20 Minutes With Dr. Susan Gardner
Karl M. Phipps, Managing Editor | TLT 20 Minutes March 2014
Klüber Lubrication North America’s regional R&D chemist discusses strategies that companies can employ to successfully develop and market lubricant products.
Susan Gardner - The Quick File
Susan Gardner is the regional R&D chemist for Klüber Lubrication North America in Londonderry, N.H., where she has worked for three years. She manages the development of greases and specialized testing for the North American market. Klüber Lubrication North America provides innovative tribological solutions by developing a consultative relationship with its customers.
Prior to her position at Klüber Lubrication, Susan worked for more than 10 years in both manufacturing and R&D environments covering a range of topics such as photovoltaic cell development, chemical sensors and lubricant formulation. She also held a post-doctoral position at the University of Massachusetts’ department of polymer science to develop new polymers to be used in light-emitting diodes.
Susan earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Miami (Ohio) University and The Ohio State University, respectively, as well as her doctorate in organic chemistry from Michigan State University.
Susan Gardner
TLT: How did you get started working in the lubricants industry?
Gardner: I took kind of an interesting path to get here. During graduate school, I studied conducting polymers, primarily for use in high-tech applications such as light-emitting diodes and polymer-based photovoltaic cells. After graduate school and some post-doctoral and contract R&D work in the same field, I began searching for opportunities in materials science that were more customer-focused. I wanted to work for a company that did manufacturing on-site so I could see the path from R&D to the customer. I also wanted my work to be more customer-focused rather than research-focused. An opportunity arose at a lubricant manufacturer, and even though I didn’t know the first thing about lubricants, the scope of the work was exactly what I was looking for. Honestly, the lubricant industry is never one that I imagined myself in, but I am glad to be here!
TLT: What are some key technical aspects you would recommend for companies to be successful in developing and marketing lubricants?
Gardner: The technical aspects are highly dependent on the application. One lubricant very rarely meets the needs of several applications. I know that customers like to minimize the number of lubricants in their portfolio (as do lubricant manufacturers!), but sometimes it is necessary to specify more than one, depending on the application.
For example, on a ship there may be lubrication points which are serviced by a centralized lube system. For these systems, usually a grease having lower oil viscosity and an NLGI grade 1 consistency is preferred to make sure that thickener particles do not clog the pump valves. However, a different application such as wire rope requires a lubricant with a higher NLGI consistency plus additional additives to ensure proper adhesion to the wire rope.
One challenge in developing lubricants is to understand the application and then work to find test methods that simulate the conditions as closely as possible. An example of this type of testing can be seen in an application such as jack-up rigs. Jack-up rigs are typically used in offshore applications for oil drilling or wind turbine installation. A key performance indicator is the ability to lubricate under extreme pressure (EP). A standard EP test is the 4-ball weld test. However, this test does not do a good job in simulating the performance of a lubricant in a jack-up rig application.
At Klüber Lubrication, we utilize a modified slow-speed FZG gear test designed for evaluating grease. The high load and slow gear speed is a good lab-scale simulation of the jack-up rigs and can serve to differentiate greases and allow the customer to choose the best product. The following chart illustrates the performance of four different greases in the FZG test. All four have very high four-ball weld loads as tested by DIN 51350. However, in the modified FZG slow-speed wear test, they are easily differentiated by the amount of wear on the gears. In this test, the gear rim peripheral speed (vt) is set at 0.05 m/s for the first 80 hours and then increased to 0.57 m/s for the last 40 hours. The test conditions are room temperature and Load Stage 12.
It can be seen in the figure that the four greases, despite having similar excellent weld load values, are easily differentiated for large gear applications.
TLT: How can end-users convert equipment to synthetics from mineral oils, and are there any special communication tools they can use?
Gardner: The most important thing is to be sure that the right lubricant is being used in the application. The decision is not as simple as “synthetic oil versus mineral oil.” End-users need to consider the life-cycle costs of the application because a premium, carefully engineered product may end up costing less in the long run. Often synthetic lubricants offer the lowest life-cycle cost, but with a carefully selected additive package sometimes a mineral-based lubricant is the best solution. The number of lubricants on the market can be overwhelming, so the best way to ensure that you are using the best product is by consulting with a lubricant engineer who understands your application.
TLT: Will traditional synthetic lubricants technology be used in the future or will others emerge? Any performance issues that you see might not be fulfilled?
Gardner: I think that traditional synthetic lubricants will always have a place, but I also think there will be a big push toward environmentally friendly and renewable-based materials. New regulations such as the EPA’s Vessel General Permit and programs such as the USDA’s BioPreferred program, OSPAR (Oslo/Paris convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic) and the European EcoLabel will require lubricant manufacturers to develop products which meet the technical performance requirements but are also more environmentally friendly. This can be a big challenge because the requirements for meeting these specifications are complicated and stringent. The lubricants must meet several requirements such as low toxicity, biodegradability, low or zero bioaccumulation and high renewable content.
From the point of view of the lubricant formulator, the ideal situation is to use only raw materials that have already been evaluated by the suppliers. However, sometimes it is difficult to meet the necessary technical requirements of the application using the limited number of raw materials that have already been tested. In this case, it is up to the formulator to complete the evaluation of either the raw material or the final formulation (depending on the program or regulation). The tests that determine these values are expensive and time-consuming, and that can be a big barrier to development.
TLT: Is lubrication product innovation affordable in our world today?
Gardner: Not only is it affordable—it is a requirement! The technical requirements of applications are becoming more stringent, and customers are becoming more knowledgeable about the needs of their equipment. New innovations in lubricant technology can bring better efficiency to equipment and reduce relubrication intervals—ultimately saving the customer money.
Carefully choosing the right lubricant for the application sometimes involves product innovation to meet the increasingly demanding requirements of today. At Klüber Lubrication, we offer a partnership between ourselves and our customers. We involve R&D, application engineering, sales and market managers to ensure that all aspects of the development are perfectly matched between the customer and the application.
TLT: How do you continue to advance your technical knowledge and skill set?
Gardner: Two ways. First, I am constantly learning from our customers. There is no better way to understand an application than to talk to the person who runs the equipment and to get a first-hand look at the lubrication points. Second, is by taking advantage of industry offerings by professional societies such as educational courses and trade magazines, as well as the technical literature.
TLT: Who inspired you the most in your career?
Gardner: My doctoral advisor, Gregory Baker at Michigan State University. Even in an academic environment, he always made sure that we kept a real-world view in mind while executing research. His influence was a key contributor in eventually leading me to this career.
TLT: What advice would you provide young people entering or thinking about a career in the lubricants industry?
Gardner: Go for it! I think from the outside, this field may not look very glamorous. However, there are constant innovations and an endless supply of applications, which always make it interesting. Lubricant formulation does not have to be a black art—there is a lot of good science to be done here. Personally, I think there is no better way to have a responsible impact on countless applications and in people’s everyday lives.
You can reach Susan at susan.gardner@us.kluber.com.