The STLE Compass, April 26, 2011 “Grease” with Chuck Coe, Grease Technology Solutions, LLC KARA: Hello, I’m Kara Lemar. Welcome to the STLE Compass, brought to you by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. The STLE Compass is your convenient and reliable resource for the latest developments in the tribology community. Today the focus is on the Annual Meeting Education Course, NLGI Grease 101, which is held jointly by STLE and NLGI. Our interviewee is the course chair and he will be able to give us a preview of the course and its contents. Chuck Coe holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He worked for Mobil Oil, which subsequently became ExxonMobil, for 32 years, including 22 years in various lubes and fuels technical positions, 12 of which were spent formulating and providing technical support for greases, and this included 6 years as ExxonMobil’s Grease Technology Manager. He retired from ExxonMobil and launched Grease Technology Solutions LLC, a grease training and consulting business in 2009. He is the Education Course Committee Chair for STLE, the Vice President of NLGI, and the Technical Committee Co-Chair for NLGI. He has authored several technical papers and articles on grease, and he holds the professional certifications of NLGI CLGS and the STLE CLS. KARA: Chuck, welcome to the STLE Compass. How are you doing? CHUCK: I’m doing great, thanks. KARA: We’re very glad to have you. So, let’s get right to it. What would you like to highlight about the NLGI Grease course? CHUCK: Well, Kara, what I think is unique about this course is that it is being offered in cooperation with NLGI, which is the National Lubricating Grease Institute. The one day course is essentially a re-engineered version of NLGI’s day and a half Basic Grease Education course, which has been around for many, many years. And we are particularly proud once again this year to be able to have all the NLGI presenters participate. KARA: Can you tell us what’s different about the course this year? CHUCK: Well, the NLGI Grease 101 course debuted back in 2009, and at that time, the expectation was that it would either be offered one time, or it possibly would be offered at the STLE Meeting every three or four years. However, it was received with very positive reviews and I think due to popular demand, it was offered again in 2010. We did some minor streamlining of the course material in 2010 and we got good feedback again. At that time the decision was made by the STLE Education Committee to offer the course again in 2011. In the spriit of continuous improvement, we are making a few more minor adjustments for 2011, but basically the overall course content will remain unchanged. KARA: Well that’s great. And given it’s history, that’s probably a good sign for anyone who attends the course. CHUCK: Absolutely. They’re first-class presenters and very knowledgeable people. KARA: Can you tell us just a little bit about the different topics that the course addresses? CHUCK: Sure. Following an overview and introduction to grease, which I give, the course delves into a discussion of the main base fluids that are used in the manufacturing of greases, and that’s particularly important because it is the base oil that really does the lubricating in the grease. And it gets into the base oil production processes and very importantly, the link between their chemical composition and the properties that they provide to the grease. Then we get into the next topic, which is manufacturing of greases, and this is of course, something very different from what you would get in a lubricating oil course because the manufacture of greases is critically important. We discuss the three major processes that are used for manufacturing grease: the first being the traditional open kettle process, then we get into something called the contactor/kettle process and then finally we get into continuous manufacture. Then we get into a nice overview of key bench and rig tests that are used to measure grease performance properties, with some of the significance of the different test methods as well as the limitations of those test methods. The second half of the day focuses on how to select the proper grease for different types of service, and we put some emphasis on key industrial and automotive applications, and we wrap up with some tips on troubleshooting of application problems. KARA: Okay. You mentioned this briefly, but is there a topic that you addresses specifically, and can you give us some detail on that? CHUCK: Yes, I introduce the course as well as being the master of ceremonies throughout the day. What I do in the first presentation is I give a course overview of what is going to take place that day and then I give a good introduction to greases. My presentation recounts a little bit about the brief history of greases, defines what grease is, the purpose of a grease, and how it is different from an oil. I go on to explain the main components of grease including base oils, additives, and provide some detail on the various thickener types. My intent is to provide a foundation for the more detailed discussions that will go on throughout the rest of the day. KARA: So, what is one fact or tidbit of information that you want to relate that’s in your presentation that you think listeners will like or appreciate? CHUCK: Well, near the end of my presentation, after I’ve discussed the various thickener types, I show a slide with a generic grease compatibility matrix. Then, I basically trash the existence and use of these compatibility guides. I strongly feel that this kind of broad generalization about what thickener types are and are not compatible with one another can be very dangerous. Sometimes greases of the same thickener type can actually be incompatible, for instance if their base fluids and additive systems differ significantly. Conversely, greases of different thickener types, which these generic charts frequently show as incompatible, may actually be compatible due to processing or other variables. A great example, a very common one is the polyurea greases, which, if you look at most of these generic compatibility tables, they list them as incompatible with almost every other thickener type. There are really so many different polyurea chemistries as well as different manufacturing processes and different additives systems, that generalizing about their compatibility with other thickener types is just plain inappropriate. KARA: That’s a good tip and I’m sure there will be a lot more throughout the course. As an instructor, what can attendees expect from you and what makes you unique as a teacher? CHUCK: Well, I don’t know that I’m unique or that my style is unique, and I’m sure there are a few other instructors out there who might do as good a job as I do! Joking aside, I do think that I bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to my presentations, and that tends to increase the interest level of the students. Yeah, I mean you’ve probably sat there and listened to an instructor that may be the most knowledgeable person about a given topic, but they’re flat, stuffy or boring. That makes for an ineffective presentation and I don’t think that helps people learn. So, I try very hard to interact with the audience and keep things as dynamic as possible and even have fun, from time to time, when that works, and I think all that works together to increase the likelihood that learning will actually occur. KARA: So, who should take the course? CHUCK: Well, this course is ideal for anyone that wants to gain an overall understanding of lubricating grease. That could be persons responsible for implementing lubrication programs in a manufacturing plant, someone that sells raw materials or equipment to the grease manufacturing industry, or maybe someone who sells greases to end users. I think they would all benefit from this course. It does assume some basic knowledge of lubrication fundamentals, we do not delve into that in our course, so it assumes that. And it really addresses and focuses on how greases differ from oils with regard to formulation components, with regard to manufacturing, testing and certainly applications. These are all very different between oils and greases. We have tried to provide a sound fundamental understanding of a lubricant type that’s not widely understood in the industry. KARA: So, that might lead to the next question: why is it important to know this information? CHUCK: Well, continuing on that same thing: the information is important because there seems to be limited accurate knowledge about grease and there is certainly a lot of misinformation out there. We hear so many myths about grease that we think there is a real need for education on the fundamentals. For example, nearly every grease in the marketplace is truly unique and will not perform exactly the same as any other grease. There aren’t industry-standard formulations out there or industry standards that greases can be formulated to meet, so they’re really all unique and different. In addition to that, many greases are not interchangeable because their properties are a little different from one another, and as I mentioned before, there can be the issue of incompatibility. In other words, when people in the industry say, “grease is grease,” that is absolutely incorrect and this is a very dangerous generalization! KARA: Well, I’m sure people are excited to learn about that and how that would apply to them. So, what would 1. 2. 3. you say is/are the ultimate reason(s) people should take this course? CHUCK: Well, again, to gain an understanding of what is a very important category of lubricant that is not well understood, and to learn some of the science behind a product type that has been historically viewed as a “black art,” or witchcraft, some would say. So, I’d say it’s very important because over 80% of the world’s rolling element bearings are lubricated by grease! An understanding of this unique type of lubricant is critical in the marketplace. KARA: Thank you Chuck for joining us today and for your insight. I’m Kara Lemar. For more news, information and research on grease, you can visit our website. For more information on this Annual Meeting Education Course, you can view the course synopsis or the Annual Meeting site. The 2011 Annual Meeting will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, and we hope to see you there. Again, thank you for joining us today. This has been another episode of The STLE Compass, pointing you in the right direction.