wear, although with differences due to the water environment. These have varying bases such as synthetic, vegetable/bio-based, and mineral.
Synthetic
Some benefits of synthetic marine oils are that they help the engine run smoother and have fewer impurities than mineral oils. They’re best used for engines that are often idled or used to accelerate quickly. But they tend to be more expensive as they’re more refined than conventional oil.
Vegetable/Bio-Based
These are also known as environmentally acceptable lubricants, which are renewable and biodegradable. Especially for marine usage, it’s important to choose a grease that can operate under strenuous performance levels and handle direct water contact.
Mineral
Mineral oil is still the highest-produced oil type for marine use and is derived from crude oil. Though this does come with a higher amount of impurities and the necessity of multiple additives for it to function as needed. There are three classifications of mineral oil.
Group I are those that are manufactured by solvent-refined techniques. Group II oils are manufactured through a catalytic dewaxing process and tend to have superior anti-oxidation properties. And Group III which are made through hydrocracking.
Farming and Food
With how many people depend on the grocery store and farmer’s markets to get food, it comes as no surprise that the machinery used in factory farming, food processing factories, and even family farms needs lubrication.
A particular type of lubricant application used for machinery during the food production process is food-grade lubricant. These have special properties that make them tailored for food industry usage. For example, some must be able to resist damage and degradation from chemicals or water or be able to dissolve sugars.
There are three designations for food-grade lubricants assigned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The first, H1, is for lubricants used in food-processing environments where there the lubricant may come into contact with the food.
H2 is for lubricants in similar environments where there’s no possibility of it coming into contact with the food. And H3 lubricants are generally ‘edible’ oils that prevent rust on individual parts.
In terms of agricultural usage, modern farming emphasizes the usage of machinery over strict manpower. For vehicles, the use of oil is similar to those in automotive and marine environments.
Find the Right Lubricant for Your Needs
There are several types of lubricants whose usages depend on industry and type of machinery. But all are designed to keep machine parts working as they should. When choosing any form of lubrication, it’s important to keep in mind the particular equipment it will be used on as well as the conditions of the environment it’s in.
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