1144 ISSN 0965-5441, Petroleum Chemistry, 2017, Vol. 57, No. 12, pp. 1144–1146. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2017. Original Russian Text © O.P. Parenago, R.Z. Safieva, S.V. Antonov, N.D. Stenina, A.S. Lyadov, 2017, published in Neftekhimiya, 2017, Vol. 57, No. 6, pp. 766–768. State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects of Production of Biodegradable Lubricating Greases (Review) O. P. Parenago a, *, R. Z. Safieva b , S. V. Antonov a , N. D. Stenina b , and A. S. Lyadov a a Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991 Russia b Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (National Research University), Moscow, 119991 Russia *e-mail: parenago@ips.ac.ru Received October 30, 2017 AbstractThe state-of-the-art and future prospects of biodegradable lubricating greases are analyzed. The nature and properties of base oils and organic thickeners used in the production of greases are considered. Keywords: low-temperature lubricating greases, disperse systems, organic thickener, cellulose, biodegradabil- ity, performance characteristics DOI: 10.1134/S0965544117060238 At the current state of development of machinery, including transportation vehicles, the efficiency of its functioning is mainly determined by qualified applica- tion of lubricating materials, which include lubricating oils, greases, surface coatings, and so on. Besides the required technical characteristics of these materials that provide reliable operation of all friction assem- blies, in recent years considerable attention is drawn to environmental aspects of production, application, and utilization of lubricating materials [1–3]. Among lubricants, greases are of particular inter- est. Despite the fact that their world production (about 1 million tons) is essentially inferior to that of lubricat- ing oils (over 40 mmt), greases have undoubted advan- tages over the oils: their lubricity is manifested over the broader temperature range; they feature considerably lower specific consumption and maintenance costs and a relatively simple design of friction assemblies. Nowadays, the development of chemistry and produc- tion of high-performance lubricating greases is of par- amount importance in the world; international con- ferences and symposia are regularly held; and hun- dreds of papers are published in leading journals. In the context of solution of environmental issues, the production of biodegradable greases is of increas- ing significance, becoming the most demanding prob- lem in the northern and arctic regions of Russia. The development of the Russian Arctic and Far North regions is the most important strategic problem of the state, which is called to provide the defensive potential of the country, the search for new deposits of mineral resources and their extraction, as well the develop- ment of economic and transportation infrastructure. The application of greases in technical systems and different friction assemblies under Arctic regions and Far North conditions causes serious troubles associ- ated with an increase in their dynamic viscosity, dete- rioration of low-temperature pumpability, and proba- ble negative consequences due to spent-grease getting into the environment. The application of biodegrad- able greases eliminates the necessity of both their removing from a contaminated soil or aqueous medium and taking measures for mitigating the conse- quences of their disposal. The production of biode- gradable greases and solution of environmental prob- lems were naturally reflected in the development of the corresponding investigations at research centers of the Western countries. There are several high-quality biodegradable greases on the world lubricants market; however, the produced volumes remain low. Accord- ing to the results of investigation of production of lubricating oils in 2012 by the National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI), only 0.42% of the total vol- ume of manufactured products in the world is made using base fluids which include up to 35.0% of biode- gradable components under the conventional name “biobase.” In Europe, their proportion is higher, mak- ing 2.48%. Lubricating greases, including the biodegradable ones, are considered as disperse systems that are able to form a three-dimensional gel-like structure under service conditions owing to the target-oriented selec- tion of the corresponding components of the grease. The dispersing medium for biodegradable greases is biobased fluids , and the dispersed phase is organic thickeners; hence, it is recommended to use biode- gradable additives as well. At present, five main groups of chemical com- pounds are considered as base oils for producing bio- degradable greases [3]: highly unsaturated vegetable