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Anti-seize grease meets nuclear industry demands

A Sovereign Lubricants and Seals product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 17, 2006

Omega 99N contains virtually no contaminants and as an added bonus it withstands acids, alkalis, water, salt air and most chemical fumes.

When Sovereign Lubricants and Seals was approached by a major UK nuclear power generation provider to supply an anti-seize agent for use on site to prevent stress corrosion cracking of high strength, low alloy steel bolts - and for use as a general grease for maintenance use - there was no hesitation in recommending an immediate solution to this age old problem.

Sovereign (which sells the Omega range of lubricants) has a product named Omega 99N that is a nuclear grade anti-seize grease.

"The difference", says Sovereign MD Steve Chesters, "is that normal greases and anti-seize compounds contain high levels of sulphur, chlorides, lead and halogens which can cause stress and corrosion cracking of stainless and nickel alloys".

Omega 99N is different in that it contains virtually no contaminants and as an added bonus it withstands acids, alkalis, water, salt air and most chemical fumes.

The product can be used in many industries such as oil, chemical and natural gas refineries as well as chemical plants and pulp and paper mills - in fact anywhere where corrosion takes place.

Omega 99N also withstands searing temperatures as high as 1260C without degradation of the treated parts protection characteristics.

It also protects expensive stainless and nickel alloy fittings which are susceptible to corrosion by chlorines and sulphur.

The sulphur causes weakening of welds made on nickel alloys and the chlorides cause corrosion cracking and pitting of stainless components With ordinary anti-seize products, the product is often only a suspension agent such as a gelling agent and powdered metal.

These cheap products suffer from serious separation problems.

When separation takes place and the product is applied to fittings, the metal powder is un-evenly distributed through the fitted joints, resulting in increased risk of failure.

Omega 99N uses a unique and propriety mixing process that keeps the fine mesh nickel particles in virtually perpetual suspension and finely dispersed within the carrier base oil.

This prevents the hit-and-miss protection for treated threaded parts.

Omega 99N is independently tested by Scientifics of Derby which checks each batch and records the levels of contaminants.

Sovereign then sends the report to the customer which in turn approves each batch of 99N for use on each of the customer's various sites.

"We take safety very seriously", says Chesters.

"When we recommend any lubricant whether for use in a ship's compressor or in a nuclear power station, any subsequent failure by in-correct choice of grease or oil can be catastrophic".

"We were only too willing to work with this customer and have done so for many years".

"We have come across competitors' products who offer a similar product to Omega 99N but usually there has been no independent testing of the product, unlike ours which undergoes vigorous testing on each batch we produce".

Omega 99N has also been used in other applications by customers who demand the very best anti-seize in applications where virtually no contaminants can be found in the product, for instance in the repair and refurbishment of valves.

Some cheaper anti-seize greases do not stay on the surface of the metal and over time are washed or drain away, Omega 99N stays where it is put so when the component is dismantled, even after periods of years, the grease is still in place acting as an anti-seize.

It is also a superb corrosion preventative in its own right.

Omega 99N is sold in 454g pots and is available exclusively from Sovereign Lubricants and Seals.