Synthetic lubricants have unlocked innumerable new possibilities for equipment performance, but as we look ahead to the future of lubricant innovation, research and development will be increasingly influenced by trends beyond productivity.
Reaching new levels of efficiency Enhancing equipment efficiency has become a top priority for businesses and consumers alike. Industrial operators have already begun implementing energy efficiency strategies that can help them combat rising electricity costs and deliver on sustainability-related goals, while owners of passenger vehicles are increasingly looking for technologies that can help improve fuel efficiency to keep their vehicles running smoothly and save them money over the long-term.
Lubricants play a direct role in helping manage energy efficiency. Lubricants help mitigate friction, which is a major cause of energy loss for modern machinery. In fact, some estimates state that between 25 and 30 percent of all energy produced in modern machines is consumed by friction. That’s why businesses and consumers have gained significant interest in energy and fuel efficient lubricant technologies.
Let’s consider, for example, lower viscosity lubricants. In passenger vehicles, where journeys can be short and lubricants do not have much time in service to reach operating temperature, conventional oils with higher viscosities are not as efficient as lower viscosity oils, as the energy required to move mechanical parts through the cold oil results in increased energy losses from viscous churning.
Conversely, lower viscosity oils can deliver effective equipment protection through rapid circulation, while reducing friction within the engine at low-temperature start-up, thereby delivering higher fuel economy. As a result, the conventional 15W-40 engine oil grade has been largely replaced by 5W-30 synthetic lubricant grades, with even lower viscosity solutions such as 0W-20, 0W-16, and 0W-8 grades also being introduced.
The same phenomenon applies to industrial equipment. Synthetic oils formulated with base stocks that have low traction coefficients can help deliver efficiency gains. Through extensive research, we’ve found that using a lubricant formulated with base stocks that have low traction coefficients, which help to reduce frictional energy losses
within industrial pumps, can decrease temperatures in machinery by up to 13°C.
A lubricant that enhances volumetric and mechanical efficiency will reduce friction within the pump and generate less heat. High temperatures, therefore, signal energy inefficiency. We used thermal imaging to compare lubricants in simple hydraulic circuits to determine their relative efficiency by comparing heat generation.
As the importance of efficiency goals continues to grow around the world, lubricant manufacturers will continue developing more advanced lubricant technologies that can deliver incremental efficiency improvements.
Beyond molecules: the emergence of modern lubrication services In addition to using high quality lubricants, customers are also increasingly seeking opportunities to optimize lubrication through the use of effective services that can help them save time, reduce costs and enhance safety.
Some lubricant brands are providing lube oil change services through dedicated service centers in many markets around the world, making it easier for consumers to understand the best lubricant choice for their vehicles and to simplify the oil change process.
Industrial customers can also benefit from services like used oil analysis programs, which can help optimize equipment performance by providing the data needed to maximize the life of your equipment and ensure that you are maintaining it properly.
Looking ahead, companies will have to innovate to ensure that these services are relevant in our increasingly digitized world where technologies such as mobile are king. One example of this innovation is mobile-enabled used oil
analysis services – like ExxonMobil’s Mobil ServSM
Lubricant Analysis service –
where industrial and commercial vehicle fleet operators can manage their used oil analysis programs entirely through a mobile or tablet device.
A bright future ahead The lubricants industry remains committed to playing a role in helping advance the new, cutting-edge machines that will continue to power our world and providing end users with the solutions they need to achieve their productivity, sustainability and safety goals.
And, as the innovation of petroleum- based products, additive compounds and synthetic technologies demonstrated, lubricants will not only help protect new machinery, but enable its proliferation. New, more energy efficient lubricants and future synthetic technologies that can deliver double the oil life of today’s synthetic technologies will open up new possibilities for machine design.
The lubricants industry has come a long way since its arrival more than 150 years ago, but there’s still much more innovation and progress to come in the years and decades ahead. An exciting future lies ahead.
LINK
www.mobil.com/industrial
LUBE MAGAZINE NO.138 APRIL 2017
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