Grease Plants

Complete Plant & Technology for Production of Lithium Grease, Calcium Grease, Complex Grease and Non-Soap Grease

Grease Plants

Grease is a fine dispersion of an oil-insoluble thickening agent usually soap in a fluid lubricant, which is generally mineral lubricating oil. The soap is made up of fatty acid, tallow, or vegetable oil saponified with alkali, which can be hydrated lime, caustic soda, lithium hydroxide or aluminium hydroxide. The lubricating oil component most used is refined base oil Group1 or Group2. Structurally, grease is a “water-in-oil” emulsion. Its appearance is smooth, mostly translucent, soft, or hard.

Properties essential for performance of grease are structural stability, lubricating quality, low and high temperature performance (which are provided by the selected lube oil base stock). Other properties such as water resistance, high temperature quality, resistance to break down through continuous use and ability of grease to stay in place are provided by the soap.

Additives such as Graphite, Modified Clay, Asphalt, Oxidation & Corrosion Inhibitors, Extreme Pressure Additives Molybdenum Disulphide etc. are used to impart specific properties, as required by end application.

Pressure Kettle

Pressure kettles are designed for preparing soaps under high pressure and temperature. The saponification time is reduced due to the rapid heating and pressure conditions as well as contra rotary design of the agitator assembly. Soaps made under pressure increase the yield per kg of soap used as well as improve quality and productivity. The grease prepared is a homogenous mix, free of lumps. Batch times usually range from 3-4 hours depending on the type of grease and its formulation. The Kettles are mounted on load cells and provided with header lines fitted with automated valves, gauges, instrumentation and safety valves all connected to the PLC . Soaps made from Lithium, Calcium, Aluminium, Urea and Complex greases can be made in these kettles.

ADVANTAGES

  • Higher productivity
  • Improved quality
  • Power and cost saving
  • Capacity : Batch size ranging from 100-5000 kgs.

Finishing Kettle

Finishing kettles are around 2 times the size of the Pressure Kettles and are designed for preparing the final grease under atmospheric pressure and temperature. The balance base oils and additives are introduced in these Kettles and the grease is cooled, recirculated, and passed through a homogenizer or milling system as required. The contra rotary design of the agitator assembly ensures that the final grease produced is a homogenous mix free of air, lumps and of good, required texture. Batch times usually range from 3-4 hours depending on the type of grease and formulation. The finishing kettles are mounted on load cells and provided with header lines fitted with automated valves, gauges, instrumentation all connected to the PLC. Soaps made from Lithium, Calcium, Aluminium, Urea and Complex greases can be made in these kettles.

ADVANTAGES

  • Higher productivity
  • Improved quality
  • Power and cost saving
  • Capacity : Batch size ranging from 100-5000 kgs.

Holding Kettle

Finished Greases are transferred to the holding kettles and stored prior to filling the grease into barrels or small packs. The holding kettles allows for the finishing kettle to process the next batch rather than being held up for the filling process, which can take 1-3 hrs. Holding kettles are connected to the filling lines and are duly jacketed and insulated. These kettles can also be mounted on load cells and integrated with the automation, if required.

ADVANTAGES

  • Increases plant capacity
  • Flexibility in filling
  • No product contamination
  • Capacity from 100-10000 kgs.

Milling & Deareation

Processing of the grease in the finishing kettle is subject to large volumes of air or gas entrapment. The entrapment of air or gasses has adverse effects on the final product such as change of color, rancidity, oxidation and improper weight on settlement. The Milling and Deareation systems improve the final quality of the grease produced. The texture, drop point and penetration of the final product is largely dependent on this system. The system comprises of a Skid Mounted Toothed Colloid Mill, integrated with a Vacuum Deareating Chamber complete with all pipelines, valves, pumps, instrumentation, and controls.

MILLING MACHINE: The milling machine works on the rotor and stator principal. Both the rotor and stator are of cast special steel to withstand high wear and tear. The material is forced through the gap between the stator and rotor and is subject to high shearing forces before it is discharged from the mill. Gap between the rotor and stator can be minutely controlled to adjust the rate and fineness of the product. Gap adjustment is possible even while the mill is in operation.

DEAREATION CHAMBER: The system consists of an enclosed vacuum steel chamber inside which is installed a centrifugal disc rotating at high speed. The grease is fed into this chamber and is spread over the rotating disc. The centrifugal force of the disc and vacuum present inside the chamber ensures that all entrapped air is removed and exhausted through the vacuum outlet. The deaerated grease is then scraped and directed to the discharge outlet.

The main components of the plant are the Feed Manifold, Feed & Discharge Pumps, Load Cell Mounted Blenders, Additive Dosing Unit, Heating Unit, Online Filters, Piping, Valves, Instrumentation and Filling Station, which are connected & operated through a semiautomatic PLC system with HMI controls.

ADVANTAGES

  • Improved quality
  • Improved Texture with glossy appearance
  • Better Shelf Life.
  • Precise Packing
  • Batch size ranging from 1000-50000 kgs/hr.
  • Reduced on-site erection and hook-up time.
  • Factory tested and manufactured.
  • Single source responsibility, ensuring fewer interfaces for our client to handle.
  • Self-contained operations.
  • Manufactured to CE specifications.

Skid Mounted Grease Plant

Frigmaires Engineers’ offers Skid mounted Grease Plants which are containerized and designed for small batches and for firms wishing to enter the Grease Business. They are recommended for installations in remote and logistically challenged areas. These units can be installed indoors, as well as outdoors. A provision for connecting a generator to operate the entire system can be provided as an option to make it independent of the local power supply.

The units are assembled and fully tested at our facility before being delivered in 20 or 40 FT containers with no need for on-site assembly, pipework, electrical wiring or mounting of components. These are simple plug-and-play units. The Base oils are charged directly from flex tanks to be connected to the feed manifold.

The main components of the plant are the Feed Manifold, Feed & Discharge Pumps, Load Cell Mounted Kettles, Heating Unit, Online Filters, Piping, Valves, Instrumentation and Filling Station, which are connected and operated through a semiautomatic PLC system with HMI controls.

The end user has to simply connect the base oils from flex tanks to the feed manifold. Each package is provided with basic laboratory testing equipment, a set of spares, maintenance tool kit, a booklet for starting formulations and basic laboratory quality tests. A quick change-over flushing system is also provided for product turn arounds.

This plant is used for production of Lithium, Calcium, Chassis, Complex, Non-Soap, Specialty Grease and Food Grade Grease. Know-how and starting formulations are provided on request and chargeable basis with each plant for the production of Greases.

ADVANTAGES

  • Short delivery and installation time.
  • Quick and homogeneous blends.
  • Connects directly to flex tanks.
  • Low investment costs.
  • Reduced on-site erection and hook-up time.
  • Factory tested and manufactured.
  • Single source responsibility, ensuring fewer interfaces for _our client to handle.
  • Self-contained operations.
  • Manufactured to CE specifications.

Lab Grease Plants

Frigmaires offers Lab Grease Plants suitable for making small batches of Grease ranging from 50-100 kgs/Batch. The pilot plants are equipped with a Universal Pressure kettle fitted with a contra rotary agitator and scraper where the saponification and finished grease is made. A separate Kettle for finishing can also be provided on request. The plant is skid mounted and is complete with a Heating and Cooling unit, Milling machine, Filter, Vacuum and Gear pumps. All equipment’s are complete with piping, valves and instruments. A control panel is provided with a VFD for controlling agitator speed, push button stations, temperature controller, energy meter to monitor process and productivity. Data logger for recording product temperature and pressure against time is installed in the panel. The entire plant is mounted on a skid and needs to be fixed on to a leveled concrete surface.

Homogeniser

Homogenization is an important step in the preparation of Greases.
The Grease passes at a high speed thru a narrow gap and is subject to forces of high shear, cavitation, attrition and turbulence all under high pressure. This prevents any phase separation resulting in a finely micronized and homogenized finished product.

It improves the texture and also saves on the thickener used which increases the yield per kg of grease produced. The proper homogenization and dispersion of the additives in the formulation
It also improves the drop point, Penetration, workability,mechanical stability and load carrying capacity and antiwear properties.
Pressure from 0-800 Bar.

ADVANTAGES

  • Capacity from 100-10,000 kgs/Hr.
  • Improved quality
  • Higher yield per kg of soap used
  • Stable structure
  • No sepration
  • Improved texture
  • High NLGI values

Packing and Filling

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Automation

FE Intel plant automation has been designed to enhance productivity and efficiency. The software has been programmed to manage, record and report all plant activities right from open source recipe management to data tracking and logging. The software can be combined with the plant ERP, Laboratory and Warehousing system to improve quality and manage raw materials .Transfer of various base oils and additive from storage tanks to the individual grease kettles are automatically controlled from a PLC and SCADA using Software from Siemens ,Allen Bradley or Schneider. The complete process is controlled in real time on a distributed control system (DCS). The heating and cooling process is also controlled by a PLC and temperature control system complete with instrumentation and safety features.

MCC

Comprising Single front operating floor mounted Panel made from 14/16 SWG CRCA sheet, duly powder coated to RAL shade, complete with push buttons, incoming supply, MPCB, RYB indicators, top/bottom cable entry, starters to operate all motors, on/off push button stations, indicating lamps, overload relays, contactors, emergency stop, voltmeter, amp meter all duly prewired and enclosed in a IP54 enclosure.

Utilities

All utilities required for operating the plant are offered by us to keep the client’s scope to the bare minimum.

Hot Oil Unit

Exhaust

Air Compressor

Cooling Tower

Carton Tapping

Drum Handling Unit

Pallet Truck

Holding Tanks

structural work

Base Oil Tanks

Lab Instruments

We supply complete set of Laboratory Instruments to perform quality checks. Please click to download a list of instruments. Basic instruments are supplied for each project we undertake. Additional instruments can be ordered separately as required.

Automatic Grease Worker

Cone Penetrometer

Drop Point Apparatus

Lab Furnace

Pan Balance

Wheel Bearing Tester

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