What types of food-grade lubricants are there?
author: Leila
2024-08-01
Food-grade lubricants refer to lubricants that can be used for food and pharmaceutical machinery lubrication. Almost all machinery needs lubrication to play an anti-wear and lubricating role to avoid mechanical wear, and the food and pharmaceutical industries are no exception. Lubricating oils and greases are key factors in ensuring the smooth operation of food machinery, mixers and conveyors. If industrial lubricants that are harmful to the human body are used, the food processing process will contaminate the food through contact and leakage.
Food-grade lubricants must not only meet lubrication requirements, but also be harmless to the human body. Therefore, only a part of the lubricants have been inspected and meet the requirements of food safety, and are recognized as food-grade lubricants and can be used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The advantage of food-grade lubricants is that they can meet food hygiene requirements and protect food processing machinery. The advantages of using food-grade lubricants are: ensuring food safety and maintaining corporate image; protecting equipment, extending equipment life, reducing and avoiding failures, and reducing equipment maintenance costs.
Certification of food-grade lubricants:
NSF is a popular international certification body for food-grade lubricants. After 1999, NSF took over the safety certification work of lubricants from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) was founded in 1944 and is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization. NSF is dedicated to the formulation of standards, product testing and certification services in the fields of public health, safety and environmental protection, and is an authoritative organization in the field of public health and safety. NSF divides food-grade lubricants into 4 categories: H-1, H-2, H-3 and P-1, of which H-1 is truly food-grade:
NSF is a popular international certification body for food-grade lubricants. After 1999, NSF took over the safety certification work of lubricants from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) was founded in 1944 and is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization. NSF is dedicated to the formulation of standards, product testing and certification services in the fields of public health, safety and environmental protection, and is an authoritative organization in the field of public health and safety. NSF divides food-grade lubricants into 4 categories: H-1, H-2, H-3 and P-1, of which H-1 is truly food-grade:
H-1 lubricants: truly food-grade lubricants, which are allowed to be used for the lubrication of equipment parts that may have direct contact with food. Therefore, this type of lubricant can have accidental direct contact with food.
H-2 lubricants: usually contain non-toxic ingredients and can be used for equipment lubrication in food processing plants. The lubricant or the lubricated machine parts will not have the possibility of contacting food.
H-3 lubricants: refers to water-soluble oil/emulsion oil. Machine parts must be cleaned before re-use to remove the emulsion oil.
P-1 oils: refers to lubricants that are usually used in accordance with the conditions set forth in the authorization letter of the United States Department of Agriculture. This type of lubricant cannot be used in food and beverage processing plants.
P-1 oils: refers to lubricants that are usually used in accordance with the conditions set forth in the authorization letter of the United States Department of Agriculture. This type of lubricant cannot be used in food and beverage processing plants.
HACCP is an internationally recognized and accepted food safety assurance system, which mainly controls the safety of microbial, chemical and physical hazards in food. If an enterprise only uses H1 food-grade lubricants, the lubricants used in the machinery in production can be recognized as non-toxic and harmless. The current food-grade lubricant standards are commonly NSF standards and ISO standards. If you need to know the international certification standards for food-grade lubricants, please check previous articles.
In addition to passing food safety certification, food-grade lubricants also need to meet the performance requirements of mechanical lubrication. For enterprises, it is not enough for oil products to only meet hygiene requirements. Excellent lubrication performance is of great significance to the equipment benefits and maintenance of enterprises.
一. Food-grade lubricants:
The composition of lubricants is base oil + additives. Base oil is the main component and has a major impact on the performance of lubricants. From the type of base oil, current food-grade lubricants can be mainly divided into two types: mineral oil type and synthetic oil type.
The composition of lubricants is base oil + additives. Base oil is the main component and has a major impact on the performance of lubricants. From the type of base oil, current food-grade lubricants can be mainly divided into two types: mineral oil type and synthetic oil type.
1. Mineral oil type food-grade lubricants: Mineral type food-grade lubricants mainly refer to food-grade white oil. White oil is a very pure mineral oil derived from petroleum fractions. It has high purity and removes toxic and harmful impurities. Among food-grade white oils, the highest purity is USP food-grade white oil. Its oxidation stability is also the best among white oils, and its lubricating performance is better than other food-grade white oils.
2. Synthetic oil type H-1 food-grade white oil: Mainly PAO type. Compared with white oil H-1 food-grade lubricants, PAO has stronger antioxidant properties, much stronger low-temperature performance, good fluidity at low temperatures, and can provide mechanical protection at very low temperatures. PAO type H-1 food-grade lubricants are a high-quality choice for air compressors, circulating oils, hydraulic oils, reducers and other machinery in the food, pharmaceutical, beverage and other industries. Although expensive, PAO itself can be used for a longer time and provides better lubrication and protection for equipment, so it is actually worth the money. The performance of fully synthetic oils formulated entirely with PAO is significantly better than semi-synthetic oils.
3. PAG-type H-1 food-grade lubricant: PAG can be used at higher temperatures. For food-grade machinery with temperatures exceeding 200°C, PAG is a good choice. The maximum operating temperature of PAG can reach about 315°C. Therefore, PAG food-grade lubricants can be used for the lubrication of equipment and components such as bearings, conveyor belts, chains, gear reducers, etc. at high temperatures.
4. Polyol esters (POE): Especially suitable for lubrication of high-temperature baking and ovens. The advantage of POE is that it can be used for lubrication under high temperature conditions.
In addition to base oil, additives should also meet food grade requirements.
In addition to base oil, additives should also meet food grade requirements.
二. Food-grade grease:
Grease is a thickened lubricant. In terms of ingredients, it has more thickeners than lubricants. The ingredients of grease are base oil, thickener, and additives. Base oil is still the main ingredient of grease. According to the classification of base oil, greases are divided into mineral oil greases and synthetic greases. Therefore, food-grade greases are also divided into synthetic and mineral types.
Grease is a thickened lubricant. In terms of ingredients, it has more thickeners than lubricants. The ingredients of grease are base oil, thickener, and additives. Base oil is still the main ingredient of grease. According to the classification of base oil, greases are divided into mineral oil greases and synthetic greases. Therefore, food-grade greases are also divided into synthetic and mineral types.
However, food-grade greases have an additional component of thickeners. Therefore, thickeners are required to meet food-grade requirements and have specified properties:
1. H-1 food-grade composite aluminum-based grease: Composite aluminum-based grease is currently the most common food-grade grease with good shear stability (it can maintain a relatively stable consistency under mechanical rolling and shearing). In addition, the advantages of composite aluminum-based greases include strong water resistance and high temperature resistance. For the food and beverage industry, water resistance is very important.
2. H-1 food-grade composite calcium sulfonate grease: The composite sulfonic acid grease that has emerged in recent years is a high-performance grease, especially with PAO as the base oil. The synthetic grease after thickening has excellent lubrication and extreme pressure performance, high temperature resistance and good water resistance. Some products also use titanium dioxide as an anti-wear additive to increase the anti-wear performance of the grease. In addition to PAO, some products use white oil as the base oil, which also has good performance.
At present, food-grade lubricants have developed quite well. In terms of performance, they can meet the requirements of various processes in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries and provide good lubrication protection for equipment. The use of general mechanical oils has food safety issues and harms the brand image. Food-grade lubricants and greases are specially developed according to the requirements of the food industry. They can not only provide good equipment protection and protect the cost of enterprise investment in equipment, but also take food safety into consideration. Therefore, food-grade lubricants are an ideal choice for food-related industries such as food, beverages, meat processing, dairy industry, and the pharmaceutical industry.
At present, food-grade lubricants have developed quite well. In terms of performance, they can meet the requirements of various processes in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries and provide good lubrication protection for equipment. The use of general mechanical oils has food safety issues and harms the brand image. Food-grade lubricants and greases are specially developed according to the requirements of the food industry. They can not only provide good equipment protection and protect the cost of enterprise investment in equipment, but also take food safety into consideration. Therefore, food-grade lubricants are an ideal choice for food-related industries such as food, beverages, meat processing, dairy industry, and the pharmaceutical industry.
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