Lube-Tech


The standards, labels and legislations that specifically deal with lubricants are:


• European Ecolabel, Nordic Swan, Swedish Standards, Blue Angel...: certifying label schemes covering environmentally acceptable lubricants;


• Vessel General Permit: mandatory use of Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants;


• OSPAR: international convention for the protection of marine environment;


• US Biopreferred: USDA labelling initiative for biobased products.


They actually set targets and limits on: • Environmental impact, through aquatic toxicity, biodegradability, and bioaccumulation;


• Innocuity of products, through toxicity and risks associated to exposure;


• Fossil resources depletion, through renewable carbon content; • Performance and durability, through technical specifications.


Whilst environmentally acceptable lubricants have long been considered low performance products, it is certainly not the case any more thanks to the inclusion of performance requirements in standards.


Amongst them, the European Ecolabel appears to be the labelling program that comes closest to sustainability considerations: innocuity, renewability, performance and durability.


However, Ecolabel and similar programmes in Europe are voluntary schemes, whereas OSPAR and Vessel General Permit requirements are mandatory.


The OSPAR has been translated into mandatory requirements in the UK, Netherlands and Norway waters, aiming at protecting marine environment. The Vessel General Permit requires ship operators to use Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants in all oil-to-sea interfaces, in the US waters.


4. Synthetic esters Synthetic esters are base fluids that belong to group V. They are used, in particular, to formulate high performance lubricants. Synthetic esters combine a number of specific features:


a. Their remarkable thermo-oxidative stability extends the lifetime of lubricants and provides excellent cleanliness on equipment.


Increased power density in engines generate better energy efficiency, but also causes more fouling and deposit formation, and costly maintenance operations and downtime. It may also decrease lifetime of lubricants and shorten drain intervals.


34 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.141 OCTOBER 2017 Figure 2. Friction coefficients of various basestocks (HFRR)


c. They also display low volatility features, which translate into low flammability/fire resistant properties.


The polarity of esters increases intermolecular forces and reduces volatility. In addition to extending durability of the lubricant, this feature makes for added safety through fire resistance properties.


Flash points of over 300°C may be obtained on synthetic esters at ISO VG 46, and up to 320°C at ISO VG 100.


d. The vast majority of synthetic esters is harmless to human health, animals or aquatic organisms, as demonstrated by extensive testing related to REACH registration procedures.


e. They have the potential to biodegrade. A great number of esters falls into the “readily or inherently biodegradable” category according to OECD 301B test method, an ultimate biodegradability test.


Biodegradability of synthetic esters may reach 90%. This is structure dependent. However, the source of fatty acids used (petroleum, vegetable) has no impact.


Figure 1. Micro-coking test (GFC Lu-27-A-13) on fully formulated compressor oils


b. Their natural lubricity reduces wear and friction losses, thus improving energy efficiency. This is due to the affinity of esters with metal surfaces, making them friction modifiers.


It is estimated that one third of the total energy produced globally is lost through friction3


. The use of synthetics in


general, and esters in particular, does result in improved energy efficiency (Figure 2).


PUBLISHED BY LUBE: THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE


No.112 page 2


In compressor oils, for instance, the use of synthetic esters improves cleanliness and extends lifetimes of oils to over 10,000 h (Figure 1).


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