ABSTRACT
All greases are composed of a lubricating fluid that caries most of the tribological responsibility and a thickening agent that is used to immobilize the fluid. Various additives are chosen to provide additional attributes to the grease. Usually, manufacturers will deliberately formulate a grease on the firm side of a specification since adding additional oil is a simple operation. Chemically, complex greases differ from other grease prepared from carboxylic acids and inorganic bases in the number of acids employed to react with the base. Formulating the grease requires that approximately 80% of the chosen base fluid be added to the grease vessel along with the stearic and benzoic acids. Lithium complex greases are prepared using a combination of mono- and dicarboxylic acids. Greases are characterized by the type of thickener used. Since the vast majority of grease thickeners are discrete solids, greases are two-phase systems with oil as the continuous phase.
