Use of o/w emulsions for chain lubrication

1. A method of lubricating a container conveyor comprising

applying an oil in water emulsion composition to a portion of the conveyor or a portion of the container, the oil component of the emulsion composition comprising a wax ester.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conveyor is located in a processing plant.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulsion composition is applied to the conveyor as a concentrate.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising the additional step of diluting the composition with water prior to the composition being applied to the conveyor.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulsion composition is formed using the phase inversion temperature method.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulsion composition further comprises a component selected from the group consisting of triglycerides, partial glycerides, fatty alcohol polyglycol ethers, and mixtures thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wax ester has a formula

R 1 CO—OR 2

wherein R 1 CO is a saturated or unsaturated acyl residue having 6 to 22 carbon atoms and R 2 is an alkyl or alkenyl residue having 6 to 22 carbon atoms.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the triglyceride has the formula

wherein COR 3 , COR 4 and COR 5 are independently acyl residues having from 6 to 22 carbon atoms and the acyl residues are selected from the group consisting of linear, branched, saturated, unsaturated, hydroxyl substituted, and epoxy substituted acyl residues and mixtures thereof, and wherein the sum of m, n, and p equals 0 to 100.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the partial glyceride has the formula

wherein COR 6 is an acyl residue having from 6 to 22 carbon atoms and the acyl residue is selected from the group consisting of linear, branched, saturated, and unsaturated acyl residues and mixtures thereof; and

R 7 and R 8 are independently selected from the group consisting of COR 6 and OH; and

the sum of m, n, and p equals 0 to 100;

with the proviso that at least one of the two residues R 7 and R 8 represents OH.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the fatty alcohol polyglycol ether has the formula

R 9 O(CH 2 CH 2 O) q H

wherein R9 is a linear or branched alkyl or alkenyl residue having from 6 to 22 carbon atoms and q is a number from 1 to 50.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the emulsion composition comprises:

(a) from about 1 to about 50 wt. % wax esters;

(b) from about 0.04 to about 10 wt. % triglyceride;

(c) from about 0.04 to about 10 wt. % partial glyceride; and

(d) from about 0.04 to about 20 wt. % fatty alcohol polyglycol ether.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the emulsion composition further comprises water.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the emulsion composition further comprises additives.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulsion composition further comprises

(a) at least one alcohol selected from the group consisting of monohydroxy, dihydroxy, and trihydroxy compounds; and

(b) at least one additional component selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a nitrogen-containing, aliphatic organic compound having less than 10 carbon atoms in the molecule;

(ii) a carboxylic acid having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms in the molecule;

(iii) and mixtures thereof.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the emulsion composition comprises at least about 20 wt. % of the alcohol.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the nitrogen compound has the formula

wherein the residues R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 can independently be H or —(CH 2 ) n —OH where n is 1 or 2, and not all residues R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 can simultaneously be H.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the emulsion composition comprises from about 0.1 to about 20 wt. % of the nitrogen-containing compound.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the emulsion composition comprises from about 0.1 to about 20 wt. % of the organic carboxylic acid.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulsion composition further comprises an amine selected from the group consisting of primary amines, secondary amines, tertiary amines, salts thereof, and mixtures thereof.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the proportion of the aqueous phase of the emulsion composition is greater than 95 wt. % relative to the overall oil in water emulsion.

21. The method of claim 6 , wherein the emulsion composition comprises:

(a) from about 25 to about 50 wt. % wax esters;

(b) from about 1 to about 10 wt. % triglyceride;

(c) from about 1 to about 10 wt. % partial glycerides; and

(d) from about 1 to about 20 wt. % fatty alcohol polyglycol ether.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the emulsion composition further comprises water.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the emulsion composition further comprises additional additives.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulsion composition further comprises an antimicrobial.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the antimicrobial is selected from the group consisting of alcohols, aldehydes, antimicrobial acids, carboxylic esters, amides, phenols, phenol derivatives, diphenyls, diphenylalkanes, urea derivatives, oxygen acetals, oxygen formals, nitrogen acetals, nitrogen formals, benzamidines, isothiazolines, phthalimide derivatives, pyridine derivatives, antimicrobial surface-active compounds, guanidines, antimicrobial amphoteric compounds, quinolines, 1,2-dibromo-2,4-dicyanobutane, iodo-2-propynylbutylcarbamate, iodine, iodophores, peroxides, peracids, and mixtures thereof.

26. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulsion composition is produced immediately before it is applied to the conveyor.

27. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conveyor is used to transport plastic, cardboard, metal, or glass containers.

28. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulsion composition is applied to the conveyor by means of an application device.

29. The method of claim 4 , wherein the emulsion composition is diluted by a dilution factor of between about 20,000 and 100.

30. The method of claim 28 , wherein the application device is in direct contact with the surface to be lubricated.

31. A container conveyor lubricant composition comprising:

(a) a wax ester;

(b) at least one alcohol component selected from the group consisting of a monohydroxy alcohol, a dihydroxy alcohol, and a trihydroxy alcohol; and

(c) at least one additional component selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a nitrogen-containing, aliphatic, organic compound with less than 10 carbon atoms in the molecule;

(ii) an organic carboxylic acid having 1 to 10 carbon atoms in the molecule;

(iii) and mixtures thereof.

32. The composition of claim 31 , further comprising at least one component selected from the group consisting of triglycerides, partial glycerides, and fatty alcohol polyglycol ethers.

33. The composition of claim 32 comprising:

(a) from about 1 to about 50 wt. % wax esters;

(b) from about 0.04 to about 10 wt. % triglycerides;

(c) from about 0.04 to about 10 wt. % partial glycerides; and

(d) from about 0.04 to about 20 wt. % fatty alcohol polyglycol ethers.

34. The composition of claim 33 , further comprising water.

35. The composition of claim 33 , further comprising additives.

36. The composition of claim 32 comprising:

(a) from about 25 to about 50 wt. % wax esters;

(b) from about 1 to about 10 wt. % triglycerides;

(c) from about 1 to about 10 wt. % partial glycerides; and

(d) from about 1 to about 20 wt. % fatty alcohol polyglycol ethers.

37. The composition of claim 36 , further comprising water.

38. The composition of claim 36 , further comprising additives.