Soap thickener

Mechanical Properties. Greases vary in consistency from soap-thickened oils that are fluid at room temperature to hard brick-type greases that are cut with a knife. 

Since 1977 several new thickener types have become widely used, including complex (sodium, lithium, calcium or aluminium), polyurea, modified clays, and other non-soap thickeners. To bring the picture up-to-date, Risdon carried out an evaluation in 1986 of three of the newer grease types not inciuded in the previous programme. They were lithium complex, aluminium complex and polyurea. They included one EP (extreme pressure) and one non-EP grease for each type of thickener, and all were of the same consistency grade, NLGI No 2. 

The best performance found in the Climax Molybdenum Company test programme was for a lithium hydroxystearate soap-thickened grease with a conventional EP additive and 10% by weight of molybdenum disulphide with a nominal particle size of 7.0 jum. This grease had a Timken OK Load of 23 lbs (10.5 kg), Falex load capacity of 1450 lbs (658 kg). Mean Hertz Load of 90.5 and Weld Load of 630 kg. 

Andok C Channelling grease with sodium soap thickener, derived from Coray 55... 

The four digestion schemes were applied to a second lubricating grease sample with lithium soap thickener. These results are shown in Table 5. The sulfated ash digestion resulted in loss of antimony, boron, and phosphorous, while lithium and zinc remained consistent with expected values. 

Typical commercial greases consist of a polyalphaolefin base oil and a metal-soap thickener, such as lithium, calcium, or aluminium. The thickener is needed to ensure the grease has stable pseudo-plasticity. Literature reports indicate that polyalphaolefin oils... 

Concurrently with these efforts at the start of World War IT, Standard Oil Development Company worked on a sodium soap thickener indeed, as a field expedient, ordinary laundry soap does quite well where long-lasting stability is no object. The most recent developments omit the soaps altogether and use as a basis a large amount of synthetic plastic compound. The mixture, called Napalm B, while solidifying at —will remain a viscous liquid even on exposure to lower temperatures because of slow heat transfer. The idea of a thus-thickened hydrocarbon fuel is also found in a Belgian patent. ... 

Uses Surfactant for shampoos, bath prods., personal hygiene preps. pharmaceutical ointment base, surfactant, emulsifier dispersant for alkaline degreasers foam booster/stabilizer for shampoos, bubble baths, liq. soaps thickener used with anionic surfactants foaming agent, conditioner, vise, booster, wetting agent in textile finishing... 

The calcium carbonate is filtered off, and lithium hydroxide is recovered from the filtrate. Lithium hydroxide is used in the production of lithium soaps, which are used in making lubricating greases from oil. (Lithium soap thickens the oil.) Soaps are salts of fatty acids they are prepared by heating a fat with a strong base. 

Lithium greases can be manufactured by continuous process in a heated tube reactor. This process is convenient and problem-free for simple lithium soap thickened greases. However, lithium complex greases having much higher thickener concentrations resulted in increased difficulties during the continuous production. These difficulties include wide fluctuations in flow rates, cessation of flow and resultant downtime, and greatly reduced imit production capacity. 

A lubricating grease composition has been described. The composition is based on titanium complex soap thickeners. Several additives are added and described in the Tables 4.5 to 4.9 and shown in Figure 4.4. Zinc di-n-butyldithiocarbamate is shown in Figure 4.5. 

Most greases are soap-thickened mineral oils. The National Lubricating Grease Institute Classification (1955) based on worked consistency is ... 

Uses Surfactant, vise, builder for personal care prods, (bubble baths, shampoos, liq. soaps) thickener for detergent systems foam stabilizer emulsifier for metalworking... 

Uses Surfactant for shampoos, bubble baths, liq, soaps thickener... 

Uses Foam booster/stabilizer, wetting agent for hand soaps thickener... 

Uses Cosmetics and soap thickener suspending agent in aq, and org,/aq, suspensions viscoelastic index improvers used in cosmetics, toiletries, hair lotions Properties Sol, in water, org, soivs, dens, 0,45 g/cc equiv, wt, 76 Toxicology Not known to be dangerous harmful if swallowed PNCL [3V Sigma]... 

Uses Foam stabilizer, vise, modifier, lubricant, conditioner, emulsifier, wetting agent, penetrant, dye dispersant, scouring aid, antistat tor cosmetics and toiletries, base for scrub soap thickener industrial and textile surfactant metal processing... 

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