Flow of Lubricating Greases in Centralized Lubricating Systems*

Michio Hoshino**

Summary: This work was undertaken to determine the effects of the composition of
lubricating greases on their flow behavior in centralized lubricating systems and to obtain
criteria for the selection of suitable greases for these systems. Flow properties of several
lubricating greases of various composition were measured by the ASTM apparent viscometer
and a conicylindrical rotating viscometer over a wide range of temperature and shear-rate
expected to be encountered in applications. Effects of the composition of greases on the
pumpability in pipe lines were studied by the calculation of the pressure drop of hypo-
thetical systems assuming flow conditions, and their effects on the slumpability in the
reservoir were investigated experimentally on a small scale system and considered by
applying the Bingham plastic model on the grease flow in the reservoir. Conclusions
were as follows:
(1) Pressure drop of a pipe line mainly depends on the viscosity of the base oil at low
temperatures and at high shear-rates, but at relatively high temperatures and at low
shear-rates the thickener content of the grease has a large effect.
(2) These effects can be evaluated quantitatively by the values of constants of an empirical
flow equation.
(3) Slumpability evaluated by the ratio of discharged grease to the capacity of a reservoir
is affected by the yield value of the grease and the viscosity of the base oil, and in the
small reservoir a good discharge ratio is expected when the yield value is relatively
high and the viscosity of the base oil is low.
(4) These effects may be explained by the consideration of the flow mechanism in the
reservoir applying the Bingham plastic model.

Introduction drop, and it is the conclusion of these studies that

the pressure drop in a pipe line may be calculated
The widespread use of grease in centralized
from the apparent viscosity of grease using the
lubricating systems (CLS) has increased the
Hagen-Poiseuille's equation for laminar flow.
need for methods of predicting flow properties in
1),2) On the other hand , the slumpability
such systems. has been
said to correlate with the yield value of the grease,
In CLS, lubricating grease stored in a reservoir
but the term slumpability has neither been clearly
is sucked out from an opening located at its
defined nor the consideration based on experi-
bottom by a dispensing pump and sent through
mental data has been done until now.
a long pipe line to the distributors which apply
In this study, the effect of the composition of a
suitable amounts of grease to all lubricating parts.
lubricating grease on the pumpability in CLS
Consequently, there are two problems concerning
was studied from the pressure drop predicted by
the flow behavior of lubricating greases in CLS,
i. e. the slumpability in the reservoir and the the apparent viscosity determined at supposed
flow conditions. Then, the slumpability was
pumpability in the pipe line.
measured using a small-scale dispensing system
The pumpability is the ability of a lubricating
and the correlation of the slumpability with flow
grease to flow under pressure through the line
of the system. It is evaluated by pressure drop properties of lubricating greases was considered
with respect to a flow mechanism in the reservoir.
developed in the system at a given flow condition.
Many studies have been devoted to the establish-
Method for Measurement of the Apparent
ment of methods for the prediction of the pressure
Viscosity of Greases
* Received November 20 , 1967.
** Research Laboratory , Mitsubishi Oil Co., Ltd. Measurements of apparent viscosity of lubrica-
(12-1, Ohgimachi, Kawasaki, Japan) ting greases were carried out over a shear-rate

Bulletin of The Japan Petroleum Institute

 43
Hoshino: Flow of Lubricating Greases in Centralized Lubricating Systeins*

range, 10-2-104 sec.-1. In the high shear-rate

range from 10 to 104 sec-1, a capillary-type
ASTM apparent viscometer was used, and in the
low shear-rate range from 10-2 to 102 sec-1, a
conicylindrical type coaxial rotating viscometer
was used. The latter viscometer was constructed
in the author's laboratory for the supplemental
measurement at low shear-rates that cannot be
relazied by the former viscometer.
The principal structure and dimensions of the
rotating viscometer are shown in Fig. 1. A
smaple was introduced within the gap between two
coaxial rotors and sheared by rotating the outer
rotor at various speeds. Thus, apparent viscosity
of the sample at various shear-rates was calculated
from the torque applied to the inner rotor3).
The measuring ranges of both viscometers are
shown in Fig. 2. By using these viscometers, it
is possible to obtain the flow properties of greases
Fig. 2 Measuring Ranges of Viscometers
covering the whole range of conditions encount-
ered in CLS.
properties of three lubricating greases for CLS
Pumpability in a Pipe Line were measured at the temperature of 25, 0 and
-25℃. These greases are all soap thickened NLGI
Measurement of Apparent Viscosity of Greases
To make clear the correlation of grease com- 00 grade greases, but their compositions, especi-

ally visocisty and V. I. of their base oils, are

position to the pumpability in a pipe line, flow
different from each other as shown in Table 1.

Apparent viscosity η (poise) versus shear-rate

γ (sec-1) curves obtained for A, B and C greases

are shown in Fig. 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Hori-

zontal dotted straight lines in figures show
viscosity of base oils at each temperature.

Table 1 Properties and Composition of

Grease A, B and C

Application of an Empirical Equation on the

Viscosity Data
To characterize these flow curves quantitatively ,
an empirical equation (1) was applied to the
obtained data and the correlation between values
of constants of the equation and the composi-
tion of greases was examined.
Fig. 1 Principal Structure and Dimensions of Rotat-
ing Viscometer. η=a+bγn-1+Cγm-1 (1)
Volume 10-May 1968
44 Hoshino: Flow of Lubricating Greases

The equation (1) is the modified form of an

equation proposed by Sisko et al.,4) adding the
last term in order to fit to the experimental data
better at the intermediate range of the shear-rates.
Values of constants in the equation were
determined in the following way. First of all, b
and is are determined from the intercept and the
inclination of the straight line part of the flow
curve respectively, and a value of a is assumed
with reference to the apparent viscosity of the
grease at a high shear-rate and the viscosity of
the base oil. Then log(η-a-bγn-1)(=logcγm-1)

is calculated from the observed apparent viscosity

and the constants determined above and plotted

against logγ. The relation between them

becomes nearaly stright line, then c and m can be

determined in the same way. If the flow curve
calculated using these constants does not fit well
to the observed data, another value of a is assumed
and similar operation is performed until good
agreement is obtained.
In the case of grease A and grease B at-25℃,
Fig. 3 Apparent Viscosity of Grease A
observed data are insufficient in the ranges of
high and low shear-rates. In those cases, value
of n is assumed to be equal to the value at higher
temperature, which seems to be reasonable from
the result of grease C, and value of a is determined
with reference to the base oil viscosity alone.
Values of constants in the equation applied to
each experimental data are shown in Table 2.
The first term of the equation (1) corresponds to
the limiting viscosity of greases at γ→ ∞. In such

a state, a three-dimensional structure formed by

the thickener is destroyed and thickener particles
are suspended individually in the base oil.
Consequently, a has a value near the viscosity of
the base oil as shown in Table 3. Thus a
Fig. 4 Apparent Viscosity of Grease B
represents the Newtonian part of the viscosity
of the lubricating greases and has a large
effect on the pumpability at the high shear-rates
and at low temperatures. On the other hand,
the second term bγn-1 represents the non-New-

tonian part of the lubricating greases at γ→0(n>

nz). b and n depend on the strength of the

thickener structure and on the change of the
strength with shear-rate, respectively. Con-
sequently, they are affected very much by the
content and the type of the thickener. Thus the
effect of b and n is predominant at the low shear-
rates and the high temperatures. The third term
cγm-1 is a correction term as stated before and

Fig. 5 Apparent Viscosity of Grease C has a slight effect on the pumpability at the

Bulletin of The Japan Petroleum Institute

 45
in Centralized Lubricating Systems*

Table 2. Values of Contents in the Empirical Flow Equation (2)

Table 3. Comparison of Values of a with the Viscosity of the Base Oil

moderate shear-rates. of actual pipe line as mentioned before. Flow

Grease A composed of the thickener of the low conditions are considered as follows.
content and the high viscosity base oil shows a
flat flow curve (i.e. a is high and b is low) and
its apparent viscosity is relatively low at the low
shear-rates, but it increases excessively at the
high shear-rates at the low temperatures. On the
other hand grease C composed of the thickener
-of the high content and the low viscosity oil shows
a steeper flow curve than the former (i.e. a is low
and b is high) and its apparent viscosity at the Condition 1 corresponds to that of long-line
high shear-rates is low especially at the low tem- industrial lubricating systems such as for steel
peratures. Grease B has an intermediate com- rolling mills, and condition 2 corresponds to that

position and flow properties between A and C, of short-line small-scale systems such as for an
but the particularly low value of b at-25℃ when automotive chassis lubrication or the dispensing
compared with those of others may be due to the at service stations.5)
low pour point of its base oil. Pressure drops were calculated from apparent
Calculation of the Pressure Drop in a Hypothetical viscosity data using Hagen-Poiseuille's equation,
System and the results are shown in Fig. 6. These results
To confirm the characteristics of these greases show that lubricating grease like A is suitable
discussed above, it is desirable to measure the for the system operated at such a condition as 1 ,
pressure drop on actual centralized lubricating while grease like C is sutiable for the system
systems at various conditions, but the control of operated at such a condition as 2.
the conditions of such large systems is very Thus, distinctive features of greases expected
difficult. Therefore, in this study the pressure from the flow curves and flow constants were
drops were calculated on two hypothetical systems confirmed by the calculated pressure drop value.
supposing typical flow conditions. The result
Slumpability in Reservoir
obtained will show the performance chracteristics
of these greases at actual application because Meaning of "Slumpability"
calculated pressure drop agrees well to that There are two difficulties in the flow of grease in
Volume 10-May 1968
46 Hoshino: Flow of Lubricating Greases

Pumping tests were carried out at 25,0, -15, -25

acid -35℃ after overnight standing at testing

temperature. Numbers of strokes of the pump

per min., i. e. the rates of discharge decreased with
the lowering of temperature in all cases, but the
relation of discharge ratio to the temperature was
very characteristic to each grease as shown in Fig.
7. In the case of grease D, discharge ratio de-
creased with the lowering of temperature, while
it increased in the case of grease E. Curve of
greaseF had a minimum point at a temperature
of -15℃.

Table 4. Properties and the Composition of

Gsease D, E and F

Fig. 6 Calculated Pressure Drop in Hypothetical Pipe

Lines

a reservoir at low temperatures. In one case,

the pressure drop developed in the reservoir is so
high that greases cannot be pumped out. In
the other case, a lot of grease remains on the wall
and the bottom of the reservoir after channeling
had occurred.
In the former case, the degree of difficulty may
be estimated by the pressure drop as mentioned
above on the presumption that reservoir is a part
of a pipe and the flow condition in the pipe line
is generally more severe than in the reservoir, so
that the lower limit of temperature to be dispensed
effectively is determined mainly by the pressure
drop in the pipe line. Consequently, the
slumpability is discussed mostly in relation to the
latter difficulty. Such a slumpability may be
evaluated by the ratio of the amount of
discharged grease to the capacity of a reservoir.
Fig. 7 Change of the Discharge Ratio with Temperature
Experimental
The observation of the flow of lubricating
greases in a reservoir and the measurement of the Flow Mechanism in the Reservoir
discharge ratio of greases were carried out on an In order to explain these peculiarities, the
actual small-scale dispensing system. The following flow mechanism in the reservoir was
inner diameter of the reservoir was 60mm and considered.
the height was 150mm. Grease was discharged Because of very low shear-rate (=10-3 sec-1)
at a rate of 0.33cm2/strokes by a stroke pump in the reservoir, the grease is supposed to
driven by a 24 V.D.C. motor. behave similarly as the Bingham plastic body in
Three lubricating greases were used in this it. If the flow equation of the grease is γ=1/ηpl

experiment. Principal properties and the com- (τ-τc), where ηpl is the plastic viscosity and τc

position of these greases are given in Table 4. is the yield value, the velocity profile of the grease

Bulletin of The Japan Petroleum Institute

in Centralized Lubricating Systems* 47

Fig. 8 Flow Mechanism in the Reservoir when the Grease is assumed to be a Bingham Plastic Body.

distant from the bottom has such a shape as .1s Nve saw in the above discussion, thickness of
shown in Fig. 8 (a), including core I in which the core II cannot be less than R-r0, so the inner
grease moves as a solid plug. The radius of the radius of the core II, rII„ must he in the left side
core, I, r0 is equal to 2lτc/Δp, where l is the length of the curves COB or DO'B. On the other hand,
of the pipe and Δp is the pressure difference. If hecause the weight of the grease adhering per
each portion of the grease flows down holding unit area of the wall surface cannot exceed c,
a constant speed, the profile of the upper surface rII is limited also by the following relation.
changes in the manner as shown in Fig. 8 (b) and
(c) with the lapse of time. However, the part of
the grease remained on the wall does not receive
the kinetic energy from the neighboring layer, Critical rc is giyen by

so that its velocity decreases rapidly as the γc=√R2-2πc/ρg

result of internal friction and the core II is formed
Introducing to (3) R=3.0 ρ=0.95g/cm3, g=
which adheres to the wall and does not flow. On
the other hand, near the bottom the core III is 980cm/sect, rc/R versus c, cruve is given as
AOO'E shown in Fig. 9. Consequently, rII/R
formed by the effect of the sudden reduction of
must be in the region above AOB or AO'B.
the diameter and flow lines gather toward the
Effects of the radius of the reservoir R on r0/R
center (Fig. 8 (d)). When the upper surface
and rI/R are shown in Fig. 10. Cruve A is the
approaches to the bottom, the surface slumps
relation of rI/R versus R at v=0.14cm2/sec
along the core III, and finally the grease remains
similarly in Fig. 9, and curve B is that in the case
in the reservoir in the manner as shown in Fig. 8
v changes proportionally to the sectional area of
(e) combining the core II and III.
the reservoir holding a constant value of the
According to the above discussion, it may be
linear velocity. The limit by the yield value is
concluded that as the radius of the core I, r0
approaches to the radius of the reservoir, R, the
core II becomes thinner and as the result, the
height of the core III decreases, which brings
about the improvement of the discharge ratio of
the grease.
Calculation of the Adhesion Limit of the Grease to
the Wall
In order to clarify the effects of flow properties
of greases and dimensions of the reservoir on the
adhesion of the grease to the wall, r0/R was
calculated according to the McMillen's method6),
as shown in Fig. 9, supposing several values of c
and pl. Correlations of r0/R versus c calculated
at the condition of R=3.0cm, ηpl=102 and 103

posies and the discharge rate v=0.14cc/sec (the

nominal rate of the pump). Fig. 9 Calculated Adhesion Limit of the Grease (1)

Volume 10-May 1968

48 Hoshino: Flow of Lubricating Greases

with the lowering of temperature but the increase

of τc is small. As the result, the discharge ratio

decreases with the lowering of temperature. On

the other hand,τc of grease E increases steeply

at lower temperatures. It may be attributed to

the deposition of wax in the grease. Highly non-
Newtonian character of the base oil at -25ｰC also
indicate this fact.

Fig. 10 Calculated Adhesion Limit of the Grease (2)

shown by the curve C. When R is small, the

adhesion to the wall is prominent and mainly

governed by the radius of the core I. As R

increases, the absolute value of the thickness

gradually increases but it becomes negligible com-

pared with the capacity of the reservoir and fin-
ally reaches a constant value τc/ρζ at R→ ∞.

Dimensions of the core III formed on the

bottom of the reservoir cannot be determined
because the flow pattern around here is very
complex. Evans et al. investigated the suction
of the grease from a 4001b drum and reproted that
Fig. 11 Flow Property of Grease D
the depth of the grease layer remained on the
bottom is linearly proportional to τc7). How-

ever, in this investigation the depth of the core

III rather decreased as τc increased. It may

be considered that in a small reservoir the forma-

tion of the core III is affected very much by the
core II, and the increase of the thickness of the
core II results the growth of the core III, which
makes worse the discharge ratio.
Comparison with the Measured Flow Properties of
Grease
Flow properties of greases were measured by the
conicylindrical rotating viscometer at 25, 0 and
-25℃. Flow properties of the base oils were also

measured in the same manner to confirm the wax

deposition in them. The results were shown in

Fig. 11 and 13. τc and dpi were determined

Fig. 12 Flow Property of Grease E
from these results. τc was taken for the shear

stress at which log γ versus log τ curve becomes

Thus, in the case of grease E, the increase of τc
very steep in the manner as shown in Figure and surpasses the increase of ηpl with the lowering of

dηpl was taken for the viscosity of the base oil temperature, so that the improvement of the
γ→ ∞. Obtained values of τc and ηpl are shown discharge ratio is observed at lower temperatures.
in Fig. 14. At grease D,ηpl increases rapidly As for grease F, the deposition of wax begins at

Bulletin of The Japan Petroleum Institute

 in Centralized Lubricating Systems* 49

In this way observed peculiarity of the change

of the discharge ratio with the lowering of tem-

perature can be explained by the values of τc and

ηpl considering the Bingham plastic flow

mechanism in the reservoir.

Conclusion

(1) Pressure drop in a pipe line is governed

mainly by the viscosity of the base oil at low
temperatures and at high shear-rates, but at
relatively high temperature and at low shear-
rates the effect of the content of thickener be-
comes predominant.
(2) These effects of the component on the
flow properties of greases are evaluated by the
Fig. 13 Flow Property of Grease F
values of constants of an empirical flow equation
and they offer the criteria for the selection of a
suitable grease at the given condition.
(3) Slumpability evaulated by the discharge
ratio of the grease from a reservoir, varies with
the temperature very peculiarly to each grease
in the case of a small reservoir. This peculiarity
is due to the concurrence between the effect of
the base oil viscosity and that of the yield value
on the thickness of the grease adhered on the wall,
and can be explained by applying the Bingham
plastic flow model on the flow in the reservoir.
(4) In a small scale reservoir a good
slumpability is expected when the yield value
of the grease is relatively high and the viscosity of
the base oil is low at the application temperature.
Consequently, for the lubricating grease for small-
scale systems, it is suitable to use a low viscosity
and high VI base oil as far as the circumstance
of lubricating parts permits.

Literatures
Fig. 14 Flow Conatants of Bingham's Equation
1) Koenig, E. F., Jhonson, E. M., Baniak, E. A., NLGI
Obtained from Flow Properties of the Greases
Spokesman, 20, (4), 12 (1956).
2) Rein, S. W., McGahey, D. C., ibid., 29, (1), 20 (1965) .
lower tmperature than for grease E, which is 3) Hoshino, M., J. Japan Soc. Lub. Eng., 9 (1) , 29
shown by the slight non-Newtonian character of (1964).
4) Sisko, A.W., Brunstrum, L. C., Leet R .H., NLGI
the base oil of the former grease at -25℃. There-
Spokesman, 23, (2), 57 (1959).
fore, until certain teperature the discharge ratio 5) Armstrong, E. L., ibid., 24, (5), 173 (1960) .
decreases by the effect of the increase of ηpl, 6) McMillen, E. L., Chem. Eng. Progr., 44, (7), 537
but under such a temperature the discharge ratio (1948).
7) Evans, D., Hutton, J. F., Mathews, J. B., Lub. Eng .,
increases again by the sharp increase of τc caused 13, (6), 341 (1957).
by the wax deposition.

Volume 10-May 1968