Sinopec EP 000 Grease: A Detailed Analysis

Historical Development

China’s rapid industrial growth and the rise of domestic manufacturing companies in the late twentieth century fueled stronger demand for advanced lubricants. Sinopec, China’s oil giant, responded early on, introducing greases tailored to handle heavy machinery, often under tough, dirty, or wet conditions. EP 000 Grease was developed during an era when railways, mining operations, and steel plants needed solutions for bearings working at slow-to-medium speeds and exposed positions. The technology behind EP 000 combines traditions of calcium and lithium soap-based products with evolving knowledge in extreme pressure (EP) additives, drawing on knowledge from earlier Soviet and European chemical engineering. The roll-out of this grease marked a shift in routine plant maintenance, as lubrication cycles lengthened, and equipment lifespans grew, especially in railways and underground mining where access proved awkward and costly.

Product Overview

Sinopec EP 000 Grease belongs to a class of semi-fluid lubricants, recognizable by its smooth, almost runny texture. With a National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI) grade of 000, it is designed not for hand-packed bearings but for centralized and automated lubrication systems—systems that don’t tolerate thick stiff grease. The base oil is refined mineral, thickened with lithium soap, and loaded with extreme pressure additives like sulfur-phosphorus chemistries. Because it maintains consistency over wide temperature swings and features high resistance to water washout, EP 000 serves machinery in poorly sealed or open points, as seen in conveyor chain drives, agricultural implements, or red clay quarries where mud and silt threaten plain bearings.

Physical & Chemical Properties

The most striking aspect of EP 000 Grease is its soft, almost pourable quality. This isn’t just cosmetic. Dropping point sits above 180°C, which gives leeway on summer job sites or near hot engines. Consistency fits NLGI 000 at 445C, meaning it will seep into the small clearances of centralized lines. Water washout rates stay below 5%, offering some confidence when rain or process water splashes the bearings. The mineral oil base has a viscosity of 460 cSt at 40°C, thick enough to hold on moving surfaces without running off, thin enough to not choke a pump. The EP additives, which react with metal at high loads, create a protective film that survives under pressures over 250 kg in Timken or Four Ball Wear testing, reducing scoring and tear-up between rollers and races.

Technical Specifications & Labeling

Batches of Sinopec EP 000 Grease display standard Chinese industrial codes—commonly GB/T 7324 and SH/T 0361. Typical labeling lists consistency, dropping point, and load-bearing figures. Packages range from 16kg drums fit for workshop use to 180kg barrels trucked to factory reservoirs. All paperwork includes code dates and production site information, usually the main Sinopec plant in Maoming or Wuhan, to ensure traceability after sale. Since large customers rely on centralized systems for remote points, technical spec sheets specify flow pressures at different temperatures, confirming suitability for cold-weather lines in Mongolia as well as southern tropical zones.

Preparation Method

The grease starts with a blend of Group I or Group II mineral base oil, heated and mixed with lithium hydroxide and fatty acid under controlled temperature. This creates a fibrous soap network that thickens the oil. The next stage involves adding EP additives—sulfurized hydrocarbons or phosphorus esters, which don’t dissolve but disperse throughout the gel. The mix is sheared in a colloid mill, stripped of air, then filtered to ensure homogeneity. Unlike old calcium greases, EP 000 stays stable across seasons, not cracking in winter or bleeding oil in summer. Factory controls watch for consistency, water content, and absence of fines that can clog lines or damage metering pumps.

Chemical Reactions & Modifications

What sets this product apart is how the EP additives interact with bare metal under stress. When two dry steel surfaces start grinding or sliding, the heat triggers sulfur-phosphorus chemistries, forming a microscopically thin, glassy layer of iron sulfate or iron phosphate. This sacrificial shield wears away before the base metal does. In some cases, customers ask for custom recipes, swapping in extra anti-oxidants where longer service intervals are needed or increased tackifiers for highly wet environments. These tweaks come from field feedback, usually after a failure analysis at a customer’s mill or depot, leading to variants that better match field reality.

Synonyms & Product Names

Some people know this product by its Chinese code (EP 000 润滑脂) or by translations such as "semi-fluid lithium extreme pressure grease". Global markets often compare it with Mobilux EP 004, Shell Gadus S2 V220AD 000, or Klüber Structovis BHD. Mechanics and plant operators usually nickname it “red chain grease” or “soft lithium grease” for ease. Catalogs often just list EP 000 under a customer or a distributor’s brand, though the backbone formula rarely changes.

Safety & Operational Standards

Handling grease in a busy shop isn’t glamorous, but there’s no room for shortcuts. Sinopec’s SDS documentation warns about basic skin contact—workers best keep gloves on, since lithium soap can irritate open cuts or rashes. Like most mineral oil greases, burning or overheating releases fumes that catch the nose and lungs, so gearboxes and bearing blocks need cleaning rags handy, and oily waste shouldn’t just go in general trash. Bulk customers, such as railway yards, rely on ISO 21469-certified product streams to ensure no food chain contamination, plus Chinese regulations on workplace air quality and permissible fume exposures. There’s also a strong focus on clean filling—machines depend on unfouled nozzles and hoses, since dust or metal swarf in a drum can ruin small bores in grease lines, exposing high-value rotating joints to sudden wear.

Application Area

The most telling measure of whether a grease works: field experience. EP 000 serves heavily in rolling stock and conveyor systems where bearings see repeated shock loads and grit. Railways use it inside axleboxes, central pumps push it through meters of tubing out to journal bearings, cutting re-lubrication from daily to monthly. Big construction outfits pipe it to slew rings and idlers on excavators, keeping pins sliding after torrential rain or sandstorms. In underground mining, it resists both flooding and abrasive slurry, preventing unexpected line clogs or seasonal shutdowns. Smaller repair shops use it to prolong bearing life on cultivators and spreaders, especially when seasonal downtime and unpredictable rain can turn heavier calcium or lithium greases into solid lumps.

Research & Development

Sinopec’s labs in Beijing and Nanjing invest deeply in responsive product engineering. Newer research explores lower-toxicity additives and more highly refined mineral or synthetic base stocks that shed less at high temperatures. Engineers collaborate with international groups on blend stability, seeking materials that last the whole service life of new automated mine or high-speed rail equipment. The push is toward longer intervals—with grease lasting up to two years between changes, lessening waste and the headaches of old oil disposal. Several pilot projects test smart sensors in lubrication lines, tracking grease quality or flagging contamination in real time.

Toxicity Research

Older generations of EP greases sometimes used lead naphthenate or chlorinated paraffins, both flagged for aquatic toxicity and occupational hazards. Modern Sinopec formulas eliminate these, relying on boron- or phosphorus-based chemistries that degrade faster and pose less risk to surface water or soil. Recent studies by Chinese chemical safety authorities show that properly stored and applied EP 000 presents low acute toxicity, but repeated heavy exposure without gloves has caused dermatitis in sensitive workers. The company encourages substitution of hazardous ingredients everywhere practical and supports ongoing studies of aquatic fate, soil absorption, and breakdown rates to align with tightening EU and Chinese environmental standards.

Future Prospects

With future growth in automated manufacturing, robotics, and renewable energy machinery, the role of reliable semiliquid grease only expands. Designers demand lubricants that work in cleanroom robotics, food packaging, and electric vehicle gearboxes—all environments unfriendly to older, dirtier chemistries. As sustainability pressure grows, Sinopec EP 000 Grease will see further shifts toward biodegradable bases, more universal compatibility, and integration with smart sensor tracking, enabling equipment to call for lube changes before operators even notice problems. Work continues, balancing cost, performance, and operator health, with lessons drawn daily from workshops and mines across Asia and beyond.



What is Sinopec EP 000 Grease used for?

The Role of EP 000 Grease

In factories and garages, moving metal parts struggle against friction every day. Bearings, gears, and sliding mechanisms demand a steady supply of lubrication to avoid grinding to a halt. Sinopec EP 000 Grease looks almost like a runny jelly, but its real strength lies in what it stops—metal-on-metal wear, equipment failure, and downtime.

This grease comes primarily for centralized lubrication systems and equipment like gearboxes that survive under tough loads. Many people don’t think much about what goes into those automatic lube systems under old conveyor belts or inside agricultural machinery. Where you see fittings and thin hoses under the dust, there’s a fair chance something like EP 000 keeps the wheels turning.

Why Semi-Fluid Grease Matters

Some machines run in open yards, others in tight plant rooms. Weather, dirt, and grit never take a break. Unlike thick greases, EP 000 flows smoothly enough to reach every corner inside the housing, yet resists being squeezed out under pressure. I’ve seen gearboxes on grain augers last through wet springs and dry harvests because someone fed them the right grease—not just any oil, but specifically something like this NLGI 000 grade that can get where it’s needed.

Traditional greases might slump away from small bearings in slow-speed systems. In contrast, EP 000’s thinness lets it crawl into narrow passages, spread evenly, and protect gears with its strong film. The draw for machinery rental operators and farmers comes down to confidence. They need gear that doesn’t seize after a few weeks in the rain or under dust-charged air.

Extreme Pressure Protection

Not all lubricants stand up to real work. The EP stands for “extreme pressure.” Its formula packs in additives that take the hit when gear teeth or bearings start to squeeze together. This layer keeps metal from galling or welding together, especially in machines that see frequent stops, starts, and reversals.

In places like steel mills, quarries, or shipping docks, nobody can afford a jammed gear. Referencing failure reports shows plain as day—money is lost every time a cheap grease breaks down and metal wears off or scorches. The right grease might look bland, but high-pressure jobs test every drop.

Long-Term Reliability

Labor costs climb every year. People want their machines to run longer between maintenance visits. Checking the data, the machines that get EP 000-type grease tend to need fewer grease top-ups, fewer part changes, and less emergency repair. At a logistics site I once visited, a supervisor relied on a grease with this soft consistency in underground conveyors; fewer breakdowns meant fewer late-night calls for him and more uptime for the business.

Farmers, plant engineers, and fleet owners all want to see steady output and safety. Grease may seem invisible, but its absence writes itself in breakdown logs. Cleaner gearboxes, quieter drive units, and lower energy consumption often trace back to regular use of proper lubricants.

Smart Handling and Storage

Grease does no good if it’s dirty before it hits the metal. Storage should stay cool and dry, with containers sealed up against dust and water. Using the correct dispenser or pump avoids introducing grit or air pockets. Training crew not just in application but in recognizing the early signs of lubricant starvation pays off in saved money and less downtime.

EP 000 Grease works behind the scenes but delivers peace of mind. Whether for a small feed mill or a sprawling port operation, a simple, effective choice in grease always supports both people and machines.

What are the technical specifications of Sinopec EP 000 Grease?

Getting to Know EP 000 Grease

EP 000 Grease from Sinopec shows up in the playbook of a lot of factory maintenance managers. This grease doesn’t feel like the thick, sticky stuff most folks picture when they think of grease. It lines up with places where machines keep moving—think centralized lubrication systems, enclosed gearboxes, and even certain gear-driven agricultural machines.

Technical Specifications That Matter

The consistency of Sinopec EP 000 Grease lands at NLGI 000. If you slide your finger through it, it spreads almost like soft jelly. That super-soft texture helps push the grease through narrow tubes and piping in automated grease systems, far-flung conveyor belts, or wind turbine gearboxes. Its worked penetration falls in the 445-475 range—engineers reading those numbers know this grease won’t clog automated dots or get stuck on a cold morning.

Base oil viscosity comes in at about 150 mm²/s at 40°C. Numbers like that say the oil can flow but still hang around for protection where it counts. What folks care about on the shop floor is that machines won’t squeal, parts won’t seize, and everything keeps humming through the second or third shift.

On the pressure side, the “EP” label stands for “extreme pressure.” This grease survives in spots where teeth grind and roller bearings feel the squeeze. It usually holds up to a four-ball weld load around 250 kg—more than just a fancy lab number, this tells me the grease shields metal parts when the load gets intense. Additives mixed in fight sudden jerks, smacking loads, and the kind of shock you find in busy transfer lines.

Sinopec’s formula also brings in lithium soap thickener. That’s the backbone for water-resistance—helping moving parts hold out when water tries to creep past seals, especially after pressure-washing or steam cleaning. The dropping point touches about 170°C. If machines run a little hot, this grease holds together instead of melting out and leaving bearings dry. Just picture a packaging line that runs all day, every day—this grease stands up to some heat, so there’s less downtime fixing seized rollers or swapping out failed blocks.

Why These Specs Change a Maintenance Team’s Day

From my own experience, plant operators want one less thing to babysit. Grease like EP 000 trims down the list of maintenance headaches because it flows where other greases won't. I’ve shown up at sites where older, stiffer grease lines get blocked, causing bearings to run dry and heat up. Swapping those out for EP 000 turned chronic failures into background noise—maintenance teams found themselves patching other problems instead. Gearboxes in farm equipment or transfer conveyors used in recycling plants also see less wear and reduced pitting thanks to good lubrication.

Trusting the Source and Searching for Solutions

Sinopec, recognized globally for its range of lubricants, lines up with industry expectations on product consistency and safety. This provides peace of mind for teams running heavy machinery in food processing, mining, or municipal operations. The technical data gets verified in ISO-certified labs, showing that what you read on the product sheet matches real-time performance—a cornerstone of the E-E-A-T principle.

For those running older equipment or planning new installations, storage and compatibility should get a closer look. Fitting any grease—EP 000 included—means making sure the new formula gets along with what’s already in the lines. Sometimes old residues can react or clump. Flushing the system or conducting a small pilot test avoids surprises.

Adopting a quality grease like Sinopec EP 000 solves big headaches in environments where uptime drives profit. The technical numbers tell the story, but the hours saved in fewer breakdowns and simpler pump-outs speak louder than any datasheet. Machines keep moving, costs drop, and I’ve seen crews end their shifts without the usual scramble.

What is the recommended operating temperature range for Sinopec EP 000 Grease?

A Grease Built for Challenging Conditions

Sinopec EP 000 Grease comes up a lot in conversations about industrial machinery, especially in sectors where consistent lubrication plays a major role—think mining, transportation funnels, or those long conveyor lines in a busy warehouse. Mechanics and maintenance crews have a favorite for good reasons. Choosing the right grease isn’t just about brand or cost; it’s about whether your equipment runs when you need it most.

Finding the Right Temperature Range

Sinopec EP 000 Grease works best in a temperature range from -40°C up to about 120°C (-40°F to 248°F). In lower temperatures, some greases turn stiff and forget flow, but this grease keeps moving even during harsh winters or inside cold storage rooms. Warm temperatures present a different challenge—the oil can break down, separate, or even evaporate. With EP 000, the upper end is generous enough for heavy machinery during long shifts, hot summer days, or equipment installed in sweltering workshops. 

Why Temperature Range Makes a Difference

I’ve spent enough time in machine rooms to know what happens when grease gets it wrong. In extreme cold, motors sometimes tap out, bearings grind, and little by little, the downtime adds up. Operators vent about sticky messes or noisy gears. In the heat, the wrong lubricant means everything drips, leaks, or just bakes onto the hardware. You end up with double work: cleanup, relubrication, part replacements.

This is why the temperature range isn’t just a spec for a catalog. Real jobs need lubricants that don’t freeze up or evaporate by midday. Fact: Industry tests confirm this grease holds its structure and protects surfaces throughout that -40°C to 120°C window. Those numbers aren’t marketing fluff—they reflect field results workers depend on every week.

Choosing Grease for Real-World Machines

Not every facility runs the same gear. Some operate outdoors, exposed to bitter wind chills; others run non-stop in stiff summer heatwaves. The EP 000 blend, with its lithium soap base and extreme pressure additives, brings peace of mind in both zones. This isn’t just about avoiding squeaks and rattles; it’s about asset life. Over time, choosing the correct grease keeps machines quieter, bearings smoother, and repair costs down.

A lot of users tell me they once gambled on whichever grease sat on the shelf—timed by habit, not facts. The difference after switching to a product tested at the exact climate extremes of their operation often shows up in the maintenance logs and in fewer late-night breakdowns.

Solutions and Smart Practices

Always check temperature guidelines against the seasons and shifts your equipment faces. If that winter hits -35°C, ordinary grease will stiffen and starve those bearings. Extreme heat? Anything thinner might run, causing a loss of oil film—the start of costly failures. Regular monitoring makes sense, too. Infrared thermometers and vibration checks catch problems early, before damage spreads.

Training the maintenance team isn’t just nice-to-have. Teams who understand the limits are the ones catching problems before lunch. A smart lubrication schedule, matched to both the manufacturer’s specs and actual working temperatures, gives teams control over a chaotic process. Changing up grease isn’t just a cost—it’s a choice that determines how many surprises you’ll meet on the production floor.

Bottom Line

For shops running in bitter cold or near heat sources, Sinopec EP 000 Grease delivers steady protection from -40°C to 120°C. This range fits a wide section of industrial life. When your uptime matters, paying attention to these limits moves maintenance from guesswork to a proven plan.

Is Sinopec EP 000 Grease compatible with other greases?

Why Grease Compatibility Matters

Anyone who's worked with machinery for long stretches knows grease is more than just a sticky mess—it keeps everything rolling. Grease choice isn’t just about picking a brand or a price. It’s a chemistry problem. Mixes don’t always end well. That’s a lesson many maintenance techs learn the hard way: one sloppy top-up, and suddenly, bearings seize up or slide into noisy failure.

What Ingredients Are Playing Together

Sinopec EP 000 Grease uses a lithium soap base. The number “000” signals a thin, almost flowing semi-fluid texture. It’s perfect in centralized lube systems and enclosed gears, especially where pumps demand something with low resistance. Most machines on a busy floor either ask for lithium-based greases or something pretty close, which makes Sinopec’s formula a flexible pick for many situations. Still, not all lithium greases play nice in the sandbox, either.

Grease Chemistry: Not Always a Friendly Mix

Mixing greases can feel like mixing cocktails without a recipe. Things look fine at first, but performance drops, and clumps or separate layers form. That often triggers more downtime than any straight-up part failure. The main problem sits with thickeners. Lithium, calcium, polyurea, clay—each thickener base handles heat, stress, and water differently. Sinopec EP 000 lines up best with other lithium soap greases, not with the calcium or polyurea crowd. Greases with a different base push molecules in ways Sinopec EP 000’s formula isn’t built for. Lubricating properties change, textures go weird, and oils bleed away too soon or not at all.

Real-Life Problems From Poor Mixing

I’ve seen shops top up EP 000 grease on top of polyurea grease because both were sitting by the equipment. Within weeks, gearboxes whined louder, and seals started leaking. One plant even lost a batch of expensive gearboxes because the mixture created a hard cake that blocked oil flow, something nobody caught until it was too late. Failure reports tell a similar story: thickener clashes, base oils separating, excess wear, overheating. As the National Lubricating Grease Institute points out, even lithium-lithium mixes can falter if their additives fight each other.

Clear Facts Backed by Data

Research by OEMs and standards bodies such as ASTM shows over 90% of grease incompatibility comes from thickener type. Sinopec EP 000 scores high for water resistance and wear protection among lithium NLGI 000 products in field reports. Still, its specs do not guarantee clean performance with non-lithium greases. Most manufacturer guides, including Sinopec’s own, highlight that cross-mixing with dissimilar thickeners puts equipment at strong risk.

How to Sidestep Trouble

No magic bullet solves grease incompatibility, but a grease management plan saves headaches. Keeping a clear label system and a simple chart of what goes where helps. If a switch proves essential, clean old grease out first. Purging with a compatible base is the only proven method. If you deal with tough-to-reach parts using auto-lube lines, stick to one base from the start.

Lining up your grease choice with OEM recommendations remains key. It’s tempting to use whatever’s at hand, but the fallout from bad mixes costs more in the long run. Treating lubricants with the same attention as spare parts pays off, especially as breakdowns keep machine uptime at constant risk.

Where can I purchase Sinopec EP 000 Grease?

Why Anybody Cares About EP 000 Grease

Factories don’t pause for equipment failure, and if you’ve worked around gearboxes or centralized lubrication systems, you start to appreciate a good grease. Sinopec EP 000 Grease, in particular, draws interest because of its semi-fluid consistency and ability to protect machinery across a spectrum of industries. Without this kind of lubricant, moving parts heat up, seize, or wear out. Machinery downtime forces operations to scramble for parts or improvise with whatever’s left on the storeroom shelf.

Every product has a reputation. In my experience, this grease isn’t just another line item on a purchase order. Maintenance teams ask for it by name, especially in colder climates or inside transmission systems needing reliable flow at low temperatures.

Where to Buy and Real-World Hurdles

Walking into a generic hardware store rarely works. Sellers who understand industrial lubricants often operate on the fringes—specialty distributors, dedicated lubrication suppliers, or industrial wholesalers serving mines, logistics centers, or manufacturing plants. I’ve watched folks spin their wheels trying to buy EP 000 online, only to find the seller doesn’t actually stock it or can’t legally ship hazardous materials to their region.

Authenticity and supply chain transparency matter. When I needed EP 000 for a project, I avoided auction sites and general e-commerce retailers because of the risk of counterfeits or expired product. Instead, I targeted distributors who carried licensed Sinopec stock. Larger companies like Motion Industries, Grainger, or Applied Industrial Technologies frequently list this item. Another approach is to contact Sinopec’s official website or their regional agents, who’ll direct you to qualified sources with genuine goods.

Supply, Reputation, and Regulatory Needs

Unregulated imports sometimes seep into the market, especially through smaller online channels. Without proper oversight, quality drops off—a lesson learned after a colleague installed what was labeled as EP 000 that failed basic viscosity checks. Trusted suppliers often offer test reports or traceable batch codes. This helps quality assurance teams prove they’re meeting ISO or OEM standards.

Bulk orders can prompt better pricing and support, but only established businesses may qualify for direct purchasing. Smaller shops or maintenance teams get pushed toward resellers. In this case, a distributor with a relationship to Sinopec or a regional subsidiary remains the safest bet.

Support and After-Sale Guidance

Getting the right product includes proper use and disposal advice—something only trained technical representatives deliver. During a winter breakdown, our supplier coached us through proper pump maintenance for EP 000’s unique flow properties to avoid separation or channeling in the lines. These conversations rarely happen with faceless online sales.

Sinopec maintains a list of global authorized dealers, usually accessible through their official channels. Emailing technical support takes time but often leads to more reliable results than clicking through aggregated shopping sites.

Better Sourcing for the Future

Buying lubricants might feel routine, yet the source, authenticity, and support matter every time. Knowledgeable procurement teams nurture direct relationships with reputable distributors, streamline record-keeping, and stay updated on safety data sheets. It’s not just a matter of finding stock but developing confidence in every shipment that lands on the dock.

Sinopec EP 000 Grease