SECTOR FOCUS: RENEWABLES
Can Renewable Polyols lubricate the future?
A new generation of renewable polyols is helping the lubrication industry towards a more sustainable tomorrow.
Authors: Anna Berggren, Business Developer Pro-Environment Solutions; Jenny Klevås, Market Segment Manager; Amir Farrokh Farzaneh, Global Technical Development Manager - Perstorp
Lubricants make the world go round, literally, ensuring that the engines and compressors that run our industrial machinery, vehicles, agricultural equipment and household and office appliances, like air-conditioners, are able to run.
They are so important to our modern, industrial economies that, annually, the global lubricants industry is worth more than USD 60-billion1 a recent study2
These challenges, and the extensive availability of chemicals and compounds from renewable sources have driven the development of a new generation of so called bio-lubricants, partially, or fully, formulated with bio-based, renewable polyols, ready to be used in base stock (POE) for the 21st century.
today and by the management consulting firm,
McKinsey, found that the global lubricants value pool is expected to grow by almost 50% by 2035, driven by the road transport, transport equipment and Fast Moving Consumer Goods sectors. Yet, the report also warns of disruptive factors that could lead to lower volume growth and pose significant threats to profitability – among them, green regulation.
It’s true that at a time of environmental uncertainty, and with action needed on critical global issues such as climate change, the heavy footprint of conventional, fossil based, lubricants, oils and greases is increasingly in the spotlight – not only around carbon emissions but also the issue of what to do with the oil waste.
28 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.153 OCTOBER 2019
As research and development in this area continues to accelerate, bio-lubricants are increasingly in demand due to their superior qualities and because of their non-toxic, biodegradable and renewable properties.
There has been a big shift quite recently, from talking about sustainability to actually starting to do things. Sustainability actions are really taking off and renewables are a part of this. Looking to the future makes us hopeful but we have great challenges ahead of us.
Synthetic polyolesters
Every lubricant is based on a basestock and polyolester oils fall under Group V base oils, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API), as advanced, synthetic oils. They are cleaner than mineral or fossil based oils and provide higher performance, with high
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