Chairman’s Report
Andrew Goddard, Chairman, Verification of Lubricant Specifications
Additives provide the very essence of performance in any modern day lubricant, whether automotive, industrial or even food grade.
Although in themselves additives can make up as little as 10 percent of the final engine oil formulation, their role in ensuring that a lubricant performs as expected, cannot be underestimated.
It is worth remembering that any product claims relating to OEM specifications or common industry standards relate to the finished lubricant and not just the additive package.
If the additive company is making any claims against common standards for automotive engine oil such as those of the American Petroleum Institute (API), the European Association of OEMs (ACEA), or specific manufacturer standards (OEMs), then they will need to follow the relevant codes of practice relating to those standards which are set out by the relevant industry body.
These could include for example the American Chemistry Council (ACC) for API claims or the Additive Technical Committee (ATC) for ACEA claims.
Contained within those codes of practice are guidelines on how the Additive Company should perform the programme of testing on the lubricant to determine its performance characteristics, including any modifications made or registrations attained. This information then forms part of a data pack that accompanies the additive package.
The test programme reports contained within the data pack should then be made available to any customer of the Additive Company who requests them and is
64 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.147 OCTOBER 2018
usually a service that is provided by the Additive Company to prove their performance claims.
For ACEA claims there is the additional requirements set out
by ATIEL, the Technical Association of the European Lubricants Industry which forms part of the code of practice and is contained within the European Engine Lubricants Quality Management System (EELQMS).
For OEM claims again the Additive Company should have a set of OEM approval forms which can be provided to the customer as evidence that the testing programme has been conducted and all testing requirements passed.
If a particular Additive Company is not following these ‘rules’ then ATC, for example, may be in the best place to handle any concern initially and remind them of their obligations.
It is worth remembering that the lubricant marketer is responsible for the products they market and they need to ensure that they have all the requirements in place to be making any performance claims which include a full set of passing tests (chemical, physical, rig and engine), as well as letters of conformance, or approvals letters.
I am grateful for the support of Ted Wright, Chairman of the VLS Technical Panel, and Nick Clague, SK Lubricants’ Global Technical Manager for their help in preparing this article.
LINK
www.ukla-vls.org.uk
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