JUNE 2020 VOL.

26 ISSUE 6

Shear
Improvement

The Magnetism of
Grease
 DEPTH

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 PUBLISHER’S LETTER

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop

T
here’s a lot going on at LNG these
days. The pandemic and all its havoc
can’t keep us down!
The biggest change our magazine read-
ers will notice is that we’re combining our
legacy Lubes’n’Greases magazine and
Lubes’n’Greases Europe-Middle East-Africa
into one monthly magazine with a global
scope. The new Lubes’n’Greases will
launch next month with the July issue,
beautifully redesigned. I’m excited for you
to see it.
Our new website will also make its debut
next month. The updated site will be orga-
nized by topic so you can find what you
need even faster.
We’ll be sending out the July issue in
both print and digital formats. If you usually
get your print copy at the office but you’re
working from home, you can request deliv-
ery to your home address using this
Address Change form. And for those of
you missing your 2020 Global Guide to
Base Oil Refining, which would usually
come this month, you’ll also receive that
in July. (All the more reason to make sure
we have your current address!)
I don’t need to remind you that our
industry is facing a crisis, and we are all
adapting in order to stay healthy. One
way we are doing that at LNG is tem-
Howard Briskin
porarily moving our columnists to publi-
cation every other month. So, if you don’t
see your favorite column in this issue, it
will be back again next month.
As we navigate the current crisis and
longer-term changes, we are always
eager to hear your feedback. Reach out
to me or Managing Editor Caitlin Jacobs
(Caitlin@LubesnGreases.com) any time.
Howard Briskin
HBriskin@LubesnGreases.com

LUBES ’N’ GREASES
The Magazine of Industry in Motion
LNG Publishing Company, Inc.
7389 Lee Hwy. Suite 300
Falls Church, VA 22042 USA
Phone: (703) 536-0800
Fax: (703) 536-0803
Website: www.LubesnGreases.com
Email: info@LubesnGreases.com
Howard Briskin
Publisher & President
Nancy J. DeMarco
Publisher Emerita
® Tim Sullivan David Stanworth volume buyers and users, or as suppliers who maintain
Executive Editor Commercial Director close ties to the lubricants industry. Qualification is sub-
DStanworth@LubesnGreases.com ject to publisher’s approval. Subscriptions to the print
Caitlin Jacobs edition outside the United States and Canada: $125 for
Managing Editor Matt Rogers 12 issues; $235 for 24 issues.
Director of Business Development, Subscriptions to the digital edition are free to
Sydney Moore
North America qualified subscribers worldwide.
Assistant Editor
Phone: (571) 421-1513
Greg Whitlow mrogers@LubesnGreases.com Periodicals postage paid at Falls Church, VA and
Art Director additional mailing offices.
Megan Matchett Account Manager
POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to
Sheryl Unangst Phone: (571) 421-1526
Lubes’n’Greases, LNG Publishing Company, Inc.,
Director, Audience Development megan@LubesnGreases.com 7389 Lee Hwy., Suite 300,
Robert Green Advertising Production: Falls Church, VA 22042 USA.
Circulation Manager Laura Hughes Supervisor CANADA POST Agreement 40064709.
Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:
Will Beverina, George Gill, Sara Lefcourt, Lubes’n’Greases (ISSN1080-9449), an independent
IMS, P.O. Box 122, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6S8
D.S. Nag, Steve Swedberg, Gabriela trade magazine, is published monthly by LNG
Wheeler Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 2020, Lubes ’n’ Greases® is a registered trademark of
LNG Publishing Company, Inc. Printed in USA. LNG Publishing Company, Inc.
Contributors
Subscriptions to the print edition are free to qualified sub-
scribers in the United States and Canada who are active
in the lubricants industry as manufacturers, marketers,

/LubesNGreasesPublishing @LubesNGreases /company/lng-publishing-co-

LUBES’N’GREASES 3
 JUNE 2020 VOL. 26 ISSUE 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS
F E AT U R E S :

26 Robots Need Lubes, Too. Industrial robots have

multiple joints, similar to human elbows and knees.
Unlike humans, regular greasing is all they need to
avoid wear and stay in constant motion.

32 Not by Oil Alone. As heavy-duty OEMs struggle to

improve fuel economy, the solution may lie on the
surface of engine cylinders.

Page 26
36 Shear Improvement. Polymers can improve water
resistance, thickener yield and tackiness in grease
formulations, but their long molecular structure made
formulators question their shear stability. They needn’t
have worried.

40 Greases Make MR Fluid More Attractive.

Magnetorheological fluids are being used in an
increasing number of applications, but this relatively
new technology still has some kinks. Adding grease
may repel the negative aspects.

Page 32
16 SPOTLIGHT ON GREASE. The grease industry has
been under pressure to develop formulations that
keep pace with the increased performance and
efficiency requirements of modern vehicles and other
equipment. Four companies share how they are
staying ahead of the curve.

D E PA R T M E N T S :
3 Publisher’s Letter 46 Places’n’Faces

6 Automotive 49 Advertiser Index

Page 40
12 Best Practices 50 Base Oil Report

44 Product News

4 JUNE 2020
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AUTOMOTIVE

Is API CH-4 Headed for a Sunset? By Steve Swedberg

A
t the API Diesel designed to meet 1998 corrosion in the engine.
Engine Oil exhaust emission stan- Diesel fuel was
Advisory Panel dards. CH-4 oils are specif- uncontrolled insofar
meeting in December, ically compounded for use as sulfur content was
the Engine Manufacturers with diesel fuels ranging concerned until 1993
Association suggest- in sulfur content up to 0.5 when the United States
ed that the American percent weight. [They] can Environmental Protection
Petroleum Institute’s be used in place of CD, Agency imposed a 5,000
CH-4 heavy-duty engine CE, CF-4 and CG-4 oils.” parts per million (0.5 per-
oil category could be So what does the EMA cent) maximum for sulfur
phased into obsoles- know that we don’t, and in all fuel. Before that, it
cence. If you blend or why would sunsetting ranged from about 0.5
use CH-4 oils, you’re CH-4 be beneficial? percent to more than 1
probably asking yourself: First, here is some percent sulfur. CH-4 was
Why? background. Diesel fuel developed to provide
API CH-4 has been in contains sulfur, which is a protection when using
place since 1998 and characteristic of the orig- 0.5 percent sulfur fuel.
has served the needs inal crude oil source and The current CK-4 category
of many heavy-duty and can still be present after is designed primarily for
older gasoline engines refining. After combustion ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel
with distinction. API in the engine, the sulfur in (15 ppm sulfur). There are
states in its Motor Oil fuel forms acids and par- significant advantages to
Matters brochure that ticulates that are a primary ULSD over 0.5 percent
CH-4 is “for high-speed, contributor to air pollution sulfur fuel that include
four-stroke engines and the cause of harmful reduced deposit forming
tendencies, reduced cor-
rosion problems, cleaner
exhaust and improved
oxidation stability, among
others. But these fuels
come at a higher cost due
to more extensive refining
processes.
Currently, there are 296
API licenses referencing
API CH-4 registered from
all regions of the world. I
need to point out that in
some cases these licens-
es may represent oils
registered under multiple
Photo: helivideo

service categories and

universal oils. Overall, the
Continued on page 8

6 JUNE 2020
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 Continued from page 6
point is that there are
many oils meeting the
API backward compat-
ibility requirements for
labeling.
How much of this cat-
egory is sold worldwide?
According to a contact
Interesting that
with Kline & Co., CH-4 oils
20 years after its represented 21 percent of
debut, CH-4 is still the global HDMO market
in 2019. Interesting that
an important part 20 years after its debut,
of the market. CH-4 is still an important
part of the market. The
chart below gives a more
complete view of the
world market.
As you can see, CH-4 is
the largest seller by vol-
ume, and the latest cate-
gories are not the largest
volumes represented.
Why is this happening? Is
it simply multiple labeling,
or is there still a major
need for CH-4 quality?
Let’s look at the EMA
proposal to sunset the
category in more detail.
Here is what was pre-
sented at the Diesel
Engine Oil Advisory Panel
Global HDMO Demand by Specification, 2019 (Total: 7,624.7 km tons)
API CI-4 16%
API CH-4 21%
API FA-4 0.2%
JASO 1%
API CI-4 Plus 4%
ACEA 5%
All Others 15%
API CJ-4 9%
API CF-4 13%
8 JUNE 2020
meeting held on March 4:
CH-4 could be sunsetted
because it isn’t needed
any longer, and the needs
of older engines can be
met with CI-4 or CI-4
Plus. This should occur
within the next year,
which will allow time
for API to announce the
end of licensing and for
engine manufacturers to
educate their customers.
I can tell you that sun-
setting a category may
be easier said than done.
When I was at Pennzoil,
we had a secondary
brand called Pennzoil
Motor Oil. At a time
when the reigning API
passenger car engine oil
category was SF, this oil
met both gasoline and
diesel engine oil catego-
ries API SC/CC. It was
viewed by the sales force
and most customers as
a satisfactory oil and was
inexpensive.
Annual sales were a
steady 500,000 to 1 mil-
lion gallons per year. In
the Pennzoil universe that
API CK-4 15%
Source: Kline
was a minor volume, so
we thought we’d stream-
line the mix of brands by
eliminating Pennzoil Motor
Oil. The cost of labels,
By Steve Swedberg
packaging and marketing
materials was important,
and the operational head-
aches of maintaining an
additional brand on the fill
lines made the decision a
logical choice.
When we announced
to the sales people that
it would not be available
after a certain date, a
howl went up that rivals
the coyotes I can hear
from my back patio! It
didn’t take long for us
to backtrack and instead
decide to raise the price,
thinking that customers
didn’t want to pay more.
However, the sales vol-
ume remained unchanged.
Our next tactic was to
rebrand Pennzoil with Z7
and use the Z7 pricing. It
continued to sell at the
same volume, confirming
that customers don’t like
change and will regard it
with suspicion. It took sev-
eral years before we could
get the customers to stop
asking for it and for the
sales force to understand
the need to sunset it.
Back to the DEOAP
meeting. During the
discussion, the additive
industry (through the
American Chemistry
Council) indicated general
support for the idea, but
one member company
pointed out that API CH-4
is still a viable category
and is growing in the mar-
ketplace. For example,
Brazil and Mexico have
adopted API CH-4 as a
minimum standard. The
Continued on page 10
 Continued from page 8
company agreed that upgrading the
market is important but believed
that one year was too fast. Instead,
it proposed two years, which
would allow oil marketers, additive
companies and governmental agen-
cies time to upgrade to API CI-4
and CI-4 Plus. It also pointed out
that there may be testing protocols
to be addressed.
One oil marketer noted that API
CH-4 is probably not necessary for
North America but is necessary in
other parts of the world such as the
Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa
and South America. The marketer
wanted to know if it was possible
to have API performance categories
active in some parts of the world
and not others and suggested that
CH-4 could be sunsetted in North
America and maintained in the rest
of the world with periodic reviews
of its viability.
What finally came out is that

Celebrating
some companies are OK with
CH-4 being sunsetted and others
aren’t. Those in favor of the idea
cite the upgrade as progress—an

30 Years
opportunity to move overall oil
quality up. These companies are
optimistic that change can bene-
fit automakers, oil marketers and
additive suppliers, not to mention
OF ADDING VALUE TO YOUR FORMULATIONS customers.
Those with more concerns want
to know why the sunsetting is
necessary. They feel that CH-4
has served the industry well and
a market still remains. As I noted
above, CH-4 has the largest share
of demand globally as of 2019.
There is still a lot of old equipment
out there, including 18-year-old
vehicles.
Further, oil formulators indicate
that base oil quality in the form of
API Group II has replaced much of
the older Group I base oils in CH-4,
effectively improving oil quality.
EMA responded to comments
about existing category recom-
mendations outside of the United
1990-2020
States. They said they are pleased
API categories are being used and
thought it would be good to stay
with the system but move all mar-
We’re proud of our heritage and committed to continuous innovation as kets up to CI-4 or CI-4 Plus.
your partner in specialty chemicals and high-performance service!
EMA said that some previous sun-
setting actions were very abrupt,
leaving OEMs with some hard
USA CANADA ARGENTINA explaining to do with customers.
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+1 800 275 8580 9100/9003
That is the reason for the one-year
soltexinc.com/value lead time. Others commented that
some abrupt changes in other oil

10 JUNE 2020
markets have resulted in an under- Industry consultant Steve Swedberg has
ground market for the old specifica- over 40 years experience in lubricants,
tion, often with dubious supporting most notably with Pennzoil and Chevron
information as well as some ques- Oronite. He is a longtime member of
tionable “boosters” added to the the American Chemical Society, ASTM
oils. Several states actually have International and SAE International, where
API category information embedded he was chairman of Technical Committee
in law, and it could require some 1 on automotive engine oils. He can be
time to amend existing statutes. reached at steveswedberg@cox.net.
Another part of the issue is that
there may be a need to redefine
some engine tests and limits. The
Category Life Oversight Group will
need to examine the particulars
to be sure that a valid set of tests
is available, including hardware,
appropriate reference oils and test
limits.
One oil marketer asked if EMA is
ready to make CH-4 and all related
OEM standards obsolete. EMA
representatives said this is already
happening.
Another oil marketer commented
that some CH-4 customers are price
sensitive and will not move to more
expensive oil. Another comment
was that old engines are still being
manufactured for off-shore markets,
but no OEM would or could corrob-
orate that statement.
Others noted that uncontrolled
or obsolete HDEO categories are
unavoidable. For some oil market-
ers, the loss of API licensing could
be a significant drag on their busi-
ness. And of course, odds are that
the owner of an older truck won’t
see any value in moving up
to higher-priced CI-4 when CH-4
has served him well. I’ve received
notes from many readers saying
just that.
All of this is just a preamble to the
hope that a more streamlined oil
certification system can be devel-
oped. The next level of heavy-duty
engine oil is already in the talking
stage and will probably be required
by 2027 or sooner. These programs
are costly and time consuming, so
we’ll be able to see some ideas
soon. As Roseanne Rosanna Danna
used to say on Saturday Night Live,
“It’s always something.” z

LUBES’N’GREASES 11
 BEST PRACTICES
Trends to Watch
B
y the time this col-
umn reaches you, I
hope and expect the
United States will be in
the process of reopening
the economy in a safe and
sustainable manner. The
months of April and May
will have been stressful in
so many ways, and I offer
my best wishes for every-
one who has been dealing
with hardship during these
difficult times.
I thought I would take
a step away from the
day-to-day difficulties of
running a business during
a pandemic and try to
take a helicopter view of
how trends might develop
over the next three to 18
12 JUNE 2020
months. I hope you may
find in this discussion a
trend or two that you may
be able to use to your
advantage as you return to
business planning.
Various studies have
suggested that shocks to
the system—such as wars
and epidemics—tend to
accelerate trends that were
already there rather than
create whole new trends;
I think that will primarily be
the case with the current
pandemic. Here are some
key trends that fall into this
category:
Working via electronic
means. In many compa-
nies, over 80 percent of
employees have been
By Sara Lefcourt
working from home during
parts of March, April and
May. I believe for the most
part this will prove to com-
panies that it is in large
part a viable approach,
although it is by no means
desirable at this sort of
level. However, I expect
that the trend of working
remotely from home,
whether full time or part
time, will accelerate. This
will reduce companies’
need for office space as
well as reduce miles driv-
en by car. I believe this
will tamp down to some
extent the recovery in oil
demand over the next 18
months.
Online purchasing and
contactless delivery.
Amazon has proven to
have the ultimate pandem-
ic business model. Millions
of people who have not
previously used online
grocery shopping and
delivery have been using
it during the pandemic,
myself included. I believe
this trend will continue,
although of course some
people will return to shop-
ping in physical stores
when it is safe to do so.
You may want to review
the extent to which you
Photo: Tong_art
offer products to consum-
ers online and the ease
Continued on page 14
 Continued from page 12
with which they can order
and have products deliv-
ered. You may want to
think about “contactless”
delivery of products and
services and whether this
trend can benefit your
company in some way.
Focus on air quality. I
have seen many articles
focusing on how clear the
air in China was during
the shutdown period, with
estimates that air pollution
levels dropped by about
25 percent as coal-fired
plants and industrial facili-
ties ramped down. I think
this will raise the already
significant attention to air
pollution in China and per-
haps lead to accelerated
environmental legislation
and cleaner power gen-
eration and transporta-
tion options. This may
extend to the U.S. as well,
depending on the politi-
cal environment after the
2020 presidential election.
Trust as a business dif-
ferentiator. I wrote about
trust as a key business
attribute and differentiator
in my May 2018 column
in the wake of several
highly visible public trust
lapses by companies
such as Wells Fargo and
Facebook. More recently,
we have witnessed issues
at Boeing as well. Trust
emerges again as a key
factor in buying decisions
during and after the pan-
demic: Do I trust that a
certain company is keep-
ing their workplace and
products safe? Do I trust
that a company is giving
me honest information
about product availability
and delivery timetables?
As an employee, do I trust
the company’s informa-
tion about my job situa-
tion and the company’s
future? Consider how you
can further demonstrate
your company’s trustwor-
thiness to customers,
employees and the com-
munity during and after
the pandemic.
Wealth disparity. The
Democratic primary
debates in 2019 shone
a light on wealth dispar-
ity in the U.S., and the
pandemic has amplified
it even further. While the
more affluent people have
been able to stay home
and work on their laptops
with Zoom, others have
been on the front lines at
grocery stores, hospitals,
food delivery services,
food processing plants
and the like. Others such
as nannies and home
cleaners have lost their
jobs and have limited
resources on which to
rely during the shutdown
period. Some CEOs (espe-
cially in hard-hit business-
es such as airlines) have
cut their own wages and
committed to no or limit-
ed layoffs.
I expect the next five
years to bring sharper
focus on wealth disparity,
including elimination of
loopholes for large com-
panies paying low taxes
and increases in minimum
wages. Consider how

Certainty.
In uncertain
times.

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14 JUNE 2020
you are treating all levels
of employees in your
company and whether
some inequities should be
addressed.
The big get bigger. The
trend towards merger and
acquisition activity leading
to larger and larger com-
panies has been going
on for some time, and I
believe the pandemic will
accelerate this trend. In
the oil and gas business
it seems likely there will
be further consolidation
and that some companies
may not survive the disas-
trous low oil price and
low demand environment.
Consider whether the cur-
rent environment offers
your company a means to
become larger or better
with respect to geograph-
ical or product portfolio
assets.
Rethinking globaliza-
tion. Globalization has
gotten a bad reputation
over the last few years
in respect to creation of
improved corporate prof-
itability at the expense
of local jobs. During
2019, this line of thinking
extended to embrace the
view that China had been
taking advantage of the
United States for some
years and the trade imbal-
ances and intellectual
property issues needed
to be addressed. The cur-
rent pandemic, which is
reported to have originat-
ed in China, further exac-
erbates this narrative.
I believe we will see
accelerated attention to
more regionalization of
manufacturing and desire
for shorter, less risky sup-
ply chains. Consider how
you want to position your
company vis-a-vis this
trend. You could choose
to go with the trend and
reduce reliance on import-
ed raw materials. Or you
could choose to take
Sara Lefcourt of Lefcourt
advantage of potentially
Consulting LLC specializes
lower-cost supplies from in helping companies to
Asia or other regions that improve profits, reduce
may be left with excess risk and step up their oper-
supply. In any case, I sug- ations. Her experience
gest you review the risks includes many years in
in your supply chain and marketing, sales and pro-
renew focus on reducing curement, first for Exxon
such risks. and then at Infineum,
Keep an eye on these where she was vice pres-
trends and how they may ident, supply. Email her at
affect your business in the saralefcourt@gmail.com or
short- and medium-term. phone (908) 400-5210.
Stay well! z

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LUBES’N’GREASES 15

F
rom industrial machin-
ery to the modern
motor vehicle, tech-
nologies are changing
rapidly—as are expectations
for improved performance
and efficiencies. For grease
manufacturers, the chal-
lenge is to constantly
enhance and modify formu-
lations to keep pace with
these ever-changing
demands and requirements.
Spltlight on Grease
16 JUNE 2020
For decades, the industry has relied on
the National Lubricating Grease
Institute’s GC-LB Certification Mark, an
easily identifiable logo, to help end users
ensure the right greases are used for the
right applications. After all, using an
unsuitable product could result in costly
equipment failure, or at least reduced
efficiency and effectiveness.
Yet while greases have seen their fair
share of change over the years, NLGI’s
globally recognized mark has not.
When it was created, for example, vehi-
cles did not have such long warranties
and greases did not need to operate in
such a wide temperature range. Many
manufacturers have actually exceeded
the standards, the technology overtak-
ing them.
Now, 30 years after their introduction,
Chuck Coe, consultant with Grease
Technology Solutions who also sits on
the NLGI board of directors, says it is
time the NLGI grease specifications
were enhanced to meet today’s perfor-
mance and market needs.
The changes will be twofold. First, said
Coe, the existing GC-LB performance
classification is being “upgraded,”along
with standards organization ASTM
International, focused on revising and
improving current test methods.
Originally targeting the automotive
sector, GC-LB has long been recog-
nized by specifiers as an indicator of
quality and performance for greases
used on wheel bearings and chassis
systems.
These past few decades, grease pro-
ducers have been able to meet certain
criteria and register their products so
they can bear the mark on their pack-
aging. In September 2019, a total of
308 products had been licensed, prov-
ing that they comply with ASTM
D4950, “Standard Classification and
Specification for Automotive Service
Greases.”
It was recognized that some of the
tests had precision problems, so ASTM
is currently working on overhauling
several of the tests. Specifically, this
includes addressing the precision of the
current wheel bearing life test, as well
as ironing out problems with the fret-
ting wear test.
Grease manufacturers will soon see
an entirely new grease standard in
place, too.
NLGI is hashing out a new high-
performance multiuse (HPM) grease
specification, said Coe. This is being
finalized and, despite the current coro-
navirus lockdown, it remains on track
to launch in January 2021.
The HPM standard is aimed at indus-
trial applications and has been devel-
oped to cover everything from pumps
to conveyor belts, rather than the auto-
motive sector already served by GC-LB,
he noted.
The new grease certification mark will
not replace the long-standing GC-LB
standard but will run in parallel, setting
out criteria for high-performance multi-
use greases. NLGI has committed to
continuing support of GC-LB certifica-
tion and the use of the mark.
“As users come to realize HPM is
actually superior and it becomes more
widely recognized, it wouldn’t surprise
me if they eventually shifted across to
this new specification, but we will not
be ending our support for the GC-LB
spec,” Coe assured.
Besides a base HPM specification,
there will also be five sub-categories:
Enhanced Water Resistance (WR),
Enhanced Load Carrying Capacity (HL),
Enhanced Salt Water Corrosion
Resistance (CR), Enhanced Long Life
(LL), and Enhanced Low Temperature
(LT) greases.
NLGI expects to have HPM and four of
these enhancements ready for the start
of next year, but Coe said the fifth, the
LL enhancement, will follow sometime
later as it will take significantly longer—
perhaps a few years—for NLGI and
ASTM to develop and approve the nec-
essary dynamic grease life test.
“This is just the start, and it will cer-
tainly evolve over time. We need to
gather far more data for some of the
testing so haven’t set the final limits
yet,” he said.
“Unlike GC-LB, I think it far more likely
that the HPM spec will be updated peri-
odically. We anticipate that this will be
used as the foundation and that OEMs
or end users will eventually put addition-
al requirements on top of that.”
A working group held initial discus-
sions about the new specification in
2015, with a steering committee
formed in mid-2019. Industry stake-
holders have been invited to offer their
input and feedback about the new
requirements.
Despite the disruption caused by the
Covid-19 outbreak, Coe remains confi-
dent everything will stay on schedule in
the months ahead, with final approval
expected by September. At the time of
writing, the logo design was still to be
confirmed.
A day-long online workshop held in
March involved 45 participants includ-
ing OEMs, grease producers, additive
suppliers and test equipment manufac-
turers, to discuss progress and to build
consensus—demonstrating widespread
support from the industry.
The proposals have been welcomed by
the grease sector, he noted, and the
Image: bung-AdobeStock
LUBES’N’GREASES 17
 SPOTLIGHT
reception has been overwhelmingly pos-
itive about the new HPM specification.
"It has been decades since the last
industry approved certified spec was
issued and there really is no better time
than the present to introduce an
improved one," said Wayne Mackwood,
global head of detergent and grease
technology at Lanxess. "This will help
level the playing field and make the deci-
sion-making process for the end user
much simpler and more confident."
“The time is right to have a specifi-
cation aimed at industrial use—to
have a foundation in place for high-
performance greases with sub-cate-
gories targeting the needs of different
applications within the industrial
space,” added Matthew McGinnis, vice
president, commercial development at
Daubert Chemical Co. “I think it’s a
great stepping stone to have some-
thing more applicable to real-world end
users, and I’m really happy with the
direction it’s going.”
“There’s a lot of colorful language in
the lubricants industry around perfor-
mance, which can set high expecta-
tions for products that maybe should
be considered average,” he continued.
“This makes it difficult for end users to
correctly identify the grease that best
suits their needs. The new certification
mark should help diminish the confu-
sion created by various marketing
claims and help people understand
whether these greases truly are worth a
premium.”
David Turner, product specialist in the
Fluid Technology Group at Citgo,
agreed. “Many greases are used in a
wide variety of applications today, and
some grease manufacturers make
claims for applications for which their
greases may not actually be suitable,”
he said. “The introduction of the NLGI
HPM grease specification will set a stan-
dard for general use greases that can
be quoted in equipment operations and
maintenance manuals and requests for
quotations for bid purposes. The NLGI
HPM specification will provide a com-
mon basis upon which greases can be
compared.”
“Once these specifications are institut-
ed, it will be difficult to imagine how
the industry survived without them,”
Turner concluded.
Today, companies that want to carry
the GC-LB Certification Mark need to fill
out forms, certify they have the relevant
test data and submit the information
and fees to NLGI. An audit program is
also in place. The new standard will be
far more rigorous, said Coe. With HPM,
the audit procedure is going to be even
more extensive, with a requirement to
submit the supporting test data.
“I’m not familiar with anything like this
being done anywhere else in the world,”
insisted Coe. “This is a real landmark.”
For a rapidly changing marketplace
that is becoming even more demanding
of its greases, having suitable standards
in place that meet these expectations is
paramount. In the coming months, the
various stakeholders will be focused on
finalizing these plans to ensure a friction-
less transition. o
In this Spotlight, Dorf Ketal, Lanxess,
Drydene and SQM highlight how
they are meeting the changing needs
of the grease market.

Focused on Cost Savings

and Performance

C
ontinuous improvement and innovation are
vital to ensuring today’s greases can meet
demanding applications.
Dorf Ketal, a well-established supplier to the oil
and gas industry, has a proven track record of
manufacturing lubricant and grease additives to
protect machinery, reduce wear, extend equipment
life and help improve output and efficiencies. Since
entering the lubricant additives business in 2007,
Dorf Ketal has grown its portfolio and believes
innovation is an important component in all its
products.
Among them is PX-3871, a multifunctional
lubricity improver and dropping point additive for
grease. It outperforms competing products and
offers significant cost savings. The unique alkyl borate
ester improves a grease’s dropping point by 10% and
boosts its load carrying capacity by 20-40%. This high-
performance additive can reduce the cost of lithium
greases by 3-13 cents/lb. This means that users could
see their dropping point additive costs fall by as much
as 50%.
Dorf Ketal also offers ashless dispersants, corrosion
inhibitors and antioxidants for use in grease and other
lubricant applications. o
To find out more about Dorf Ketal and its range
of lubricant additives, visit https://www.dorfketal.
com/industry-solutions/lubricant-additives-
components

18 JUNE 2020

From Extreme-pressure Components to
Fully Formulated Packages, LANXESS
Offers Different Solutions for Grease
Systems
L
ANXESS’ long-standing experience
with extreme-pressure additives
has positioned it as a leading sup-
plier of sulfur carriers. In the recent
Spotlight on Metalworking, sulfur carri-
ers were shown to embody a powerful
and versatile solution for cutting oils, as
well as for gear industrial oils. However,
due to the release of free sulfur, these
kinds of additives can have a detrimen-
tal effect on the corrosiveness of a
grease system when the contact mater-
ial is a yellow metal (i.e. copper alloys).
The free sulfur reacts with the copper
to create copper sulfides, leaving black
discoloration on the metal surface.
So, what extreme-pressure alterna-
tives are there that could be used in
greases, and how can we achieve opti-
mal performance without compromis-
ing with copper corrosion?
Only a handful of solutions have been
put forward over the years, such as the
formulation of greases with balanced
SPOTLIGHT
usage of active sulfur carriers and yel-
low metal inhibitors, the use of inactive
sulfur carriers like sulfurized isobutenes
(SIB), and specifying alkyl-dimercap-
tothiadiazoles or DMTD derivatives.
DMTD derivatives have a primary
function of providing yellow metal inhi-
bitions by creating a protective layer
that prevents the contact between free
sulfur and the metal surface while also
acting as a sulfur scavenging agent.
(See Figure 1.)
Photo: Karol-AdobeStock
LUBES’N’GREASES 19
 SPOTLIGHT

As a distinctive feature from other yel-
low metal inhibitors (such as benzotria-
zole, tolytriazoles and their derivatives),
DMTD derivatives also provide extreme-
pressure properties, as they have linked
sulfur within their mercaptane and thia-
diazole structures that can be activated
when the pressure and temperature
thresholds are met. This prevents cold
welding of the contacting surfaces.
LANXESS revolutionized the develop-
ment of DMTD derivatives in the 1980s
with the introduction of Additin® RC
8210. This has since become the popu-
lar choice of grease manufacturers
because of its yellow metal inhibition,
extreme-pressure properties, wear pro-
tection and lower odor.
By comparing the performance of
Additin® RC 8210 to SIB (Figure 2), we
can draw the following observations:
a) Extreme-pressure: Additin ® RC
8210 and SIB provide significant
weld load improvement over the
grease with no additives at all.
b) Wear protection: SIB had a nega-
tive effect on wear, whereas
Additin® RC 8210 did not have any
damaging impact on the grease.
c) Copper corrosion: Additin® RC

Figure 1. Mode of action of DMTD derivatives in lubricating systems

Figure 2. DMTD derivatives and SIB performance in grease Figure 3. Thermogravimetric data
(Lithium 12-hydroxystearate grease, NLGI 2, 3% additive) (TGA) for DMTD derivative and SIB

Figure 3

Cu corrosion
test (ASTM 1a 1b 1b
D130
24h/100⁰C)

SIB RC 8210

20 JUNE 2020

Figure 4. Performance data of grease package
4% Additin® RC 9502 in Li-12-hydroxystearate grease, NLGI 3
Property Test Method/Standard Test Conditions Results
Extreme Pressure Timken (ASTM D 2509) 65 lbs ok load
Copper Corrosion ASTM D 130 24 hours at 120°C 1b
Antiwear Four Ball Test 1 hour at 40 kgf, 0.48 mm
(ASTM D 2266) 75°C and 1200 rpm
8210 and SIB inhibited or did not anti-wear, corrosion inhibition and
promote corrosion of the contact- extreme pressure. To avoid changes
ing metal. that cost time and money, particularly
d) Odor: Additin® RC 8210 had a for long-term applications, characteris-
lower odor compared with SIB. tics such as corrosion inhibition
Besides these four factors, the differ- (including yellow metal inhibition) are
ences in thermal stability of these of growing significance within the
substances must also be considered. grease compositional make-up.
(See Figure 3.) Suitable formulations need to consid-
Data suggests that a DMTD derivative er antagonism and synergistic effects
such as Additin® RC 8210 is the better of the different components to provide
option when considering the opera- well-balanced performance. LANXESS
tional temperatures of the grease, if it has a deep and long-term understand-
ranges from 70-150°C. ing of formulating well-balanced addi-
Clearly, DMTD derivatives represent tive packages for grease application.
an outstanding extreme-pressure solu- Grease packages from LANXESS are
tion for grease systems where the con- extremely versatile and provide grease
tacting metal surfaces contain copper, formulators a wide range of options.
cobalt or an alloy of these. Additive packages such as Additin® RC
9502 combine high extreme-pressure
Additive packages for greases performance with good copper corro-
Grease manufacturers are looking for sion protection and low wear. (See
multipurpose additive packages suit- Figure 4.) Furthermore, Additin® RC
able for a variety of base greases, 9502 offers good thermal stability and
offering well-balanced performance low odor.
across different key properties such as Over half the world´s multipurpose
Figure 5. Performance in lithium grease Figure 6. Performance in polyurea grease
SPOTLIGHT
greases are still of the conventional
lithium type due to its very versatile
application range, despite the fact
complex greases offer better thermal
stability. Additin® RC 9502 enables
very balanced performance and sup-
ports good corrosion resistance at
EMCOR Rating compared with tradi-
tional grease packages that contain SIB
(sulfurized isobutylene) as an EP addi-
tive. Additin® RC 9502 is not formulat-
ed with SIB but offers competitive EP
performance in Four-ball tests, weld
load (kgf) and wear scar (mm).
The remaining volume of base
greases is highly diversified. Polyurea
greases, in particular, have seen a
renaissance due to e-mobility. Similar
to the performance seen in lithium
greases (Figure 5), Additin® RC 9502
also shows very positive performance
in polyurea greases, outperforming
traditional grease packages in the
EMCOR Rating (Figure 6).
LANXESS is proud of the quality of its
additives for grease systems and con-
tinues to innovate with its EP additives
(sulfur carriers and DMTD derivatives)
and grease packages, anti-wear addi-
tives, ferrous corrosion inhibitors and
antioxidants. o
For more information, visit
https://lanxess.com/en/Company/
Corporate-Structure/Business-
Units/Lubricant-Additives-Business
LUBES’N’GREASES 21
 SPOTLIGHT

Retraplex Diamond Blue is

Drydene's Crown Jewel

“The formula features some very

robust extreme pressure properties,
which also lends itself to heavy load
bearing capacity,” he says. “The prod-
uct’s water-resistant properties result in
extremely low water washout and
spray-off, which means the grease stays
where it is supposed to be, and sur-
faces are always being protected. In
addition, Diamond Blue has an
extremely robust roll stability rating.”
“With our unique polymer configura-
tion, the cohesion and adhesion of the
grease helps provide a long-lasting pro-
tective boundary layer. It is very tena-
cious, and the lab and field testing
we’ve done so far has been excellent in
terms of physical consistency and
extreme-pressure performance,” adds
Stover.
Since Drydene introduced its Retraplex
greases three years ago, it has quickly

D
rydene® is confident the latest “We’re always looking to expand our
addition to its popular range, rework existing products and
Retraplex® line could become improve our chemistries. Product inno-
the grease of choice for the market. vation is always a focal point for
Retraplex Diamond Blue™ is a new Drydene.”
premium-grade lithium complex grease Diamond Blue was launched in May
developed from the ground up that fills after a year in development and exten-
the market’s need for a truly versatile sive testing to ensure it could withstand
product—ideal for heavy-duty use the rigors of modern machinery.
whether in the commercial, agricultur- Drydene wanted to develop a grease
al, mining or construction sectors. that not only excelled in reducing fric-
“There’s been a gap in the market for tion and extending the life of equip-
a product like this, and we believe ment but also boasted excellent wear
we’ve created something really spe- protection, superior performance in wet
cial,” says Dave Stover, product manag- conditions and a wide temperature
er at Drydene Performance Products. range.
Key Performance Properties
Property Test Method Retraplex Diamond Blue
Four Ball EP Weld Point, kg ASTM D2596 620
Four Ball EP Load Wear Index ASTM D2596 101
Four Ball Scar Wear, mm ASTM D2266 0.41
Water Washout @ 79°C ASTM D1264 1.8
Water Sprayoff, % ASTM D4049 9.0
established itself as a trusted brand suit-
ed to a wide variety of applications.
Diamond Blue joins Retraplex Onyx,
Topaz, Ruby Red, and its top-selling
Ruby Red Plus greases.
“We know from our early market
feedback there is tremendous excite-
ment about the product, and I think
the reaction is going to be very
strong,” says Stover. “We’re pleased
with the results and know our cus-
tomers and users will be as well.”
“Diamond Blue has unique physical
characteristics and an advanced co-
polymer configuration, which is what
lends itself to how the product reacts
to the elements in exposed environ-
ments. Where it shines the most is
being outdoors in adverse conditions. It
takes lithium complex grease to anoth-
er level.” o
To find out more about Drydene
Retraplex Diamond Blue, visit
www.drydene.com/BLUEGREASE

22 JUNE 2020
 Top U.S. Base Oil Trading Partners, 2019

Exports (38.2 million barrels) Imports (16.5 million barrels)

Brazil 11%
Central & S. America 17% Canada 17%
Qatar 23%

Northern Mexico 33%

Europe 15%
Rest of the S. Korea 28%
World 19%

Rest of the World 16% Indonesia 6% U.A.E. 7%

Canada 8%

Continued from page 22

EXTREME CONDITIONS CALL FOR
of 54 percent in 2019, only imported
370,000 barrels last year, down from
AN EXTREME SOLUTIONExports to Canada dropped 5 percent
878,000 the year before. The normally
peaceful Ecuador saw street protests
against austerity measures, including
elimination of fuel and gas subsidies,
and imports of U.S. base oil took a nose
dive from 1.2 million barrels to 668,000
barrels. Chile, considered one of the
region’s most stable markets, witnessed
a small decline, from 891,000 barrels in
2018 to 866,000 in 2019. Sanctions
against the region’s pariah, Venezuela,
also hurt U.S. exports to that country,
which dropped to 63,000 barrels last
year from 96,000 in 2018.
last year from 3.2 million barrels in 2018
to just over 3 million in 2019, though its
share of total exports remained at 8 per-
cent.
Imports Up—Slightly
Base oil imports to the U.S. saw a slight
increase between 2018 and 2019, from
15.4 million barrels to 16.5 million bar-
rels. The two largest sources, South
Korea and Qatar, make evident the
growing U.S. appetite for API Group III
base oils.
South Korea continued its dominance
of U.S. imports, sending 4.65 million
barrels in 2019 and accounting for 28
percent of all imports. This number was
down slightly from 4.7 million in 2018.
Confirmed Group III capacity in the
United States is just 2,300 b/d, while
South Korean refineries can churn out
49,500 b/d.
The Shell-Qatar Petroleum plant in
Ras Laffan, Qatar, sent 3.8 million bar-
rels last year, up from 3.4 million in
2018. The plant, which can produce
6,000 b/d of Group II and 22,000 b/d of
Group III oils, accounted for a steady
23 percent of U.S. imports in 2019.
The United Arab Emirates also

Long-term U.S. Production of Base Oils

80
Millions of Barrels

70

60Find out how Drydene is disrupting the heavy-duty grease landscape SCAN FOR MORE
PRODUCT INFO
with this new groundbreaking product on page 22
50
98 99 2000 01 02 03 04 DRYDENE
05 06PERFORMANCE
07 08 09 10 11
PRODUCTS, INC. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Become a Distributor: DRYDENE.COM/CONTACT | Product Info: DRYDENE.COM/BLUEGREASE | 1-877-DRYDENE
SPOTLIGHT
Looking into the Long Term
H
aving specialized in the produc-
tion of brine-based lithium for
the past 20 years, SQM knows
all too well how supply concerns and
fluctuating prices can affect market
sentiment. The Chilean-based company
has become the world’s largest and
lowest-cost producer of lithium and
has seen the sector flourish and
dynamics change.
Looking ahead, it is positive the mar-
ket is set for another exciting period of
growth in the mid- to long term.
Certainly, lithium will perhaps never be
more in demand.
Typically, lithium hydroxide is used as
a thickener and is found in around
70% of lubricating greases, while the
growing e-mobility megatrend has
24 JUNE 2020
increasingly seen it siphoned away for
battery production in recent years.
Just a decade ago, energy storage
represented only about a quarter of
overall lithium demand, but this has
since soared to 65%, largely due to the
widespread adoption of the electric
vehicle.
SQM says the perfect storm of
increased consumption and constrained
supplies saw lithium prices spike in 2017
and triple in value. Yet while spot values
have halved since those highs, thanks to
lower-than-expected demand and the
addition of new production capacities
shifting the sector into oversupply, the
company believes the market may now
have bottomed out and that prices will
soon start to bounce back.
SQM, given its size and scale, will
ensure its customers continue to
receive a quality product with competi-
tive and transparent indexed pricing.
SQM’s goal is to continue being a
leader in the lithium market and grow
enough to be able to support the
grease industry in the long term.
SQM produces lithium hydroxide for
greases at its Salar del Carmen plant,
near Antofagasta in the Chilean desert,
and over the years has also grown its
production capabilities globally through
ongoing investment.
SQM says its strong balance sheet has
allowed it to commit 25% of its $2 bil-
lion turnover to expanding its output,
modernizing facilities and developing
new technologies. Among its most
recent projects is a joint venture to add
capacity in Mount Holland in Western
Australia.
Its ability to adapt and enhance its
production process has also enabled
the business to deliver better solutions
to its customers, it says.
Rather than supplying typical industri-
al-grade lithium hydroxide, for exam-
ple, higher quality bespoke products
with fewer impurities and longer-term
contracts can also be offered, suited to
individual requirements. This has been
welcomed by clients, removing the
need for them to have to further
process the lithium themselves in house
or involve a third party – saving both
time and money. o
SQM's North American office is in
Atlanta, GA. To find out more,
email sales.iod@sqm.com, call 770
916 9400 or visit https://www.sqm.
com/en/productos/litio-y-derivados/
 Top U.S. Base Oil Trading Partners, 2019

Exports (38.2 million barrels) Imports (16.5 million barrels)

Brazil 11%
Central & S. America 17% Canada 17%
Qatar 23%

Northern Mexico 33%

Europe 15%
Rest of the S. Korea 28%
World 19%

Rest of the World 16% Indonesia 6% U.A.E. 7%

Canada 8%

Continued from page 22
of 54 percent in 2019, only imported
370,000 barrels last year, down from
878,000 the year before. The normally
peaceful Ecuador saw street protests
against austerity measures, including
elimination of fuel and gas subsidies,
and imports of U.S. base oil took a nose
dive from 1.2 million barrels to 668,000
barrels. Chile, considered one of the
region’s most stable markets, witnessed
a small decline, from 891,000 barrels in
2018 to 866,000 in 2019. Sanctions
against the region’s pariah, Venezuela,
also hurt U.S. exports to that country,
which dropped to 63,000 barrels last
year from 96,000 in 2018.
Exports to Canada dropped 5 percent
last year from 3.2 million barrels in 2018
to just over 3 million in 2019, though its
share of total exports remained at 8 per-
cent.
Imports Up—Slightly
Base oil imports to the U.S. saw a slight
increase between 2018 and 2019, from
15.4 million barrels to 16.5 million bar-
rels. The two largest sources, South
Korea and Qatar, make evident the
growing U.S. appetite for API Group III
base oils.
South Korea continued its dominance
of U.S. imports, sending 4.65 million
barrels in 2019 and accounting for 28
percent of all imports. This number was
down slightly from 4.7 million in 2018.
Confirmed Group III capacity in the
United States is just 2,300 b/d, while
South Korean refineries can churn out
49,500 b/d.
The Shell-Qatar Petroleum plant in
Ras Laffan, Qatar, sent 3.8 million bar-
rels last year, up from 3.4 million in
2018. The plant, which can produce
6,000 b/d of Group II and 22,000 b/d of
Group III oils, accounted for a steady
23 percent of U.S. imports in 2019.
The United Arab Emirates also

Long-term U.S. Production of Base Oils

80
Millions of Barrels

70

60

50
98 99 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
 ROBOTS
NEED LUBES,
TOO

Grease in the joint of an industrial robot

26 JUNE 2020
 BY GEORGE GILL

● Industrial robots used in manufacturing are tireless

workers, and their moving parts can face high heat,
high speeds and friction. Periodic inspections and ser-
vicing keep them moving, say officials with robotics
manufacturers and integrators—including regular
lubrication, most often with grease.
Robots today perform many manufacturing tasks. A
few common examples include assembly, cutting,
material handling, palletizing, die casting, dispensing,
welding and finishing applications such as grinding,
sanding and deburring. Some robot manufacturers
offer models approved for use in
cleanrooms, proving useful in
applications such as medical
labs.
Most industrial robots Maintenance is
have six axes, also performed on a
Robotworx
known as joints, akin in
machine. (Photo:
some ways to a human Robotworx)
arm with a shoulder, an
elbow and a wrist. “In
each of these axes our
gearboxes are used, and each
one has a servo motor
attached,” John Verzemnieks, an engi-
neer with Nabtesco Motion Control in Farmington
Hills, Michigan, told Lubes’n’Greases. Verzemnieks
explained that the gears reduce the fast rotation
speed of the motor and turn that motion into torque,
similar to the gears on a bicycle.
Japanese engineering company Nabtesco manufac-
tures two lines of precision reduction gears for robot-
ics: a hollow shaft model that allows for easy routing
of pipes and cables, and a compact, lightweight
model.
Photo: Supermatros-dreamstime

LUBES’N’GREASES 27
 Elbow Grease
“Our gearboxes have a lot of moving
parts inside and are subject to some very
large forces, so all of the parts need lubri-
cation,” Verzemnieks said. “This is usually
done by sealing the output side of the
gearbox—our gearboxes have an oil seal
and seal caps on the output—and
then sealing the motor
flange-motor-gearbox
connection. Then, the
whole cavity is filled
with lubricant.”
The motor flange
is used to mate
the motor to the
gearbox.
“Any part of
the robot that
you see movement
from will have some
type of lubrication:
reducers, gearboxes, pivot
bushing and bearings,” said
Tom Fischer, operations manager for
Marion, Ohio-based industrial robot
automation integrator Robotworx.
For robots, grease is normally applied
through a tapped port using a grease
pump with a gun attached to a com-
pressed air line.
Robotics specialists caution that it’s
crucial to apply the correct amount of
grease. Too much or too little grease can
do more harm than good.
Fischer explained that with “too much
grease, when the temperature of the
gear rises, the grease expands and can
damage o-rings and oil seals, causing
the grease to leak out and eventually
leaving the reducer with no lubrica-
tion.” Part of New Zealand-based indus-
trial automation company Scott
Technology Ltd., RobotWorx offers and
services several industrial robot brands,
including Fanuc, Yaskawa Motoman,
ABB and Kuka.
On the other hand, he added that too
little grease may cause premature wear in
the reducer, leading to gear failure. “It
also changes the timeline for preventive
maintenance,” he said. “A smaller amount
of grease will also have a shorter life due
to increased heat generated.”
Mike Ondrasek, senior project engi-
28 JUNE 2020
neer for Yaskawa America Inc.’s Motoman Each manufacturer recommends a spe-
Robotics Division, explained that using cific grease or oil. The most common
too much grease in a robot can lead to greases are Vigo and Molywhite, accord-
hydraulic lock of a robot’s gear reducers ing to Fischer. For robots that use oil,
or ejection of lip seals. Hydraulic lock is a JXTG’s Bonnoc AX68 gear oil—a long-life,
situation in which the internal compo- synthetic gear oil for industrial applica-
nents cannot move because they are sur- tions—is the usual, or something similar.
rounded by incompressible grease, Older model robots rely on Molywhite,
he explained. a lithium grease consisting of synthetic
Fischer noted that hydrocarbon oil, refined mineral oil and
although grease is treated organic molybdenum compound.
According to Robotworx, Vigo grease is a
A manufactur- relatively new robot gear lubricant now
ing plant used for Nabtesco’s reduction gears on
employee uses newer robots. The Vigo grease has a larg-
a Kuka LBR er quantity of extreme pressure additives,
iiwa robot to
perform deli-
including molybdenum and zinc.
cate assembly A robot’s speed reducer multiplies the
work. (Photo: amount of torque generated by an input
Kuka) power source. It also reduces the input
power source speed to achieve desired
used in most situa- output speeds. Aaron Barnes, regional
tions, it depends on the technical manager for Motoman Robots,
robot manufacturer’s recom- said speed reducers and crossed roller
mendations. “For example, Motoman and bearings in robots typically require regu-
Fanuc use grease,” he said. “Some Fanuc lar lubrication.
arms use grease and oil. And Kuka and Barnes said grease recommendations
ABB use gear oil.” can vary depending on the type of
Extreme pressure lithium grease is the speed reducer used. “Rotary vector and
most common grease used in cyclo gear reducers have
lubricating robots, accord- extremely high internal
ing to Fischer. contact forces, so the
Robotworx carries lubricants for those—
its own branded Molywhite and
Vigo—have addi-
A Yaskawa tives like molyb-
Motoman robot denum to help
tends an indus- separate the
trial machine.
metal compo-
(Photo:
Yaskawa) nents and allow
for a lubrication
film between,”
line of Vigo grease, Motoman’s Ondrasek
which comes in 16- explained. “Greases that
ounce tubes, 5-gallon pails are not designed with
and 55-gallon drums. those high-contact pressure con-
He added that all industrial robot man- siderations will not be effective.”
ufacturers offer a line of food-grade IP67 Nabtesco offers three types of its own
robots, and an NSF H1 registered lubri- brand of grease and an RV oil, each
cant for incidental food contact is typical- designed for use in reduction gears.
ly used. IP67 is a standard that indicates a Vigo grease REO and Molywhite RE No.
robot is waterproof, which is typically 00. Each are lithium greases formulated
achieved through protective covers that with treated organic molybdenum com-
seal the inside of a robot, such as its pound.
motors and connectors. Continued on page 30

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 Continued from page 28
“The lubricants that we offer have been
developed to maximize performance of
our gearboxes in any application, not just
in robotics,” Verzemnieks said. “Grease
and oil are both used as lubricants in
robotics, and from what I understand a
lot of it comes down to preference. For
example, depending on the robot manu-
facturer, the type of lubricant will change,
30 JUNE 2020
and sometimes cultural differences play
into this as well.”
Greases used in robotics should reduce
wear and improve efficiency so the
robot’s servo motor doesn’t have to work
harder than it needs to, he explained.
“Ideally, we want very high efficiency over
a wide temperature band and also over a
wide range of torques and speeds, while
keeping wear to a minimum to maximize
the lifetime of the gearbox.”
Change is Good
“Changing the grease not only renews the
lubrication properties each time,”
Ondrasek told Lubes’n’Greases, “it also
allows for metal particles from wearing
components to be removed.”
He explained that, unlike a car engine that
has an oil filter to strain out metal particles,
the grease in robot gear reducers becomes
contaminated over time with those particles
and can begin to act like a grinding com-
pound, accelerating wear and reducing the
part’s life. “So, it is advantageous to monitor
the metal content in the grease that is
removed at each exchange to help predict
impending end of life of the gears,”
Ondrasek noted. “It is also possible to
extend the life when the metal content is ris-
ing by flushing the gear reducer with fresh
grease sooner than usually scheduled.”
According to Ondrasek, every robot
application is different, and a myriad of fac-
tors can cause wear in a robot’s gear
reducers, leading to the need to change
grease more frequently. Some factors taken
into consideration include duty cycle, aver-
age revolutions per minute, temperature
and impacts—meaning the robot crashed
into something. He emphasized that,
unlike robots in science fiction movies,
robots for manufacturing are not designed
to be crashed.
He noted that applications in which
robots crash into things—usually a hazard
in forging facilities—will have difficulty
even if the robot’s grease is changed regu-
larly. “But without crashes, the most critical
greasing applications often will be in press
pending and palletizing where several axes
are usually running at nearly 100 percent
duty cycle and averaging near top RPM,”
Ondrasek pointed out. “And any applica-
tion in a high heat environment is subject
to premature grease degradation due just
to the heat.” He added that a robot that is
overloaded or used beyond its design
specifications will need to be greased
more frequently.
According to sources, inspections rely on
a mix of scientific and mechanical factors
and, ironically, human senses and intuition.
Fischer said a robot inspection typically
includes steps such as getting “hands-on”
with each gear of the robot, feeling and power-on hours, although he noted that to time by servo hours or adjust for a
listening for any abnormal vibrations and interval doesn’t fit all situations. robot axis that works little versus very
sounds. “We also look at the current “This is like saying you should change hard. Once a year is typical.”
grease in the arm,” he said. “It can tell your [car] oil every 6,000 miles—it is Robotworx’ Fischer noted that in a nor-
you a lot about the life of the robot.” only the average safe recommendation,” mal scenario, annual top-off of a robot’s
He explained that the most common Ondrasek cautioned. “If you drive very lubrication is recommended, with full
indicators of grease condition are color, conservatively or race your car, you may lubrication replacement every three years
smell and metal content—either visual or need to change it less or more frequently. or 11,000 hours of operation. “In a wet
lab tested. A dip stick can be used to con- Our customers typically stick to a yearly environment, it’s suggested to be
firm grease presence. “Standard Vigo maintenance schedule rather than trying replaced yearly,” he added. ❚
[grease] is yellow,” he noted. “As it ages,
it turns brown, and then in the worst
case it blackens as it burns off.”
When replacing grease in robots,
Ondrasek said, it’s crucial to measure the
metal content in the removed grease.
“Higher metal content means you need
to increase greasing frequency,” he noted.
Another indication of incorrect greas-
ing frequency is the noticeable smell of
“burnt” old grease that is expelled when
new lubricant is pumped into the robot
part. “Usually this is also noticeably dark-
er in color,” he added.
Ondrasek observed that another con-
cern would be the separation of grease
to a “water and wax” type consistency. In
this case, the expelled grease will appear
to be watery and have a much thinner
viscosity than the new grease.

Service Intervals
The versatility of industrial robots means
that the amount of wear and tear on the
robot varies as well, so one-size-fits-all
doesn’t always apply with service intervals.
Nabtesco recommends changing lubri-
cant for its gearboxes every 20,000 hours
of operation, based on ambient tempera-
ture between minus 10 and 40 degrees
Celsius (14 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit).
“If using in an environment different
than this, we recommend testing the
lubricant regularly and changing as need-
ed due to both grease degradation as
well as an increase of iron particles in
the lubricant from wear inside the gear-
box,” he said. “If the gearbox is not
properly lubricated, this will affect the
performance and also the lifetime of the
gearbox.”
According to Ondrasek, robot operating
manuals list recommended maintenance
schedules. Grease servicing is generally Servo Filling Systems EST. 1985
recommended at about 6,000 servo motor

LUBES’N’GREASES 31
 F
or the past two
decades, light-duty
vehicle makers have
pushed the lubricant
industry to help them
improve fuel economy, and
the lubes industry did so
mostly by steadily reducing
engine oil viscosity.
Now heavy-duty truck
manufacturers are looking
for similar assistance, and
Not
the lubes industry is pulling
out the same recipe—
attempting to improve
engine efficiency through
lighter crankcase oils. With
by Oil
trucks, however, that
approach poses a risk that is
significantly greater than it
was for cars: the potential
for unacceptable levels of
engine wear. As a result,
Alone
some lubrication engineers
say solutions will require a
systems approach that uses
strategies such as compo-
nent surface treatments in
combination with lighter
lubricants.
“Low-viscosity oil comes
with one major risk,” Boris
Zhmud, chief technology
officer of Applied Nano
Surfaces, said in January dur-
ing a presentation at the
International Colloquium on
Tribology, organized by
Technische Akademie
Esslingen in Ostfildern,
BY TIM SULLIVAN
Germany. “You may not be
able to provide adequate
lubrication. Triboconditioning
[a type of surface treatment]
allows one to switch to
lower-viscosity lubricants for
improved energy efficiency
without accruing risk of
32
32JUNE 2020
JUNE 2020
wear-related failures.”
Applied Nano Surfaces is
based in Uppsala, Sweden,
and develops surface treat-
ment technologies that
reduce friction and wear.
Heavy-duty Catching Up
The current push to
improve fuel economy in
trucks began a decade ago,
although it took a few years
for lubricants to begin con-
tributing to the cause. In
2011, United States regula-
tors announced plans to
impose fuel economy man-
dates on heavy-duty vehi-
cles, as they had for light-
duty vehicles since the mid-
1970s. Truck manufacturers
immediately began looking
for fuel economy improve-
ments in a variety of places,
especially powertrain opti-
mization, and efficiency did
improve—by 24 percent
from 2011 to 2016, accord-
ing to a report that year by
the U.S. Department of
Transportation.
“Many different approach-
es to reduce friction losses
in the engine came into
focus,” Zhmud said during a
May email exchange, “new
cylinder liner honing tech-
niques, low friction coatings,
piston ring pack optimiza-
tion, etc.”
Original equipment manu-
facturers also looked for
contributions from engine
lubricants, stipulating in
2011 that fuel economy
would for the first time
become a parameter for the
next API heavy-duty diesel
engine oil category, PC-11,
which the industry was then
starting to develop. The
specification came to mar-
ket in 2016, commercialized
as API CK-4 and API FA-4.
It was the first time that
the American Petroleum
Institute divided a specifica-
tion into two categories,
and the decision to do so
reflected concerns about
wear in lower-viscosity
heavy-duty oils. FA-4
includes requirements for
fuel economy performance
and is intended for use only
in model year 2016 and
newer trucks because of
concerns that it may not
provide adequate wear pro-
tection in older engines. CK-
4 is also intended for use in
2016 and newer trucks but
does not include fuel econ-
omy performance and is
safe for use in older
engines.
Industry organizations in
other regions have likewise
looked to develop heavy-
duty oils that help improve
fuel economy. In 2017, the
Japanese Automotive
Standards Organization
updated its JASO M355 stan-
dard for heavy-duty engine
oils to include a new catego-
ry, DH-2F, with require-
ments for fuel economy per-
formance for fresh and aged
engine oil. Fuel economy is
also being factored into the
heavy-duty side of the
European Automobile
Manufacturers Association’s
upcoming upgrade to its
ACEA engine oil sequences.
Surface
treatment
may be
the key to
heavy-
duty fuel
economy

Cylinder honing on an
aluminum block
(photo: AA1Car.com)

LUBES’N’GREASES 33
LUBES’N’GREASES 33
 Surface Treatment Effects on Friction for the oil to flow through
Friction between piston rings and cylinder liner with ultra-low-viscosity the engine. Lower-viscosity
heavy-duty diesel engine oil, such as Scania LDF-3 FS SAE 5W-20
lubricants are designed to
Standard liner, SAE 5W-20 Triboconditioned liner, SAE 5W-20 operate in these harsher
800 rpm 800 rpm engine conditions and to
0.12— 0.12—
maximize the efficiency and
effective pressure

0.10— 0.10—
Friction mean

performance of the engine.”

0.08— 0.08—
The main drawback is that
0.06— 0.06—
0.04— 0.04— lighter oils provide less pro-
0.02— 0.02— tection from wear than SAE
0.00— 0.00— 15W products. Formulators
Top ring 2nd ring Oil- Sum Top ring 2nd ring Oil- Sum say this is a bigger concern
clearing clearing
ring ring with heavy-duty trucks than
with light vehicles because
1,200 rpm 1,200 rpm engines in the former are
0.12— 0.12—
subject to greater loads. A
effective pressure

0.10— 0.10—
Friction mean

typical heavy-duty truck has a

0.08— 0.08—
750 horsepower engine that
0.06— 0.06—
0.04— 0.04— can generate torques of up
0.02— 0.02— to 3,550 Newton-meters,
0.00— 0.00— compared to 350 hp and
Top ring 2nd ring Oil- Sum Top ring 2nd ring Oil- Sum 1,250 Nm for trucks that
clearing clearing
ring ring were on the road in 1965.
Asperity friction Hydrodynamic friction Stresses of that level increase
■ ■ Source: Applied Nano Surfaces Sweden

potential for scuffing of pis-

Heavy-duty oils have start-
ed trending toward lighter
viscosity. SAE 15W-40 oils are
the dominant grade, but SAE
10W-30 products are getting
some use, and lighter prod-
ucts are being developed.
Zhmud noted that Swedish
commercial vehicle manufac-
turer Scania developed a
specification for an SAE 5W-
20 oil—LDF-3 FS—and that
oils meeting it are commer-
cially available. He added
that SAE 0W-16 oils are being
tested on new heavy-duty
diesel engines.
In this way, heavy-duty
engine oils are following the
same track as their light-duty
counterparts. At the turn of
the century SAE 10W-30 was
the dominant grade for pas-
senger cars, but SAE 5W
multi-grades—5W-30 and
5W-20—are now more pop-
ular, and passenger car
OEMs are increasingly rec-
ommending 0W multi-
3434JUNE 2020
JUNE 2020
grades, which have steadily
pushed the viscosity enve-
lope from 0W-20 to 0W-16
and 0W-12. Japanese
automakers are now devel-
oping 0W-8 products. Fuel
economy was the main moti-
vation behind this migration.
Boosting Fuel Economy
There is consensus that thin-
ner oils can impart similar
benefits to the efficiency of
heavy-duty engines. In 2019,
Peter Kleijwegt and col-
leagues at Chevron Oronite
reported the results of
research into the relative
fuel economy contributions
of heavy-duty engine oils of
varying viscosities. Based on
tests conducted under the
European Stationary Cycle,
Kleijwegt found that an SAE
10W-30 oil could increase
fuel economy by 0.6 percent
compared to a standard SAE
15W-40 product. Switching
to an SAE 5W-20 oil yielded a
1.3 percent improvement,
and SAE 0W-16 an improve-
ment of up to 2 percent.
Zhmud said low-vis heavy-
duty oils bring other bene-
fits, too: They have greater
capacity to cool engines
than heavier grades, lead to
less cavitation, release air
more easily and reduce the
need for viscosity index
improver additives.
Officials from Lubrizol
agreed that there are multi-
ple reasons to move toward
lighter engine lubricants for
trucks.
“Engines are being
designed differently than
they have been in the past,”
the company said in
response to questions for
this article. “There are
tighter tolerances within
engines that are creating an
environment where the
engines are running hotter
than they ever have before,
and there is less clearance
ton rings and the liners on
piston cylinders, as well as
wear of rocker pads, roller
followers, crossheads, bear-
ings and cam lobes. That
wear is most likely to occur
when engines are operating
at low speeds under high
loads, Zhmud said.
Solutions on the Surface
Zhmud’s research has
focused on piston rings and
liners, and he contends that
the key to preventing them
from wearing is to reduce
friction in the boundary lubri-
cation regime, where sliding
surfaces come into direct
contact. A variety of surface
treatment techniques have
been developed to aid in this,
including plateau honing,
helical slide honing and laser
structuring, which generally
optimize surface textures and
apply chemical films, all in
order to reduce friction
between sliding contacts.
Applied Nano Surfaces
offers several types of treat-
ments, including Tribo-
conditioning, a patented
method that combines bur-
nishing with depositing of
friction- and wear-reducing
chemicals. The burnishing
reduces surface asperities
asperity friction means more
wear, which is not good.
Triboconditioning helps con-
trol the asperity friction.”
The administration of
U.S. President Donald
Trump has said it wants to
roll back scheduled increas-
es in fuel economy require-
ments for heavy-duty
trucks, but most of the
world remains on track to
continue raising targets.
That means OEMs are likely
to continue looking for
help from engine oils, but
engine oils themselves may
need help to provide it. ❚

Tests that
while the deposition fills in
valleys to make a low-friction

film.
ANS has conducted tests
in which the use of a liner
treated with Tribo-
conditioning mostly elimi-
nated wear on piston rings
and moderately reduced
wear of the liner, when com-
pared to results using a stan-
dard liner, Zhmud said.
The impact of
Triboconditioning illustrates
the complex nature of fric-
tion. As seen on Page 34, the
treatment did reduce asperi-
ty friction, which occurs in
the boundary regime, but it
also increased friction in the
hydrodynamic regime,
where a film of engine oil is
maintained between the pis-
ton rings and liner, keeping
them from coming into con-
tact. In this respect, surface
treatments have the oppo-
site impact of reducing oil
viscosity, which reduces
hydrodynamic friction while
increasing asperity friction.
The net result of
Triboconditioning was a
slight reduction in overall
friction—not enough to be a
significant contribution to
fuel economy.
“Triboconditioning may not
have a huge effect on fuel
economy, but it enables safe
deployment of low-viscosity
lubricants,” Zhmud said.
“Changing to lower viscosity
does indeed help reduce the
hydrodynamic friction, but
unfortunately, asperity fric-
tion then increases. Higher
Don’t Correlate
A mong the tools needed to develop fuel
economy lubricants are tests to gauge
fuel economy performance and related para-
meters such as coefficient of friction. The
existing kit could use some upgrading,
according to Boris Zhmud, chief technology
officer at Applied Nano Surfaces, a provider
of friction reducing surface treatment tech-
nologies.
Researchers investigating impacts on fuel
economy could conduct their tests on fully
firing test engines, such as those used in the
Sequence VID test, which is performed in
laboratories on test stands of 2008 Cadillac
SRX 3.6-liter engines. But full-blown engine
tests can cost as much as $100,000 per run,
so the industry tries to develop simulation
methods that can be run on bench tests,
which might cost only hundreds of dollars.
The problem, according to Zhmud, is that
a bench test apparatus may be a poorer sim-
ulation than researchers assume. To illus-
trate the phenomenon, a team he was work-
ing with conducted a series of tests with the
Sequence VID and with a reciprocating fric-
tion bench test to gauge the impacts of two
chemical additives and two operating condi-
tions. He described the results in January at
the International Colloquium on Tribology
organized by Technische Akademie
Esslingen in Germany.
Little Correlation Between Tests
Correlation between oil property and coefficient of friction
Oil property Reciprocating friction test
(CoF)
Molybdenum -0.65
ZDDP 0.18
High-temperature high-shear -0.29
Viscosity (100 C) -0.37
The methods were most consistent in
measuring the effect of zinc dialkyldithio-
phosphate, a popular anti-wear additive and
corrosion inhibitor. Increasing the level of
ZDDP showed a correlation of 0.21 in fuel
economy index results on the Sequence VID
and a correlation of 0.18 in coefficient of fric-
tion scores on the reciprocating friction test.
Not far off from each other.
Results varied more for high-temperature
high-shear and kinematic viscosity. The for-
mer had a correlation of minus 0.29 on the
reciprocating friction test but just minus 0.75
on the Sequence VID. Changing the viscosity
of a sample at 100 degrees C had a minus
0.67 correlation on the VID compared to
minus 0.37 on the reciprocating friction test.
In both cases the result for the bench test
was so different as to discount its use as a
simulation for the engine test.
The worst results, Zhmud said, came when
he checked the influence of molybdenum,
another popular friction modifier and anti-
wear agent. It had a 0.15 correlation on the
Sequence VID but minus 0.65 on the recipro-
cating friction test. In other words, the chem-
ical caused performance to improve on the
engine test but to worsen on the bench test.
“That demonstrates that there is no corre-
lation between the correlation tests,” Zhmud
declared. —Tim Sullivan
Sequence VID engine test
(FEI)
0.15
0.21
-0.75
-0.67
Source: Applied Nano Surfaces Sweden

LUBES’N’GREASES 35
LUBES’N’GREASES 35
 Shear Polymers have long been
used to tailor the properties
of lubricants and greases.
However, the use of high
molecular weight polymers to
add consistency in grease

Improvement:
Grease polymers in particular often requires accounting for
uniquely benefit grease in the the effect of mechanical
areas of mechanical stability, shearing on the polymer.

Polymers Keep
water resistance, yield and
tackiness.
Grease polymers can have
an effect on cone penetration
Large molecules like polymers
are subject to higher stresses
and strains, which can result
in mechanical breakdown of

Mechanical
test results and consistency of the grease and lead to equip-
grease. Thickening from the
grease polymer translates to

Stability
added yield per weight of
thickener and is often used to
improve the economics of
grease products.

BY ERIK WILLETT

36 JUNE 2020
ment damage or failure.
Grease polymer manufacturer
Functional Products designed
a study to address two funda-
mental questions:
1. Do grease polymers con-
tribute to grease consis-
tency and NLGI grade?
2. If so, can the consistency ty of greases with increased Grease Polymers 101
added by the polymer consistency due to the addi- Grease polymers act by modi-
withstand mechanical tion of polymers showed no fying the structure of grease
shearing by a test change in mechanical stability, and changing how individual
method such as ASTM and nearly a quarter actually molecules or fibers of thicken-
D1831 roll stability test? showed an increase in ability er associate. Normally, grease
The researchers were sur- to withstand shear. is held together by several
prised to find that the majori- types of short-range interac-
tions, including hydrogen
Photo: bung-AdobeStock
LUBES’N’GREASES 37
bonding and waxy and ionic
bonds. (See Figure 1.) These
non-covalent bonds, which do
not share electrons, have vary-
ing strength and effects on
grease stability. For example,
consider the melting points of
stearyl alcohol (60 degrees
Celsius), C18 alkane (30 C)
and lithium stearate (220 C)—
a higher melting point indi-
cates a stronger bond.
Grease polymers are cho-
sen based on their ability to
form a second network that is
complementary to the grease
thickener network. A good
metaphor for this relationship
is the way that rebar is used
to strengthen concrete.
Grease polymers, like rebar,
form flexible networks over
long ranges due to many car-
bon-carbon bonds in the poly-
mers. These exist inside of
the inorganic grease struc-
ture, which, like concrete, is
tough but brittle due its
short-range, non-covalent
bonds.
When polymer is added to
grease, the polymer net-
work and the thickener net-
work merge to form an
interpenetrating network.
Temperatures of 80 to 120 C,
which are far below dropping
point, are typically used in
this stage of grease making.
The polymer is added in liq-
uid or solid form and mixed
Table 1. NLGI Grade of Modified Greases vs. Controls
Simple
Lithium
Control (5% oil, no polymer)
Temp. Sens. Polymer (Low MW)
Temp. Sens. Polymer (High MW)
H-Bonding Polymer (Low MW)
H-Bonding Polymer (High MW)
Reactive Polymer (Low MW)
Reactive Polymer (High MW)
Tackifier (Low MW)
Tackifier (High MW)
Dispersant PMA (High MW)
Analytics: No change: 21 greases (39%), +0.5: 21 greases (39%), +1: 7 greases (13%), -0.5: 4 greases (7%), -1: 1 grease (2%)
38 JUNE 2020
Figure 1.
until homogeneous. The
thickener and polymer net-
works reform as the grease
cools and rests.
Three main mechanisms
ensure the polymer network
forms and remains locked
around the grease network.
These mechanisms are related
to the three short-range inter-
actions that hold grease togeth-
er as shown in Figure 1.
• Temperature Sensitivity.
Long, uninterrupted runs
of one monomer (e.g.
ethylene or styrene)
along the backbone of
the polymer form waxy
crystallites between
chains. This bond can be
compared to Velcro tape.
• Hydrogen Bonding. Polar
nitrogen and oxygen sites
on the polymer separate
from the non-polar oil
and associate together in
an acid-base attraction,
somewhat like magnets.
• Reactivity. Acid anhydride
sites on the polymer react
with metal ions to form
insoluble coordination
complexes, like diacids,
or react with hydroxide
Lithium
Complex
1.5 2 2.5
2 3
2 2.5
1.5 2.5
2.5 2.5
2 3
2 2
2 2.5
2 2
2 2
sites to form covalent
bonds in the thickener,
like boron esters. This
bond can be compared to
glue.
Tackifiers—very high mole-
cular weight polymers used to
impart stringiness and cohe-
sion to oil and grease—may
also provide an additional
mechanism through the for-
mation of physically entan-
gled chains that bind together
the thickener network over
very long ranges. Tackifiers do
not form the types of short-
range attractions listed above,
but often do provide some of
the benefits of grease poly-
mers through that entangle-
ment.
Grappling with Grease
Grades
In order to determine
whether polymers affect
grease grade, six NLGI grade
2 base greases were obtained
from commercial sources:
simple lithium, lithium com-
plex, calcium sulfonate, alu-
minum complex, silica and
bentonite clay. All greases
were prepared with typical
Calcium Aluminum
Sulfonate Complex
2.5
2.5 2 2
2.5 2.5
2.5 1.5
3 3
3 2.5
2 3
3 2
3 2.5
2 2.5
Three short-range interac-
tions of various strengths hold
a thickener network together
in lithium 12- hydroxys-
tearate grease.
industrial grease additives for
multi-purpose use—minus
any grease polymers—and
milled. Each grease used
high-viscosity ISO 100 to 460
API Group II base oil.
A total of nine polymers
were added individually to the
six greases. Two polymers
each, a low molecular weight
(100,000-200,000 grams per
mole) and a high molecular
weight (300,000-600,000
g/mol) version, were selected
from each of the three cate-
gories of interpenetrating net-
work formation described
above. Performance of the
polymer varies based on the
number and ratio of the
monomers, the molecular
weight, crystallinity and other
structural factors.
A lower molecular weight
olefin copolymer tackifier and
very high molecular weight
polyisobutylene tackifier were
also included to see the
effects of an entangled poly-
mer network. A dispersant
polymethacrylate was added
to the study as a third “hydro-
gen bonding” polymer but
also to see the extent of inter-
Silica Bentonite
Clay
1 0
0
1 0
1 0.5
2 1
1 0.5
1 0.5
2 0
1 0.5
1 0
action with a polymethacry-
late.
Each polymer was prepared
as a solution of 8 to 10 weight
percent polymer in 100 neu-
tral paraffinic oil before
adding 5 wt% solution to 95
wt% base grease to deliver a
final polymer concentration of
approximately 0.45 wt%.
Polymers were pre-dissolved
to allow efficient and repro-
ducible incorporation of the
polymer into the many differ-
ent grease systems in this
study.
In all, 54 greases were pre-
pared in order to observe
how different combinations of
greases and polymers influ-
ence NLGI grade. Samples
where polymer increased the
NLGI grade by 0.5 or more
were later used in the roll sta-
bility test in the second half of
the study.
Table 1 summarizes the
changes in NLGI grade with
the addition of polymers ver-
sus simply adding the diluent
oil without polymer (the con-
trol). Of the 54 samples, 21
samples experienced no
change in NLGI grade after
adding 5 wt% liquid polymer
versus the control of 5 wt%
pure 100 N diluent oil. Half of
the greases resulted in a half or
full increase in NLGI grade.
Five samples lost NLGI grade
by a half or full grade. Half
Table 2. Change in Cone Penetration after Roll Stability Testing
Control (5% oil, no polymer)
Temp. Sens. Polymer (Low MW)
Temp. Sens. Polymer (High MW)
H-Bonding Polymer (Low MW)
H-Bonding Polymer (High MW)
Reactive Polymer (Low MW)
Reactive Polymer (High MW)
Tackifier (Low MW)
Tackifier (High MW)
Dispersant PMA (High MW)
Blank entries were not tested. Entries in parentheses indicate no significant change compared to the control. Bold entries indicate improved roll stability (lower percent
change). Purple entries indicate worse roll stability (higher percent change). Analytics: Same: 15 greases (56%), More stable: 6 greases (22%), Less stable: 6 greases (22%)
grades are consistencies that
fall within the gap of cone
penetrations between two
grades.
Gauging Grease Stability
Why NLGI grade increases is
a separate discussion, but
more often than not, grease
polymers increase NLGI
grade and the consistency of
grease. Grease polymers that
add consistency would be at
risk of mechanical shearing
because of their molecular
length, so further work was
carried out to measure the
stability of grease with high
consistency increase.
Twenty-seven polymer-
modified grease samples
showing an increase in con-
sistency were tested and
compared against the roll sta-
bility changes of the control
greases. Table 2 summarizes
the changes to consistency
after the ASTM D1831 roll
stability test, with positive val-
ues meaning a loss of consis-
tency (thinning) and negative
values meaning an increase in
consistency (thickening).
Cone penetration before
and after roll stability was
assessed with quarter-cone
measurement, which yields
an estimated 3.8 percent rela-
tive error by ASTM D1831.
Changes, positive or negative,
within this error were
Simple Lithium
Lithium Complex
+1.2% +36.1%
+21.5%
(+1.5%) +19.8%
(+37.9%)
(+1.5%) +25.6%
(-2.6%) +22.5%
(+0.0%)
+17.8%
(-2.1%)
+6.6%
deemed negligibly different.
Of the 27 samples, 15
demonstrated negligible
changes to roll stability versus
the control. Simple lithium
and clay greases were
improved by up to a full NLGI
grade using polymer without
an effect on shear stability. Six
samples showed statistically
relevant improvement in
shear stability outside ASTM
D1831 error.
In total, 78 percent of cases
of polymer-modified grease
with increased NLGI grade
from polymer yielded either
no change or a positive
change in roll stability.
Globular or micellar struc-
tured greases like calcium sul-
fonate and aluminum com-
plex were the most sensitive
to consistency gains from
polymer, with many modified
greases of these types
demonstrating a loss of
mechanical stability in roll sta-
bility testing.
For nine polymers in six
greases, it was demonstrated
that grease polymers are typi-
cally neutral or positive
toward increasing consistency
and NLGI grade. This may
happen intentionally as part
of increasing thickener yield
or as a byproduct of improv-
ing tackiness, water resistance
or oil bleed.
When NLGI grade was
Calcium Aluminum
Sulfonate Complex
+3.1% +1.5%
+11.7% +18.9%
+9.8% -5.2%
+14.5%
(+4.6%)
(+1.6%)
increased, roll stability was
generally not negatively
affected, with 56 percent of
tested cases showing no
appreciable change in ASTM
D1831 roll stability and 22
percent showing an increase
in mechanical stability.
The results of this study are
intended as a starting point
for formulators and are not a
definitive guide. Most greases,
even of the same kind, will
vary widely by factors such as
the thickener used, the base
oil, NLGI grade and produc-
tion method. ❚
Erik Willett is technical direc-
tor at Functional Products
Inc. He earned a bachelor’s
degree in chemistry from the
University of Connecticut
and a doctorate in polymer
science from the University of
Akron. He has won the
National Lubricating Grease
Institute’s Development
Author Award and NLGI
India’s P.P.C. Gonsalves
Memorial Award.
Silica Bentonite
Clay
+2.3% +11.3%
(+2.6%)
(+11.5%)
+7.9% (+9.4%)
(+12.5%)
+2.6%
(+13.8%)
(+8.6%)
LUBES’N’GREASES 39
 Greases Make
MR Fluid
BY D.S. NAG
The market for magnetorheological fluids
has witnessed significant development
and growth since these “smart” fluids
were discovered more than 70 years ago.
Their usage has increased in varied appli-
cations, but like many newer technolo-
gies, some practical challenges still exist.
Research indicates that using MR fluids
alongside lubricating greases may help
repel some of these negative forces.
Discovered by Jacob Rabinow in 1948
at the United States National Bureau of
Standards (now the National Institute of
40 JUNE 2020
Standards and Technology), MR fluids
change their rheological behavior drasti-
cally—and reversibly—upon application
of a magnetic field, said V.K. Sukhwani, a
professor in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering at Ujjain
Engineering College in the central Indian
state of Madhya Pradesh.
The change can be quite dramatic,
with the fluids morphing instantaneously
from a low-viscosity liquid to a high-
viscosity semi-solid or even a solid state
when exposed to a magnetic field, which
Technology Stick
is created by an electromagnet that can
be switched on and off.
“The viscosity change is rapid and
completely reversible and can be used to
bring controllability in operation in engi-
neering applications, i.e. dynamic change
in performance measures like damping
resistance in dampers and braking
torque in brakes,” Sukhwani said at the
annual meeting of the Indian chapter of
the National Lubricating Grease Institute
in February, held in Indore, Madhya
Pradesh.
Given their advantages, MR fluids are
increasingly being used in a wide range
of applications such as automotive,
robotics, aerospace, military and
defense, building and construction as
well as electronics and medical applica-
tions.
For example, Japan’s Akebono Brake
Industry Co. aims to debut its MR Fluid
Brake this year, according to its website.
In the brake, MR fluid fills a gap between
a rotating disc and a fixed disc. When a
magnetic field is applied, the fluid
Image: olaser-iStock
changes to a semi-solid, and the shear
resistance against the rotating disc acts
as the braking force. The brake produces
no dust, sound or vibration, and is par-
ticularly suited to automated driving
technologies because of its responsive-
ness, the company states.
In automotive suspension systems,
such as Parker Lord’s systems made for
some Audi, Buick, Ferrari and Holden
models, “controllable MR fluid replaces
traditional hydraulic fluid in each shock
absorber. As sensors monitor road and
LUBES’N’GREASES 41
 vehicle conditions, a controller modifies
the damping characteristics up to one
thousand times per second,” the compa-
ny’s website explains. “This enables dra-
matic improvements in both ride comfort
and handling.” The systems boast fewer
moving parts, low power consumption
and quieter operation, among other
advantages over traditional suspensions.
A typical MR fluid consists of 20 to 40
percent by volume pure soft iron parti-
cles, typically 1 to 10 microns in size, sus-
pended in a non-magnetic carrier liquid
such as mineral oil, synthetic oil, water or
glycol. A variety of additives, similar to
those used in commercial lubricants, are
added to prevent sedimentation, pro-
mote particle suspension, enhance lubric-
ity, modify viscosity and prevent wear.
The magnetic material, usually iron,
should have the lowest possible coercivi-
ty, or resistance to changes in magnetiza-
tion, and highest possible saturation, or
Prepared experimental MR grease the point at which the material cannot be
(Photo: Sukhwani)
further magnetized, Sukhwani said. The
magnetic materials that can be used are
carbonyl iron (high-purity iron powder
derived from decomposition of iron pen-
tacarbonyl), iron-cobalt alloys, and man-
ganese-zinc ferrite and nickel zinc ferrite
powders.
Explaining the basic characteristics of MR
fluids, Sukhwani said that in their “off
state,” i.e. in the absence of a magnetic
field, these fluids behave like Newtonian
fluids and have low apparent viscosity.
Newtonian fluids have constant viscosity
that is independent of stress. But in the
“on state,” or under the influence of a mag-
netic field, the fluids show non-Newtonian
behavior—meaning the viscosity changes
under stress—and particles polarize to
form a chain or columnar structure parallel
to the applied field. This increases the
Composition of Prepared MR Greases
Ingredient (weight %) MR Grease 1 MR Grease 2
Grease 24.6 24.6
Oil 25.0 25.0
Iron powder 48.0 50.0
Guar gum 2.0 — —
Additive package 0.4 0.4
42 JUNE 2020
apparent viscosity of the fluid and devel-
ops yield stress, which is known as magne-
torheological effect, he added.
Sukhwani said the MR technology has
good potential for various engineering
applications demanding controllability in
operation, but there are some problems
associated with the fluids. In addition to
a high cost of approximately $500 to
$600 per liter, they suffer from the prob-
lems of sedimentation and agglomeration
of magnetic particles. They also require
excellent sealing to prevent leakage. MR
fluids subjected to long-term dynamic
use progressively thicken and eventually
become an unworkable paste, he noted.
“The cost of MR fluid is the major hur-
dle in its commercial viability, and sedi-
mentation is the major issue in its
mechanical applications,” he told
Lubes’n’Greases.
Grease to the Rescue
Highlighting the benefits of grease,
Sukhwani said the ability of any viscoplas-
tic medium—which is capable of chang-
ing viscosity—to suspend isolated parti-
cles is characterized by the gravity yield
parameter, wherein a higher value means
higher sedimentation stability. Generally,
grease has a higher value of yield stress
compared to any liquid, such as oil, and
therefore grease is a better option for
preventing sedimentation compared to a
liquid lubricant, he said.
Sukhwani pointed out that the use of
grease as a thickening agent in the com-
position of MR fluids offers a single solu-
tion for both sedimentation and sealing
problems.
MR grease consists of a base oil, a
thickening agent (grease), a compatible
additive package and soft magnetic parti-
cles, which are easy to magnetize and
MR Grease 3
39.6
25.00
35.00
0.4
Source: V. K. Sukhwani
demagnetize. Such grease has the same response to a magnetic field. Consistency
quality of changing consistency upon was measured using the ASTM D217 and
application of a magnetic field, just like ASTM D1403 standard test methods,
MR fluids, Sukhwani said. But even better while a grease penetrometer (PNR-10
than MR fluids, “MR grease remains with- Petrotest) was used to measure the NLGI
in the device without any aid of sealing grade.
mechanism, with very good resistance For measurement of consistency, the
against settling of the magnetic particles,” magnetic field was varied by applying the
he added. desired electric current using a DC power
The potential application areas of MR supply. Tests were performed at five differ-
grease are automotive dampers, brakes ent currents: 0.0 ampere, 0.5 A, 1.0 A, 1.5
and clutches, engine mounts, earthquake A and 2.0 A. The full-scale measurement
dampers, shock absorbers, actuator sys- using the ASTM D217 test method
tems and even prosthetic knee dampers. showed that the magnetorheological
Sukhwani noted that a number of MR effect produced—the incremental change
devices and commercial MR fluids are in consistency—was not as large as
available in the market. A few patents expected. Sukhwani believed this was due
have been granted for MR grease compo- to the large diameter of the grease cup
sition, but no commercial MR grease has (75 mm), as the intensity of the magnetic
been made available by any manufacturer field would be lower at the center of the
in the market so far. cup where the tip of the cone penetrates.
In order to generate more magnetic
Putting MR Grease to the Test field at the center of the cup, a smaller
To evaluate the performance of MR cup and cone (half-scale measurement as
grease, Sukhwani conducted a per ASTM D1403) was used as
study and prepared three an alternative. Tests were
experimental MR greases repeated and the resulting val-
using economical electrolytic ues were converted to full-
iron powder, lithium complex scale cup and cone readings.
NLGI 2 grease, mineral oil and To study sedimentation sta-
an additive package for anti- bility, the prepared greases
wear, anti-corrosion, antioxi- were placed in three similar
dant and lubricity properties. graduated cylindrical flasks
Grease 1 contained iron and observed for their sedi-
particles coated with guar V.K. Sukhwani mentation behavior over a
gum, which is used as a thick- period of time. The pressure
ening agent, emulsifier and suspension filtration method (IP 121) was used to
stabilizer. Grease 2 and Grease 3 were determine the greases’ tendency for oil
prepared with different weight percent- separation during storage, while the con-
ages of the same ingredients and con- ical sieve method (ASTM D6184) was
tained iron particles without guar gum. used to determine oil separation at an
All three preparations were examined elevated temperature of 100 degrees
for their sedimentation stability, oil separa- Celsius.
tion and change in consistency in Sukhwani said that all three MR greases
Change in NLGI Number with Magnetic Field (Converted to full scale penetration)
MR Grease 1 MR Grease 2 MR Grease 3
Current amp Magnetic field (Oe)
Penetration NLGI No. Penetration NLGI No. Penetration
00 00 401 00 407 00 367
0.5 91.38 375 0 379 0 341
1.0 182.76 331 1 333 1 319
1.5 274.16 285 2 291 2 293
2.0 365.54 235 3 247 3 265
remained in a stable and well-dispersed
state without sedimentation for “quite a
long time.” The tests showed that synthe-
sized MR grease has better sedimentation
stability than MR fluid, because as a thick-
ening agent the grease’s yield stress is
large enough to prevent particle sedi-
mentation in the suspension. Grease 3
showed maximum sedimentation stability
because it contained the highest percent-
age of thickener. The sedimentation sta-
bility of Grease 1 (containing guar gum-
coated iron particles) was better than
Grease 2, demonstrating that guar gum
plays an important role in preventing
sedimentation of particles.
For all three greases, oil separation dur-
ing storage and at elevated temperature
was reasonably low due to the low “off
state” consistency of the greases. The low-
est oil separation during storage, as well as
at elevated temperature, was observed for
Grease 3, which contained the highest
percentage of thickener. Oil separation
was less for Grease 1, the composition
with guar gum, as compared to Grease 2,
which did not have this additive.
The experiment revealed that greater
variation in consistency with the magnetic
field (higher magnetorheological effect)
was observed for MR grease with more
iron particles. Sukhwani said the MR
grease also showed good sealing and pre-
vented leakage, which is a common prob-
lem observed in devices using MR fluids.
He concluded that research related to
MR grease shows that it offers a solution
to the two most important problems of
MR fluids: It can mitigate the sedimenta-
tion of magnetic particles and solve the
leakage problem from devices. However,
more research is required to optimize
MR grease composition and accurately
model its behavior, Sukhwani noted. ❚
NLGI No.
0
1
1
2
2
LUBES’N’GREASES 43
 PRODUCT NEWS
PRODUCT NEWS
Automatic Lubrication
W eir Minerals’
Accumin Lubricators
for mining equipment
are designed to prevent
bearing failures, reduce
maintenance downtime
and increase safety by
decreasing the amount
Mining with less of manual maintenance,
maintenance the company claims. The
lubricators are produced
in 125 cubic centime-
ter gas-driven configura-
tions as well as 120cm3,
250cm3 and 500cm3 elec-
tromechanically-driven
configurations. They can
be installed up to five
meters away from the
lubrication point, allowing
easy access to the mount
while dispensing a con-
sistent dose of lubricant,
regardless of ambient
temperature. The system
can be easily monitored
Watching for washout with an LCD display, a
flashing LED alert system
and a transparent grease
cartridge. Web: www.
global.weir
Testing Tools
K oehler Instrument Co.
has two new machines
on the market. The
K192X1 Water Washout
Tester features integrated
digital temperature control
at 100 degrees Fahrenheit
and 175 F, a digital timer,
compact design and a
High-tech viscosity
testing
large viewing window
that enables the user
to see the test being
44 JUNE 2020
performed. The compa-
ny is also marketing the
updated Omnitek S-flow
IV+ Automatic Houillon
Viscosity System, which
can test a wide range of
lubricant viscosities. The
bench-top system can run
tests simultaneously at
two different temperatures
and has a high throughput
of up to 80 samples per
hour. Web: www.
koehlerinstrument.com
Engine Oils for GF-6
C hampion Brands
launched updated
versions of its SynClean
and SynGold motor oils.
In accordance with the
new API SP and ILSAC
GF-6 specifications, the
reformulated oils feature
improved resistance to
low-speed pre-ignition,
reduced wear and stretch-
ing of timing chains, better
oxidation resistance, and
improved sludge and var-
nish resistance. The com-
pany claims that both oils
exceed the API SP specifi-
cation. SAE 0W-20, 5W-20,
0W-30 and 5W-30 grades
also exceed the require-
ments of the “resource
conserving” designation
and ILSAC GF-6A. Web:
www.championbrands.
com
Buy Chemicals Online
B ASF Fuel and Lubricant
Solutions, in coopera-
tion with technology com-
pany Agilis, has launched
a new digital sales
platform for its Oppanol
polyisobutene product
line. The platform allows
customers located in the
United States to place
orders, track the status
of those orders and make
secure payments online.
The portal also offers
several features that
make the chemical buying
process easier and more
efficient, such as two-click
reordering. The company
says the new chemical
purchasing tool will also
make transactions more
transparent for customers.
Web: www.basf.com
Better Base Oil
N ynas has launched
Nynas BT 22, a new
22 centistoke naphthenic
base oil with an opti-
mized viscosity index for
maximum cooling and to
facilitate blending with
other base oils. It has
better low-temperature
performance compared to
products of similar viscos-
ity, the company claims. It
can also be blended with
other types of base oils to
increase or reduce viscosi-
ty and improve the solven-
cy of the blends. The oil
can be used in metalwork-
ing fluid formulations such
as emulsion coolants, and
it performs well in indus-
trial lubricant applications
including hydraulic fluids
and greases. Web: www.
nynas.com
Digital Maintenance
Platform
S hell Oil Products US
has debuted its Shell
Fleet Maintenance Hub, a
digital platform that grants
users access to all of their
fleet maintenance data
as well as a network of
discounted maintenance
providers. The platform
also allows users to
schedule service, approve
or decline work, pay for
maintenance and cre-
ate user permissions to
streamline the fleet man-
agement process. The
hub offers customers up
to 26 percent off standard
retail pricing when they
book services through
the platform. By provid-
ing users with a view of
dynamic pricing metrics
and cost per mile for each
vehicle or the fleet as a
whole, coupled with main-
tenance alert notifications,
the platform can also help
managers more accurate-
ly forecast their annual
budget, Shell says. Web:
www.shell.us
API Motor Oil Guide
T he American Petroleum
Institute has published
its updated Engine Oil
Licensing & Certification
System Motor Oil Guide.
The latest version pro-
vides a quick reference
Let’s talk
chemistry
to the newest gasoline
and diesel motor oil
specifications and service
categories, certification
marks and service sym-
bols, including API SP and
ILSAC GF-6. It also lists
now-obsolete gasoline
Bring out the base oil.
and diesel engine oil cat-
egories and distinguish-
es how old categories
differ from new ones.
The guide is useful in
helping consumers more
easily choose the correct
licensed engine oil for
their vehicle or fleet, the
organization says. Web:
www.api.org z
Modern maintenance management
Send your product
news to ProductNews
@LubesNGreases.com.
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That’s why we have over 50 years of
experience providing a full range of
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LUBES’N’GREASES 45
 PLACES ’ N ’ FACES
PLACES ’ N ’ FACES
U.S. Lifts Sanctions
on Nynas
N ynas AB announced
last month that
Petroleos de Venezuela
S.A. sold a 35 percent
stake in the company,
resulting in the United
States lifting sanctions
against Nynas.
PdVSA owned 50.001
percent of Nynas, which
subjected the Swedish
refiner to U.S. economic
sanctions aimed at pun-
ishing the Venezuelan
administration of Nicolas
GP Global storage containers in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. GP Global acquired the lubricants assets of Lagos, Nigeria-based Grand Petroleum.
46 JUNE 2020
Maduro.
Nynas, one of the
world’s largest suppliers
of naphthenic base stocks,
blamed those sanctions
for financial problems that
forced it to file for reorga-
nization in a Swedish court
on Dec. 13.
The 35 percent stake
passed to an indepen-
dent Swedish foundation
created specifically to
allow PdVSA to reduce its
holding. Nynas did not say
whether the foundation
is intended to keep that
stake or if it is just holding
it temporarily. Officials
said that the divestment
will allow Nynas to com-
plete its reorganization.
Finnish oil company
Neste still owns the
remaining 49.999 percent
of Nynas.
The lifting of sanctions
means U.S. companies no
longer require an authori-
zation from the U.S. Office
of Foreign Assets Control
to engage in transactions
or activities with Nynas.
The company can now
Photo: anaova/Shutterstock

secure financing to buy
necessary crude oil.
GP Global Acquires
Nigerian Blender
G P Global acquired
the lubricants assets
of Lagos, Nigeria-based
Grand Petroleum. A GP
Global executive said the
acquisition is part of a bid
to expand its lubricant and
base oil operations.
Grand Petroleum, part
of the Nigerian industri-
al conglomerate Nosak
Group, operates a 50,000
t/y lubricant blending
plant in Lagos. The acqui-
sition includes Grand
Petroleum’s distribution
network and the HiSpeed
lubricant brand. Terms
were not disclosed. GP
Global said it will also use
the facilities, with storage
tank capacity of 6,000
kiloliters, to store and dis-
tribute base oils.
The acquisition is United
Arab Emirates-based GP
Global’s first foray into
the African lubes market
since its acquisitions of
Ipol Lubricants and Mag
Lube in 2014. The compa-
ny also has manufacturing
partnerships with Repsol
and Cepsa and recently
announced the construc-
tion of a $14 million lube
Partner with
Metalloid Corporation
to Build Your Brand
WHAT’S
YOUR
BRAND?
blending plant in India.
The company aims to
produce 450,000 metric
Private Label - Your Logo - Your Way
tons of lubricants five
Large Product Line – Once Source
years from now. It sells
Renewable Green Bio-Stable Solutions
industrial and automotive
lubricants, process oils,
transformer oils, greases
Low minimum Order
Drop Shipping
ISO Certified
and specialty oils.
CONTACT METALLOID CORPORATION
Interchange Emergency 800-686-3201
Enacted for Additives For More Information Visit us on the Web:
T he American Chemistry
Council’s Petroleum
Additives Panel developed
www.metalloidcorp.com
an emergency protocol to
deal with what could be
S!
RI es
CE
L P ud
unprecedented disruption
OI cl
E in
to additive supply chains
UD ow
CR N
due to the covid-19 pan-
demic.
The protocol provides
general guidelines for
additive companies to
replace chemical com-
ponents if a material nor-
mally used in a finished
lubricant or an additive
package becomes unavail- No one knows where base oil
able. The guidelines can and crude prices are going...
be found on the ACC’s
But we can tell you where they’ve been.
website.
PAP officials noted that
Get timely, accurate Base Oil and Crude Pricing Data
the industry already has from Lubes’n’Greases.
the American Petroleum • Data from 2004 to today
Institute’s Emergency • Competitive pricing
• Excel and other formats
Provisional Licensing pro-
cess, which allows individ-
ual engine oil marketers to Order Your Base Oil and Crude Pricing Data Today
apply for changes to the www.BaseOilPrices.com
formulations of licensed
LUBES’N’GREASES 47
 PLACES ’ N ’ FACES
products by making substitutions
in case of disruptions to their sup-
ply chain. However, panel member
companies realized that the API
1509 process alone could be insuffi-
cient to address widespread global
disruptions for multiple lubricant oil
additive suppliers.
The Petroleum Additives Panel
said it was enacting its emergency
protocol for 120 days but has the
ability to extend that period. Once
it expires, companies will have 90
days to revert to original formulas
unless they are following their own
management process, in which case
those must be completed within
180 days.
Oil Trader Ensnared
in Scandal
H in Leong Trading, the giant oil
trader at the center of one of
Asia’s biggest current business
scandals, is also a lubricants suppli-
er and one of China’s biggest inde-
pendent grease producers.
The Singapore-based company—
along with its shipping arm, Ocean
Tankers—filed in a Singapore court
on April 17 for bankruptcy protec-
tion from creditors. In the filing, Hin
Leong founder Lim Oon Kuin admit-
ted that the company ran up $800
million in losses in recent years
from oil futures trading and that he
instructed the company’s finance
department not to report them. The
company reported a $78 million
profit for the fiscal year that ended
in October but has lost money for
several years, the filing said.
The creditors from whom the
company is seeking protection
include 23 banks that are owed a
combined $3.9 billion.
After banks objected to the
bankruptcy filing, Hin Leong
48 JUNE 2020
withdrew it and requested that
PricewaterhouseCoopers be
appointed judicial manager.
The company’s Singapore blend-
ing plant has capacity to make
50,000 tons per year of marine,
automotive and industrial lubes. It
also operates a 10,000 t/y grease
plant in Fuzhou city, in China’s
Fujian province, where the company
has a second 50,000 t/y lubricant
plant.
Pandemic Brings
Closures, Furloughs
I n an attempt to protect their bal-
ance sheets as demand bottoms
out, lubricant companies are tamp-
ing down production and personnel
costs.
Calumet Specialty Products
Partners L.P. announced in early
April that it would close its Bel-Ray
lubricants plant in Farmingdale, New
Jersey, which produces synthetic,
industrial and commercial lubricat-
ing oils.
The company also planned to fur-
lough manufacturing employees at
its refinery and polyol ester-based
synthetic lubricant production facili-
ty in Louisiana, Missouri.
Calumet said these and other
measures will save $20 million to
$30 million.
Some used oil rerefineries have
announced similar measures.
Safety-Kleen shuttered nearly half
of its production in April, including
its 1,200 b/d rerefinery in Newark,
California, which had just reopened
at the end of 2019 after an approxi-
mately two-year hiatus. Parent com-
pany Clean Harbors has downsized
its workforce through furloughs and
other actions.
Heritage-Crystal Clean moved
up planned maintenance at its
Indianapolis plant from autumn
to May and said it would evaluate
whether to keep the refinery idle
until market conditions improve. The
company is also implementing fur-
lough and workshare programs and
suspending all non-essential capital
expenditures.
Briefly Noted
T he Chinese government an­
nounced a six-month postpone-
ment of its China VI emissions
standard for light-duty vehicles,
which had been scheduled to
take effect July 1. The delay was
approved in order to assist the
nation’s automobile industry,
which has seen a sharp drop
in sales during the covid-19 pan-
demic.
Tatneft has finished building a
$13.4 million, 25,000 t/y lubricants
blending plant at the site of its
Taneco refinery in Nizhnekamsk,
Russia, with plans to start opera-
tions this month.
Southwest Dingsheng Energy
plans to build a base oil rerefinery in
Xi Feng County, Guizhou province in
China. The 159.8 million yuan ($22.6
million) API Group I plant will have
capacity to produce 60,000 t/y.
Clean Harbors acquired an
API Group II+ rerefinery in New
Hampshire from Green View
Technologies Inc. The rerefinery
has Group II+ base oil production
capacity of about 260 b/d.
Faces in the News
J . Kent Masters has been named
chairman, president and CEO of
global specialty chemical company
Albemarle Corp.
The Society of Tribologists and
Lubrication Engineers elected Paul
Hetherington from Petro-Canada
Lubricants Inc. as the organization’s
2020-2021 president.
Paul Hetherington
Suzan Jagger has been named
vice president of the IHS Markit
Oil, Midstream and Downstream
Consulting team.
Suzan Jagger
Chris Wholley succeeded Peter
Vickers—who will remain as chair-
man—as managing director of
UK-based Vickers Oils on March 30.
Wholley has served as deputy man-
aging director for several years and
as technical director since 2002.
Chris Wholley
Idemitsu Lubricants America
appointed Michael Park senior direc-
tor of aftermarket sales and opera-
tions in North America. z
INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
ADNOC … 51 Lubes’n’Greases Base Oil
Pricing Data … 47
Alnor Oil Company … 15
Metalloid Corporation … 47
Battenfeld Grease & Oil
Corp. of NY … Back Cover Petronas … 27
Biederman Enterprises … 25 PPC Lubricants … 23
Calumet Specialty Products ProSys Servo Filling Systems … 31
Partners … 13
Sea-Land Chemical … 45
Elco Corporation … 14
SK Lubricants … 9
Ergon … 7
Soltex … 10
HollyFrontier … 5
Tulstar Products Inc. … 49
IPAC … 2
Lexolube Div. Zschimmer &
Schwarz, Inc. … 30
Loadmaster Lubricants … 11
LUBES’N’GREASES 49
 BASE OIL REPORT

A Little Bit of Sunshine By Gabriela Wheeler

W
ith the gradual reopening of consumption and process oil demand
businesses and easing of lock- from the tire segment, amid a slowdown
downs imposed to fight the in many other fragments of the market.
coronavirus pandemic, it seemed that the The dramatic slump in base oil demand
population in most countries was starting and the collapse of crude oil futures—
to see a little bit of sunshine at the end of which on April 20 registered negative
a very long, dark and uncertain tunnel. figures for the first time in history—drove
Covid-19 has not only been the main- both naphthenic and paraffinic producers
spring of a staggering death toll but also to offer individual discounts and imple-
of catastrophic implications for most of ment price reductions.
the world’s economies and, more specifi- Naphthenic producers Ergon and
cally, the base oils and lubricants industry. Calumet introduced decreases of 35 cents
Analysts predicted that gasoline and per gallon, while San Joaquin Refining
lubricants demand—which was esti- lowered prices by 20 cents, with the
mated to have plummeted by at least exception of its transformer oils, during
Gabriela Wheeler 50 percent—would improve once peo- the last week of April. Cross Oil evaluated
ple returned to work and businesses accounts on a case-by-case basis.
reopened. Many may prefer not to take There were no posted price revisions on
public transportation for fear of infection the paraffinic side, but spot prices plum-
and may even be willing to drive long meted due to a lack of demand, coupled
distances as airlines have cut back flight with growing inventories at several plants.
schedules and were likely to increase A number of suppliers granted hefty
fares. temporary voluntary allowances or value
While an easing of stay-at-home orders adjustments to invigorate orders.
and rising mobility may translate into While the easing of lockdowns ushered
more lubricant demand from the automo- in a slightly sunnier outlook for the mar-
tive segment, new car sales were expect- ket, participants held onto cloudier expec-
ed to be significantly down because of tations and acknowledged that it may take
the battered financial situation of many a long time to get back to pre-pandemic
families. This decrease in car sales was activity levels—perhaps even years. z
likely to affect factory-fill motor oil

4.0 Group I
Base Oil
3.5
Base Oil Group II
Base Oil
3.0
and Crude Brent
Price (U.S. $/gallon)

2.5 Crude
Prices
2.0 West Texas
Intermediate Crude
1.5
Base oil prices are low-
1.0 est U.S. postings of the
month for mid-vis grade
before applicable dis-
0.5 counts. Crude prices are
monthly averages.
0.0 Sources: Lubes’n’Greases
research, U.S. Energy Information
Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. Administration
20

50 JUNE 2020
 “Battenfeld strives to deliver on our ‘Quality Without Compromise’
pledge everyday, because our employees won’t accept anything
less. Our integrity is on the line. You can see that in the face of
every one of them.”
– Barbara Bellanti - CEO, Battenfeld Grease Inc.

Battenfeld Grease – 1174 Erie Avenue, N. Tonawanda, NY 14120 – P: 716.695.2100 F: 716.695.0367

Battenfeld-American – 1575 Clinton Street, Buffalo, NY 14206 – P: 716.822.8410
Battenfeld Grease (Canada) Ltd. – 68 Titan Road, Toronto, Canada M8Z2J8 – Ph: 416.239.1548 ISO 9001:2000 • QS-9000:1998