COVID-19 Impact on the Lubricants in Chemical and Materials Industry
INTRODUCTION
Lubricants are kind of substance which are usually manufactured with organic and inorganic substances. Lubricants are applied on the surface to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which resulted in ultimately reducing the heat generated between the surfaces and increases the life of the machinery. Lubricants have the viscosity properties which help in transporting foreign particles, function of transmitting forces or heating or cooling the surfaces. In lubrication, several lubricants are used which have different properties and helps to control the friction and wear the lubricants make a friction-reducing film between moving surfaces in contact of the surfaces. The lubricant can be in the form of fluid, solid or plastic substance.
Several different substances are used to lubricate a surface of machinery or part of equipment. Oil and grease are the most common lubricants used in the industries for lubrication processes. Grease is a type of lubricant which is composed of oil and a thickening agent to obtain its consistency. Oils which is also a type of the lubricant is synthetic, vegetable or mineral-based as well as a combination of other products help to reduce the wear and tear of the equipment while working. Lubricants have the different properties and the viscosity indexes according to those lubricants are used in different applications. Lubricants are more used in the industries to reduce the heat generation among surfaces which has helped to lower the cost maintenance of the large machineries.
The primary functions of lubricants are:
• Reducing friction among surfaces
• Prevent wear of equipment
• Protect the equipment and machineries from corrosion
• Control temperature of the surface
• Control contamination
• Transmit power
• Provide a fluid seal
Lubricants are the type of additives which are applied on the machines or the equipment used in the industries for manufacturing of the finished goods. With the increasing automation in the large or the small scale industry, the demand for the lubricants will increase in all the regions. Different types of lubricants are mineral based, bio-based and synthetic based which are further divided in boundary, mixed and full film. Full-film lubrication are the type of the lubricant which can be broken down into two sub-types which are hydrodynamic and elastohydrodynamic. Hydrodynamic lubrication are used on two surfaces in sliding motion and elastohydrodynamic lubrication are applied the surfaces which are in a rolling motion. Lubricants have polished and smooth surfaces along with irregularities present on the surfaces. Boundary lubrication is applied where frequent starts and stops of the machineries is done, and where shock-loading conditions are present. Some oils have extreme-pressure (EP) or anti-wear (AW) additives to help protect surfaces and increase the life span of the machinery. Mixed lubrication is done between boundary and hydrodynamic lubrication. While the bulk of the surfaces are separated by a lubricating layer, the equipment still makes contact with each lubricant as additives again come into play.
IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY
The COVID-19 have created the pandemic situation in all over the word due to which the economy of all the regions have been affected on the larger extend and will Continue...