Voices & Views
Revolutionizing
the Grease-Making
Process
by Ping Zhu
Grease-making can be a long, energy-
consuming, high-maintenance and
multi-step process, but those days are
over.
A new lithium hydroxide dispersion
technology is available for making
simple lithium and lithium-complex
greases in a variety of base oils, ranging
from mineral oil, to polyalphaolefins
(PAO), to esters, to vegetable oils. It
revolutionizes the grease-making
process and offers significant benefits
every step along the way in the
manufacturing process.
The Process
There are several of methods that can
be used to produce lithium and lithium-
complex greases. The conventional
Figure 1
Add lithium hydroxide
dispersion or
LiOH-H2O slurry
This highly engineered technology
is an example of microtechnology.
manufacturing process typically uses
either lithium hydroxide monohydrate
solid or lithium hydroxide monohydrate
water slurry. The process is lengthy,
energy-consuming (it uses a great
deal of water) and frequently poses a
foaming hazard during saponification
(see Figures 1 and 2). In the case of
Vol. 59 No. 1
lithium-complex greases, a two-step
process is frequently used in the
conventional manufacture method.
Using the new lithium hydroxide
dispersion technology to make simple
and lithium-complex greases is a single-
step process. In open kettle, lithium
hydroxide dispersion could save the
grease manufacturer 40 to 60 percent
in time compared to a conventional
process (see Figures 1 and 2). In
Contactor, process time savings from
using lithium hydroxide dispersion are
not as significant as that achieved in an
open kettle; however, less energy is used
by not having to heat and evaporate the
added water.
In a continuous process, one of the
challenges is getting the right amount
of lithium hydroxide into the reaction
zone. Due to poor water solubility of
lithium hydroxide monohydrate, a
large amount of water is needed to
dissolve the lithium hydroxide. This
requires removal of significantly more
water during dehydration. Typically,
the lithium hydroxide monohydrate is
continued on page 20
January 2009 Compoundings 19
 Voices & Views
Revolutionizing the Grease-Making Process continued from page 19

mixed with only sufficient water to form Figure 2

slurry, which tends to be heterogeneous
and creates difficulty controlling the
amount of lithium hydroxide being
added to the mix. This lack of control
results in greater difficulty in quality
control and could lead to poor finished
grease properties.
Add lithium hydroxide
Because the lithium hydroxide dispersion or
dispersion is easily pumped into the LiOH-H2O slurry
reaction vessel, manufacturers have
significantly greater control over the
amount of lithium hydroxide metered
into the reaction. This eliminates the
need for employees to handle dusty,
hazardous lithium hydroxide solids
also improving housekeeping or to
add it as slurry in water. Furthermore, it
is very stable in storage and shows no
evidence of reacting to carbon dioxide
and moisture in the air. than ten microns versus 500 to 1000 above, improves manufacturing
Benefits microns). Put another way, thats the capacity without the need to alter or
equivalent of a grain of rice compared add to existing equipment. And in
Microtechnology is neither new nor
to a basketball. (See Figure 3.) these economic times, manufacturers
particularly fancy compared to nano-
Smaller particle sizes expose a larger are looking for process improvements
technology. The new, highly-engineered
total surface area, greatly enhancing at little or no cost to enhance their
technology were discussing here is
reactivity. Faster saponification and competitiveness.
an example of microtechnology. It
is a dispersion of micron-sized anhy- almost waterless reaction lowers overall In summary, simple lithium and
drous lithium hydroxide solid in oil. energy consumption during the drying lithium-complex greases made with
Compared to conventional lithium phase. It also reduces the foaming this new lithium hydroxide dispersion
hydroxide monohydrate, lithium hazard during the grease-making technology exhibit good penetration
hydroxide particles in this new tech- process. Furthermore, its shorter and a high dropping point. Process
nology are about 100 times smaller (less manufacturing cycle time, as mentioned benefits are even more significant
when the technology is used to make
Figure 3: Lithium Hydroxide Monohydrate PAO-based greases, as these typically
require a greater amount of thickener to
Compared to Lithium Hydroxide Dispersion achieve the same grease consistency as
Lithium hydroxide Lithium hydroxide mineral oil-based greases.
monohydrate dispersion
Physical form white crystals opaque dispersion in oil
Zhu is Global Grease
% lithium hydroxide 57%; balance is water 36%; anhydrous Commercial Manager
with The Lubrizol
Packaging bags drums or bulk Corporation. She can
be reached at
Particle size 500-1000 microns less than 10 microns 440-347-4023 or
ping.zhu@
Addition method added as a powder or as metered in via pump
lubrizol.com.
a slurry in water

20 Compoundings January 2009 Vol. 59 No. 1