Increasingly, stringent requirements for large enclosed gear drives, of the kind used in the wind power sector, for example, and the base materials industry, necessitate the use of synthetic oils.
Although the feedback is positive regarding the use of synthetic gear oils based on polyglycol, there continues to be a residual uncertainty concerning their usability in terms of elastomer seals and a possible performance restriction due to their water-solubility. The favorable friction behavior of polyglycols has meant that these oils have become widely adopted for lubricating worm gears. This paper intends to show that polyglycols also constitute a fully viable solution for use in large gears, which may even be more advantageous than using the polyalphaolefins.
