How Lubricants are made

All of the below is based on either Industry fact and or knowledge and we believe
that better education when it comes to Lubricants will result in an opportunity for
you to make better choices.
We have simplified to some extent so as to make it all more easily understood.
Step 1 ... Base oils
Like building most things, it all starts with the foundations and when it comes to
lubricants that is the base oils and this is where the chemistry starts.
Choosing the base stock type is a determining factor in the finished product
quality, low quality starts with "recycled" group 1 base oils, next up is solvent
refined virgin group 1 and then we get into the better hydrocracked group 2 and
group 3 and so on, group 4 base stocks (PAO's) are rarely used in most of todays
oils and are usually reserved for extreme situations (more on base oils here) as they
are very expensive when compared to all others.
Base stocks are available in various viscosities (thickness) and by blending 2 or
more different base stocks to a given formulation results in the correct "base
viscosity" for a given product.
Companies wanting to compete on price usually elect to go for the cheaper
recycled and group 1 base stocks, group 2 and group 3 base stocks are more
expensive to produce making it difficult for those electing to use the better base
stocks to compete, having said that however, dearer price is not always an
indication of better quality, it just may be that the marketing is better and more
expensive.
Another factor to be considered is the oil companies own use of the word synthetic,
world wide it is the accepted norm that when it comes to using the term semi
synthetic that the synthetic base stock content of that product is at least 50% of the
total base stock but many opt to go with 30% or even less because of cost factors.
In Austalia there is no legislation in this to adhere to so most do what ever they
want and get away with it.
Be aware of the terms "synthetic enhanced" or "synthetic fortified" as this means
nothing other than indicating an oil company wanting to use the word "synthetic"
on their label in an attempt to create an illusion of a better product, here there are
no set parameters and all they would have to do is have say 3% synthetic for
example, to be able to ethically use the term synthetic enhanced etc on their
labelling.
The use of recycled base stocks is quite common amongst those companies
focussed on profit first and this is to your detriment, do not be fooled into thinking
that a company use's recycled base oils in only some products and not others as
many claim, the rule of thumb is that if they are prepared to "cheat" on some then
they will most likely cheat on many.
Ask your supplier as to what base stocks they use in their products, it is your
money you are spending and you are entitled to know and there are ways of
checking, for example in hydraulic fluids where the additives are clear (no colour)
the finished recycled product will be darker than the virgin product and the group 2
& 3 products will be clear, ask enough and you may well be surprised as to who is
using the poorer quality base stocks.
In summary, base stock choices are the first and a critical point in determining
product quality and performance.
Step 2 ... Additives
This is where the chemistry gets deeper but it is not as involved as you may think.
There are only a handfull of additive manufacturers world wide that are considered
to be leaders in the industry and it is those leaders that work closely with Original
Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's) and rating bodies such as API, ACEA, ILSAC
to name a few to produce additives to the satisfaction to those OEM's and bodies
and we as blenders take direction from those companies when it comes to blending
to a specific rating or standard.
We use several but in the main most of our additives come from the Lubrizol
Corporation who provide formulation assistance and technical backup in many
ways as the additive type and percentage determines the performance rating of an
oil as well as other characteristics.
An engine oil for example does perform many duties apart from lubrication such
as;
* Cooling of internal components
* Resisting the effects of combustion by products such as soot, acid, sludge etc.
* Cleaning of internal components
* Holding contamination particles in suspension for filtration
and all of the above are very important when it comes to component life
A typical engine oil is made up of additives to the above but also has others to
resist the effects on viscosity from heat, this additive is called a Viscosity Index
Improver (VII) or some use the term Viscosity Modifier (VM), another called a
"Pour Point Pepresent" (PPD) to ensure the oil does not freeze in colder conditions
and then come the performance additives that determine an oils performance rating
acording to API, ACEA etc.
Viscosity Index Improvers come with different Shear Satbility Index's (SSI) that
reflect that products quality and the lower the SSI the better the ability to resist
"shear", when an oil shears, the film of oil protecting your component breaks
allowing the possibility of metal to metal contact and we all know what can happen
there.
VII products vary according to SSI ratings, the poorer (higher SSI) being
substantially cheaper than the better with a lower SSI and this is another area a
blender can elect to save cost at the expense of quality and many do.
When it comes to the PPD's some blenders reduce the ammount used and some
even leave it out altogether to save costs again as they claim PPD's are not really
required in hotter climates.
Performance Additives are another area that is critical, the correct type and
percentages must be used to be able to claim the relative performance rating and
just as important is the choice of manufacturer of those additives.
Step 3 ... Blending methods
There are basically 2 types of blending methods, cold blending and hot blending,
some oil companies also use the term "line blending" but this is just another term
of cold blending.
Here it is not hard to figure out which is the superior, hot blending is recognised
world wide as the best when it comes to bonding all of the components correctly,
cold blended products often have far less shelf life suffering from additive drop
out.
Another critical factor in blending is blending by weight vs blending by volume,
the specific gravity (SG) of an oil changes relatively little when compared to
changes in volume over different temperature ranges for example winter over
summer.
Hot blending has costs associated in the form of producing heat whereas cold
blending has not so the blenders choosing to cold blend have a cost advantage in
the market place but usually produce a lessor quality product.
Blending by weight is by far the better choice when wanting to produce a better
product.
In conclusion ...
Oil companies can choose to a large extent as to what type of base stocks to use,
what type of additives and who they buy from, the quality and then the percentages
used, they can also choose what type of methods to use in the blending process.
Those out there on price advantage have chosen to save on costs in an effort to
maximise market share and profits and almost without exception are a lessor
quality product, some substantially less and this is to your detriment when it comes
to the life of your equipment.