NLGI Specifications Meet Special Needs

For extreme applications, use NLGI HPM specification enhancements to guide your grease specifications.

By Anuj Mistry, Fuchs Lubricants Co.

The NLGI high-performance multiuse (HPM) grease specification (NLGI, Liberty, MO, nlgi.org) will play a significant role in industry in the coming years, providing a baseline performance indication for lubricating greases and a guide for optimizing solutions through various grease technologies.

While a specific performance-enhancement level, in conjunction with the HPM core specification, may be an important driver for a specific industry application area, it may not be unusual to have the same enhancement level affect a different application segment. All four HPM subcategories contribute across multiple industry segments as part of an overall grease solution.

Although the HPM core specification is robust, four enhanced subcategories allow additional applications across multiple industries and geographies to be serviced with an HPM-certified grease, with a view toward covering multi-industry application types and market areas where a grease is used as a lubricant.

Water-resistance (HPM +WR)

requirements boost the grease’s ability to handle water in terms of grease adhesion and mechanical stability. The latter is critical in applications where water contamination is a contributing factor. Bearings, open gears, and slides in harsh environments are the primary devices in which greases with effective water-handling capability will help overcome performance challenges.

Corrosion resistance (HPM + CR)

performance level addresses the need to protect bearings and other components that are subjected to severe environments, humidity, and water.

High-load-carrying capacity (HPM + HL)

is a specification component that provides the necessary performance requirements for greases that protect bearings, gears, and other components subjected to excessive loads. These loads, with or without shock loads, have a significant negative impact on component life, equipment operation, and reliability.

Low Temperature Performance (HPM+LT)

addresses the low-temperature operability requirements found in multiple applications and industries. If bearings and other components freeze, equipment performance is compromised. Environmental storage conditions are also important and affect the ability of a grease to flow at lower temperatures. When grease is stored in a bulk holding tank at an external site an appreciable distance from a facility, the grease needs to flow from a lower outside temperature zone to an interior dosing position. Greases that meet this requirement will provide the necessary performance.

Lubricating greases provide optimal performance for friction reduction and wear protection, while extending component life and providing equipment uptime. The NLGI HPM core specification and enhanced subcategories, with integrated performance levels, further enhance grease performance in multiple application areas. More details and a list of greases certified to the HPM specification can be found here. EP