Fully Automatic Grease Plant
| Production capacity | 5 to 30* tonnes per day |
| Types and grades of grease | Calcium, Lithium, Aluminium Complex Greases |
| Base oils required | Both naphthenic and paraffinic |
| Package sizes to be filled | Small plastic tubs, cans and 180-200 kg drums |
| Shift pattern | 1 x eight hour shift, five days per week |
The pressure saponification kettle with an 8 bar pressure rating will allow the vessel to remain sealed until 175°C then vented to allow water to be evaporated until the maximum process temperature is reached. This will speed up the saponification process, increasing the plant’s capacity. The zoning of the jackets allow smaller batches to be made if required; also the vessel is suitable for manufacturing the entire batch if the use of the finishing kettle is not desired in a particular case.
Finishing Kettles
This section of the plant is based on two 10 tonne atmospheric boiler quality plate carbon steel bodied jacketed kettles, with a fully scraped contra-rotating paddle system driven by a pair of stacked gear and motors driving concentric shafts as described below:
Charlotte Mill
The Charlotte Mill, mounted on the kettle skid, is driven by a 90KW motor and is sized to handle 6800 to 11300 kg/h of grease up to NLGI number 3. Milling gap is set by a lockable hand wheel. After the mill, the grease can be re-circulated via the kettle or discharged, either to packaging or the deaerator.
The filter is a scraped mesh unit that features a wedge wire profile that resists clogging. It is fitted with a pressure difference unit to indicate when it needs to be cleaned. The cleaning system is driven by an electric motor. The deaerator is an orifice type in-line unit that agglomerates microscopic air bubbles into larger ones that burst when the grease is discharged through a nozzle.
