In a current research project, the OWI (Oel-Waerme-Institut) wants to develop a new measuring method with which the process of manufacturing lubricating greases can be accelerated and thus become more cost-effective. The quality of use of lubricating greases depends to a large extent on the manufacturing process in which the grease constituents base oil and thickener should be homogeneously mixed.
With the new measuring method to be developed, the “time-to-market” and “cost-to-market” in the manufacturing process of the grease formulation should be reduced and the operational reliability of the grease in the later application should be ensured.
The integration of a measuring method into the real-time monitoring of the grease production process is intended to enable continuous quality control instead of the random checks of the stirring process that have been common up to now. Furthermore, the method could be integrated into the regulation and control process of the production.
Depending on the measuring method and the size of the tribological system, it is also possible to integrate the measuring method into the tribological system, thus enabling in-situ monitoring of the lubrication process. This can cover both the general condition of the lubricity as well as the detection of mixing effects of old and new goods in relubrication operated systems and thus the loss or restriction of lubricity can be detected at an early stage, thus reducing downtime.
