Over the past few years, there
has been an increasing interest in
the use of food-grade lubricants
for machines operating in the
pharmaceutical industry. While these lubri-
cants can be beneficial, several other factors
must be considered.
Modern machinery used in the produc-
tion of pharmaceuticals generally requires
minimal or even no lubrication, particularly
in sections of the production line where
the product or its packaging is processed.
However, other machines with chains or
moving components near the production
line may need lubrication, and the lubricant
recommended by the equipment manufac-
turer might not always be classified as H1
food grade or certified according to the ISO
21469 standard. In these cases, it must be
determined whether the machinery should
be lubricated with conventional lubricants or
if there are specific requirements for selecting
an appropriate lubricant.
Lubricant Requirements
Lubricant selection should begin by
considering the lubrication needs of the
component or machine in terms of the load,
speed, viscosity and application method. Once
these parameters have been defined, additional
requirements must be taken into account,
such as food-grade properties. While the use
of food-grade lubricants is widely accepted in
pharmaceutical facilities, these H1-registered or
44
|
November - December 2017
|
www.machinerylubrication.com
Selecting Lubricants for
Pharmaceutical Facilities
Food- gra de Lubric ant s
PERSPECTIVE
Alejandro Meza
|
Noria Corporation
31%
of lubrication professionals do
not know when a food-grade
lubricant is required, according
to a recent survey at
MachineryLubrication.com
