lubes n greases mar 15

8/20/2019 Lubes n Greases Mar 15

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/lubes-n-greases-mar-15 1/44

Group I Fade-outContinues

SAE J300: Fuel

Economy Enigma

M A R C H 2 0 1 5 V O L . 2 1 I S S U E 3


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/lubes-n-greases-mar-15 2/44LUBES’N’GREASES

LUBES’N’GREASES®

“The Magazine of Industry in Motion”LNG Publishing Company, Inc.7389 Lee Hwy. Suite 300Falls Church, VA 22042 USA Phone: (703) 536-0800Fax: (703) 536-0803Website: www.LubesnGreases.comE-mail: [email protected]

Nancy J. DeMarcoPublisher Emerita

Howard BriskinPublisher

Lisa TocciManaging Editor

Greg Whitlow Art Director

Sheryl UnangstDirector, Audience Development

Robert GreenCirculation Assistant Manager

Richard Beercheck, Joe Beeton, JeongmaeChoi, George Gill, Tom Glenn, Jack Goodhue, Boris Kamchev, Sara Lefcourt,Raquel Sands, Tim Sullivan, Steve Swedberg,Wang Fangqing, Gabriela WheelerContributors

Gloria Steinberg BriskinManaging Director/Vice President, Advertising

Phone: (703) 536-7676, (800) [email protected]

Megan Matchett Account Manager [email protected]

Advertising Production:Laura Hughes Supervisor

Bronte Beale Assistant

Lubes’n’Greases (ISSN1080-9449), an independent

trade magazine, is published monthly by LNG

Publishing Company, Inc. Copyright 2015,

LNG Publishing Company, Inc. Printed in USA.

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,

volume buyers and users, or as suppliers who maintain

close ties to the lubricants industry. Qualification is sub-

ject to publisher’s approval. Subscriptions to the print

edition outside the United States and Canada: $120 for

12 issues; $225 for 24 issues.Subscriptions to the digital edition are free to

qualified subscribers worldwide.

Periodicals postage paid at Falls Church, VA and

additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to

Lubes’n’Greases, LNG Publishing Company, Inc.,

7389 Lee Hwy., Suite 300,

Falls Church, VA 22042 USA.

CANADA POST Agreement 40064709.

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:

IMS, P.O. Box 122, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6S8

Lubes’n’Greases® is a registered trademark of

LNG Publishing Company, Inc.

into their economies, it will have a big

impact.”

Lubricants should see some lift in

demand, as spending rises in consumer

automotive, aviation, commercial trans-

portation and other sectors. International

car sales will be tugged higher, and after-

market lube demand could pick up every-

where. “For every 10 percent drop in oil

prices, you get about a 2 percent rise in

vehicle miles driven — and we’ve been

seeing oil drops of 20 to 30 percent,”Kalkmann reminded.

Finally, base oil demand will firm, with

more API Group II and III needed for the

new vehicles sold. “We’re also going to

see some increased use of Group I as

more kilometers are driven in developing

countries, because Group I is still more

affordable for those markets,” he said.

While too late for some (see page 22), “a

bump in demand for Group I may delay

the closing of other Group I plants.”Of course, things still could go pear-

shaped. Citing an industry adage,

Kalkmann admitted that “Forecasting

global oil prices makes astrology look

respectable.”

Howard Briskin

[email protected]

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

It’s mid-February, crude oil costs half of

what it did last summer, and most dri-

vers can pass a service station without

flinching. Even our London cabbie is pretty

mellow; with petrol hovering about GBP

1.09 a liter, there’s none of the usual eye-

rolling when he learns we’re headed for an

oil industry event.

At the ICIS World Base Oils & Lubricants

Conference, Lubes’n’Greases hears Jaap

Kalkmann, a partner at Arthur D. Little, pre-

dict, “Crude prices are unlikely to go muchabove $50 a barrel for several months, and

at times may be even lower.” With supply

heavily outweighing demand, he expects

crude to average around $70/bbl in 2016

and hover there for another two or three

years beyond.

On a global scale, who benefits most

from low-priced crude? First in line are oil-

buying countries, who are getting an enor-

mous “transfer of wealth” in the form of

money that stays in their pockets ratherthan flow to oil-rich nations. The wealth

transfer due to oil’s price decline could

amount to $1 trillion a year, Kalkmann said.

“The International Monetary Fund predict-

ed a 1 percent bonus in GDP growth for

China because of lower crude oil prices,”

he added, “and if countries like India and

China can manage to pump that money

A Lift for Lubes?

Howard Briskin


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/lubes-n-greases-mar-15 3/444 MARCH 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTSF E A T U R E S :

22 Colas Joins Group I Exodus. Colas Group will stop

making base oil at its refinery in France by the end of

this month — the latest in a parade of Europeans

leaving the Group I arena.

28 Is Fuel Economy Hiding in SAE J300? As written, the

current standard for defining engine oil viscosity

grades may actually be hindering efforts to find fuel

savings, contends Don Smolenski.

34 Weighing the Flexitank Option. Industrial packaging’s

rising star is a 6,000-gallon plastic bag, fitted into a

standard shipping container. Is it right for your base

oils and lubes?

40 Gathering Clouds. Brazil appears to be falling behind

on its targets for gathering used oil, missing some

14.7 million liters in first-half 2014 alone. That could

trigger government action.

Page 6

Page 22

Page 28

M A R C H 2 0 1 5 V O L . 2 1 I S S U E 3

D E P A R T M E N T S :

3 Publisher’s Letter

6 Automotive

14 Need to Know

18 Best Practices

46 Product News

52 Places’n’Faces

58 Advertiser Index

60 Base Oil Report

62 Your Business

Cover: © kamonrat - Fotolia



camera, as with the guided

drones being used in com-

bat in the Middle East.

It’s not as though this is

totally new. Automated

guided vehicles (AGV) are

currently used in many

applications where preciseguidance is needed, such as

crowded environments.

Some are camera-guided,

some rely on robots that

respond to embedded sen-

sors in their path. Forked

AGVs are basically forklifts

that can be driven either

remotely or with an operator

on board. Navigation sys-

MARCH 2015

Who’s Driving This Vehicle!?

AUTOMOTIVE

BY STEVE S WEDBERG

6

tems include inertial guided

AGVs, laser guided sys-

tems, optical guidance sys-

tems and even outriggers

(sort of like curb feelers).

The system Audi showed

off in Las Vegas would be

called a smart vehicle sys-tem which determines its

own traffic control and

routing. An onboard com-

puter system controls

speed and directional con-

trol while watching for

other vehicles impinging

on its space.

This brings to mind all

sorts of conjecture as to

what the future holds forthis idea and how it may

affect the oil industry. One

image evokes the Jetsons

of TV fame. My mind

almost immediately con-

jured up a vision of the

vehicles in Woody Allen’s

classic movie “Sleeper.”

Audi’s demonstration

was to gather data which

they can use when — notif — they introduce a pro-

duction version. Part of this

test was to prove the via-

bility of a self-driving vehi-

cle in traffic and road con-

ditions. The route was con-

fined to California and

Nevada, both of which

have given permission to

Continued on page 8

To great fanfare, the

15th Annual Con-

sumer Electronics

Show recently wrapped up

in Las Vegas. Overall, say

the gurus of the tech

world, this show was less

revolutionary than usualwith one exception: A

crew of journalists arrived

at the show in an Audi A7

which had no driver. It was

“autonomous” — that is,

driven and controlled by its

own brain. What’s more,

there wasn’t a pilot in

some remote location

steering the vehicle via

Look Ma, no hands! This Audi A7 piloted itself 560 miles from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas in January.



to deploy automated dri-

ving features step by step.

We’re all aware of the

vehicles available today

that have systems to keep

the vehicle centered in a

marked lane, brake and

steer automatically and

maintain a safe distancebehind another vehicle.

However, no one has intro-

duced a vehicle that can

operate for an extended

period of time without the

driver’s hands on the

steering wheel. Who will

be responsible for the

operation of such a vehi-

cle? For now, automakers

are insisting that drivers

are, but we’re moving into

new territory here.

By around 2020, auto

industry executives saythey expect more highly

automated vehicles will go

on sale that can largely

pilot themselves in most

situations. The industry

consensus is that it will

take until 2025 to perfect

the technology for fully

self-driving vehicles.

Automakers also worry

several automakers to test-

drive autonomous vehicles

on public roads. (I don’t

know about you, but the

only thing that would be

more startling than a vehi-

cle without a driver passing

me is one with a dogbehind the wheel.)

Audi isn’t alone in this

arena. Although it doesn’t

make cars, Google has got-

ten into the game. It

stands to reason that they

would, as they build their

internet empire in whatever

ways they can. A self-dri-

ving vehicle project is at

the center of Google X, the

search-engine giant’s

secretive “skunk works”

lab that is conceiving con-

tact lenses that measureblood-glucose levels, bal-

loon-powered Internet ser-

vice, giant TV screens, the

Web-connected eyewear

Google Glass, and more.

Executives at established

auto companies and their

technology suppliers are

more cautious. They are

pushing ahead with plans

that self-driving vehicles

will be ready before gov-

ernment safety rules are in

place to sanction them,

and before questions are

resolved as to who is

responsible when an auto-

mated vehicle crashes.

By next year, some vehi-cles could start appearing

that allow hands-free dri-

ving in traffic jams or dur-

ing highway cruising.

General Motors says it will

offer what it calls “super

cruise” in a 2016 Cadillac

sedan. German brands

Mercedes-Benz and Audi

have indicated that they

plan to offer hands-free dri-ving systems in roughly

the same time frame.

Ford has a slightly differ-

ent take on this situation.

Chief Executive Officer

Mark Fields said he is

focused on being the first

automaker to produce a

mass-market autonomous

vehicle, not simply on

being the first vehiclemaker to have one at all.

Fields was a keynote

speaker at the 2015

Consumer Electronics

Show in Las Vegas, saying,

“We believe in the industry

that there will be a fully

autonomous vehicle, prob-

ably within the next five

years.

“Unlike our luxury com-petitors, when we do

come out with an

autonomous vehicle, we

want to make sure it is

accessible and affordable

to everyone.”

This emphasis on afford-

ability is not new to Ford. It

was the first volume manu-

AUTOMOTIVE

8 MARCH 2015

Continued on page 10

Continued from page 6

Autonomous cars depend on thou-

sands of sensors and complex

algorithms for driver functions such

as traffic sign recognition, here

being tested at Ford’s research

center in Palo Alto, Calif.



facturer to offer safety technology

like lane-departure warning systems

and collision-warning systems on its

mainline Ford brand. Autonomous

vehicles, however, require much

more expensive radar-like technology

and stronger computer processors.

Fields said Ford is exploring newideas, and announced 25 distinct

“experiments” including mobile-

phone based parking space detec-

tion services, vehicle-swapping and

vehicle-sharing schemes, and map-

ping services to be used on unpaved

roads.

“We talked a lot about using inno-

vation to drive mobility and solve

some of the most pressing trans-portation and congestion issues

around the world,” he said. “We are

going to learn a lot about a lot of

business models. Not only do we

want to make a better world, we

want to run a better business.”

And how will lubricant companies

respond to this world? My thoughts

took flight as several scenarios came

to mind.

If there is a computer that is sosmart that it can drive the vehicle

without human assistance, does that

mean that car dealers will see driver-

less vehicles showing up to have

their oil changed? I can hear it now,

the computer-generated voice saying

to a very surprised service manager

that it wants the oil changed and to

use a specific brand, viscosity grade

and API category. Or maybe the

auto dealership has also goneautonomous and the vehicle simply

arrives at midnight at the pre-

appointed service bay, gets the oil

change, and returns home in time for

your morning commute. (What a

strange vision that presents!) Could

something similar happen at quick oil

change locations? It could.

Another issue: With the computer

driven vehicle, driving habits would

become very predictable and uni-form, and so oil drain intervals could

be stretched out even more. The

algorithm in most current systems

rely only on crankshaft revolutions

and oil temperature. So much more

could be added such as viscosity

measurements, which can be done

now on a macro scale in blending

plants and oil analysis labs. Why not

a micro unit that checks viscosity all

10 MARCH 2015


| |

KEEP YOUR EQUIPMENT

“ ON TRACK ” Elco 313A

Elco 313A

216-749-2605|tionaorporo Clche ET

The sp

om or w.corpocsales@elc|216-749-2605

! y nmpac y additiv alt ec The sp

om.corpoc.elcwwom or w

AUTOMOTIVE



the time? Volatility could be mea-

sured as well as remaining oxidation

life. Some of those preformance

characteristics are being measured

now in high-end European models.

Oil monitoring for the masses could

be next!

Then there’s the question of refuel-

ing. If the vehicle happens to beelectric (a Tesla for instance), the

onboard computer would undoubt-

edly guide itself to wherever the

nearest charging station is located. If

the vehicle is a fuel burner, finding a

station would be a snap since global

positioning systems, smart phones

and Google Maps supply that infor-

mation currently.

Everything I’ve said about automo-

biles and light-duty trucks holds forheavy-duty trucks as well. In fact, it

might be easier to convert HD fleets

to autonomous control than individual

vehicles. There have been demon-

strations of autonomous trucks cara-

vanning with a human-operated truck.

The autonomous truck follows and

does everything that the driven truck

does. (Let’s hope this will mean no

more slowdowns in traffic because

one truck is passing another upahead at about 5 to 10 mph below

the speed limit, over the course of

two to three miles.)

There is a fly in the ointment, as it

were. How will autonomous do with a

human in the other vehicle? While the

autonomous vehicle will behave in a

very predictable way, the human-dri-

ven vehicle will not. The American

Psychological Association tackled this

issue in its monthly magazine, TheMonitor. As author Kirsten Wier

noted, our moods and personal cir-

cumstances affect our driving, and

people do illogical and irrational things

behind the wheels of their vehicles.

University of Utah psychologist

David Strayer says the changes may

very well be revolutionary. “I suspect

[vehicle automation] will be as trans-

formational as the internet was,” he

says. That’s pretty big when you

think about how dependent we have

become on the internet — 30 years

ago, it was non-existent in daily life.

Thinking in automotive terms, the

addition of the onboard computer in

the late 1980s revolutionized engine

operations. It allowed us to escape

vacuum operated carburetors andmove to fuel- and emissions-efficient

fuel injection. It also became the

brains behind today’s oil life monitor-

ing systems as well as cruise control.

More recently some vehicles

come with an autonomous parallel

parking feature, and some have

crash avoidance systems which take

over braking when a collision is

believed to be imminent, accordingto on-board sensors. Lane diver-

LUBES’N’GREASES

www.pbfenergy.com

Customer support remains our priority.

856-224-4538

W

h i l e

T i m e s

ha ve Chan g e d . . .

C O M M I T M E N

T

R E L IA B I L

I T Y

C U S T OM E R

S E

R V

I

C

E

T

n ahCe va h s e

n

Customer support remains our priority

Customer support remains our priority

.Customer support remains our priority

856-224-4538

.pbfenergywww

.com.pbfenergy



to push the programming.

One example is speed.

Most of us, if we’re honest

with ourselves, will admit

that speed limits seem to

beg to be tested. Here in

Arizona, many people drive

as though speed-limit signs

are mere suggestions. I can

testify that when driving to

California across the desert,with very few vehicles or

trucks on the road, the

speed limit seems very

slow indeed. Most “Zonies”

assert there is about a 10

mph “cushion” allowed by

law enforcement as long as

you are not reckless. (Being

a bit more cautious I stay

within 5 mph of the limit.)

Admittedly, there isn’t alot about lubricants per se

in this column. Autonomy

could have its greatest

impact on how vehicles are

serviced, and where, and

how frequently. And wher-

ever the auto industry

goes, lubricants must fol-

low.

So long as vehicles use a

gence alarms may go off if

you stray from your lane.

A backup alarm system

now warns me when my

minivan gets too close to

another object — be it

curb, vehicle or pedestri-

an. It has saved my rear

bumper more than once.

In 2013, according to the

most recent figures fromthe National Highway

Traffic Safety Adminis-

tration, 32,719 people were

killed in vehicle crashes in

the United States, and an

estimated 2.3 million were

injured. Human error

caused more than 90 per-

cent of those crashes, says

NHTSA. Can autonomous

vehicles remove thatthreat?

Some psychologists

worry that we humans like

to have a degree of risk in

our driving, and so a vehicle

that is programed to drive

safely and with optimum

fuel economy and emis-

sions might be so boring

that drivers will figure ways

liquid or gaseous fuel, I can

foresee a continuing need

for engine oils and proba-

bly transmission fluids.

This could be for some

time to come: The U.S.

Energy Information

Administration predicts

gas- and diesel-poweredcars will still claim 95 per-

cent of global markets in

2040.

Beyond the powertrain,

grease will continue to be

used in constant velocity

joints and wheel bearings

as well as such seemingly

insignificant applications as

door locks, seat sliding

mechanisms and hinges.Of course, if all-electric

vehicles become the order

of the day, there may be no

more lubricant required

except greases and trans-

former oil. Just doesn’t

seem like the good old

days, does it? ❚

Industry consultant Steve

Swedberg has over 40 years

experience in lubricants,most notably with Pennzoil

and Chevron Oronite. He is a

longtime member of the

American Chemical Society

and SAE International, where

he was chairman of

Technical Committee 1 on

automotive engine oils. He

can be reached at

[email protected].

12 MARCH 2015

Mercedes-Benz unveiled the

autonomous F 015 concept car at

January’s Consumer Electronics

Show in Las Vegas and North

American International Auto Show

in Detroit.

AUTOMOTIVE



what types and grades of

motor oils might be sent

out to pasture? For

answers, start with a look

at retail shelf space.

Lined up shoulder-to-

shoulder, one facing of

quart bottles in each grade

of motor oil currently in the

market would account for

nine feet of linear shelfspace. To fully showcase

four brands and three prod-

uct tiers (conventional,

high-mileage, synthetic),

retailers need more than

80 feet of shelf space —

close to four gondolas to

stock just one facing of

each.

To present four facings of

each, which

isn’t much,that num-

ber

Give or take some

obscure products

formulated for use

in nitromethane burning

funny cars and dragsters,

there are currently 24 vis-

cosity grades of motor oils

in the market. They include

five straight grades and a

wide range of multiviscosity

motor oils running thegamut from SAE 0W-5 up to

20W-60. There will be even

when SAE 0W-16 and 5W-

16 enter the market, trailed

someday by the budding

XW-8 and XW-12 grades.

That makes for a lot of

SKUs and leaves little room

on retail shelves and in dis-

tributors’ warehouses for

motor oil grades that don’t

sell.So what’s selling and

what’s not, and

bumps up to 16 gondolas,

or 64 running feet of floor

space for passenger car

motor oil — and that does-

n’t take into account dupli-

cating the same in 5-quart

jugs. Making room for the

jugs adds another 155 feet

of shelf space.

Needless to say, it’s

unreasonable to expect aretailer to allocate that

much space to motor oils,

especially when bananas

are the hottest-selling prod-

ucts at Walmart and oxy-

gen sensors lead in sales at

most auto parts stores.

Although motor oils move,

there is no room on the

shelves for types, brands

and grades that don’t.

Lubricant marketers facethe same realities. If a prod-

uct sells, they have it in

bulk and drums. If it’s a

slow mover, it’s available

only in cases. And if it

doesn’t move, it’s probably

best to Google the viscosi-

ty grade and buy it online

from a specialty lubricant

marketer.

Shrewd retailers and lubri-

cant distributors regularly

comb through the mix of

viscosities, brands and

types of PCMO they carry,

winnowing out the chaff. As

the array of offerings

increases, and demand

shrinks for some types,

something has to go. But

what?

14 MARCH 2015

Something Has to Go

NEED TO KNOW

B Y THOMAS F. GLENN


© P VM i l - F o t o l

i a



We create

chemistry

that makes

commercialvehicles love a

smaller carbon

footprint.

Increasingly heavy loads and longer maintenance intervals

require exceptional lubricants. Compounded Lubricants

from BASF provide measurable fuel savings, reduce CO2

emissions, maximize component life and reduce downtime

for problem-free operation and lower operating costs over

the life of the vehicle. When commercial vehicles leave a

smaller footprint on the environment, it’s because at BASF,

we create chemistry. For more information contact us at:

[email protected]

www.basf.com/lubes

150 years



One sure thing, at least in the near

term, is that SAE 5W-30 will continue

to enjoy space on retail shelves and in

distributors’ warehouses. This is the

leading grade in the U.S. market,

accounting for an estimated 52 percent

of total PCMO demand. Another safe

bet is that 5W-20 will stick around for a

while, since it currently holds an esti-

mated 23 percent of the total.

But beyond these two, there are

questions about the future of other

grades due to their relatively limited

demand. Next in line is SAE 10W-30,

at close to 12 percent of demand and

shrinking. It’s followed by 0W-20

(growing) and 10W-40 at roughly 4

percent each, and from there, the

market splinters into 20W-50 and vari-

ous other grades that account for thebalance of demand.

So what’s going to go?

According to some leading lubricant

marketers, SAE 10W-40 is on the

chopping block, if not already out the

door. Many view demand for this

grade as too soft to inventory.

Although marketers will buy and sell

10W-40 if requested, it’s no longer a

viscosity grade that many will carry in

cases, let alone bulk and drums.

Instead, it’s a grade they provide on

an as-needed basis. It’s also becom-

ing harder to find on retail shelves.

And now for the real eye openers.

Whereas it seems like only yesterday

that SAE 10W-30 was the PCMO work-

horse, today it accounts for only about

12 percent of the total and demand for

it continues to slide. The writing on the

wall says the days of 10W-30 are num-

bered. Although most retailers and dis-

tributors still sell it, a growing numbersay they are not giving price conces-

sions on 10W-30. Instead, they are

encouraging buyers to migrate to 5W-

30 in an effort to reduce both the mar-

keter’s and the customer’s costs.

Next consider the up-and-coming

lightweights: the SAE 5W-16s and

0W-16s looking for space and a place

in the market. While there is forward-

looking demand for 0W-16, many

question if any space is needed for

5W-16. Although some original

equipment manufacturers have been

vocal about wanting 0W-16, barely a

whisper is heard about the need for

5W-16. Adding to this, as yet there is

no viscosity grade read-across from

0W-16 to 5W-16 to assist blenders,

and questions remain about who will

write the big checks to run programs

for it. No wonder some suspect 5W-

16 may be kicked to the curb before

it even makes a dent in the market.

What about the old heavyweight

champions? Chances are SAE 10W-30

will soon drain out of bulk tanks and

slide on down to drums, cases and

eventually out the door. Further, where

10W-40 is already very hard to find in

bulk, it will soon be hard to buy in

drums and cases, and mostly will be

marketed online and by special order.And although you can still find a bot-

tle or two of 20W-50 on retail shelves,

it too will soon be off the gondolas

and on to the online specialist.

So who is going to go?

That’s anyone’s guess. But in addi-

tion to the evolution that brings in

the new and rings out the old in vis-

cosity grades, you can be sure that

retailers and marketers are question-

ing the very brands and tiers they

carry. How they answer these ques-

tions will be a defining moment for

major brands, private-label, conven-

tional, synthetic blends, high-mileage

motor oils and others. Because at

the end of the day, retailers and lubri-

cant distributors sell what sells. ❚

Tom Glenn is president of the

consulting firm Petro leum Trends

International, the Petroleum Quality

Institute of America, and Jobbers

World newsletter. Phone: (732) 494-

0405. E-mail: tom_glenn@petroleum

trends.com

16 MARCH 2015


BERICAP Technology for lubricants andautomotive liquids

Committed to serving theproducers of lubricantsand automotive liquids

• For containers rangingfrom 100 ml to 30 l

• For plastic bottles, pails,metal cans and drums

• For UN approved packages

• Various TE systems available

• Sealing options includeEPE and IHS liners orbore-and wedge-seal

• Anti-glug features

• In-house R&D andmould making facilities

www.bericap.com



The recent collapse in crude oil

prices makes me think about all

the impacts this could have on

businesses. Have you given sufficient

thought to this? Here are some areas

you may want to think about.

Of course the reduction in oil prices

leads to reductions in prices of some

of your raw materials. However you

may also want to think about

whether the change leads to anymore fundamental changes in the

relative value of certain feedstocks

versus others. The higher the

petroleum and energy content of

your feedstock, the more it

should reverberate with the drop

in oil prices. You may want to

engage with your suppliers in a

deeper discussion of how crude oil

costs affect their products. You

should give special considerationto your utilities

contracts,

and any

BEST PRACTICES

B Y S ARA LEFCOURTThe Impact of Lower Oil Prices

processing contracts where energy

may be a very significant factor.

Perhaps you have allocated some

of your investment portfolio to energy-

savings projects. It is time to take

another look at the economics of

these projects as the incentives will

be significantly lower and the returns

not as robust. Of course we know by

now that it is impossible to predict

the price of oil; however considerthat the International Energy Agency

forecast is calling for oil to average

$58 per barrel this year and $75 per

barrel in 2016. It would be wise to

test your project economics to a

wider range of energy prices than

perhaps you did when approving

them in the first place.

It may also be a good time to con-

sider your transportation needs.

While all rates have likely decreased,they may not have decreased com-

mensurately, and decisions you have

made in the past on transportation

may need to be tested.

It is worth thinking about what the

impact of lower gasoline prices will

be on demand and miles driven.

Typically, lower

gasoline prices

do provide

some stimula-tion to

demand,

especially in

the U.S.

market,

and as the

spring

approaches it may be wise to consid-

er your company’s capability to ramp


© f r e s h i d

e a - F o t

o l i a



up production if needed.

If you are a player in the global

market it is clear that lower oil prices

and the geopolitical situation in

today’s world will lead to relative

winners and losers. Oil-producing

nations like Russia and Venezuela are

being seriously jarred by the drop inprices while oil consumers such as

China and Japan will benefit. How

this impacts your global marketing

strategy may be worth consideration.

It is inevitable that the slumping

crude oil prices will lead to reduc-

tions in capital investments by the oil

industry over the next five years. This

may lead to opportunities for others;

for example the availability of project

labor may be higher, and there maybe more competition in bidding for

the projects that are still proceeding.

Also be aware that there may

come available in the labor market

some good project or engineering

resources for your company to con-

sider hiring.

What about your marketing plans

for the next few years? It may be

that consumers are less enthused

about fuel-economy claims. You may

want to consider differentiating your

products in other ways. Perhaps con-sumers will be receptive to higher-

quality oils, having saved money on

fuel costs. You should also think

about whether the lower oil prices

will result in changes in your cus-

tomer base due to potential consoli-

dation in the industry. Certainly you

need to watch the market closely as

you consider and implement price

concessions. If you haven’t done so

already, it is timely to recast yourfinancial plan at least for 2015 if not

for the next three years.

Perhaps at this point you are think-

ing that it doesn’t make sense to

Continued from page 18BEST PRACTICES

It’s all in the follow-through…

You can count on Renkert Oil to consistently

be there when you need us.From the first product consultation to the moment your shipment

arrives, we’re with you all the way. Responsive. Experienced. On

time. Everything we do adds up to rock-solid follow-through.

Get in touch and let’s see how we can support your business.

s all in the f ’tI

ough…w-thrllo e f ough…

t coducom the first prrFbe ther

t on Rounou can cY

our shipment yo the momention tonsultat cou need use when ybe ther

onsisto ct Oil tenkert on R

tour shipmen.ou need us

tlyenonsist

ouch and letGet in t

e do adds up tything werv. Etime

ou all the we with yr’e, wesivrar

om the first pr

oup II/II+ron GhevrCil distributase Oed ButhorizA

our businesst yan suppore cw ws see ho’ouch and let

-thrwo o-so iock o re do adds up t

. Expereesponsiv. Ryaou all the w

t y

oup IIIril Ge OestNil distributase Oed ButhorizA

oup II/II+oror f il distribut

.our business

ough.-thr

. Onedienc

our shipmen

oup IIIoror f il distribut

UPDATE YOUR

MAILING

ADDRESS TODAY

www.LubesnGreases.com

MOVING?Don’t miss an

issue ofLubes’n’Greases



rethink all of these areas since oil

prices are likely to rebound. While

this is certainly a possible scenario

(and perhaps at $45/barrel there is

likely to be greater upside than

downside potential), I suggest that

the degree of change in the oil mar-

ket demands some response. I sug-

gest you evaluate the areas men-tioned and pick a few in which to

focus your response, such as an area

of large risk or most significant short-

term reward.

One point on which I think most

readers would agree is that oil prices

over the next few years are likely to

be more volatile and unpredictable

than ever. It is worth pondering what

kind of projects and focus will be

most beneficial in such an economicenvironment. Here are some sug-

gestions:

• Focus externally on customer sat-

isfaction. It is worth staying even

LUBES’N’GREASES

Performance packaging solutions to deliver your products

safely, economically, and sustainably.

Consumer Advantages

• Easy-to-handle, compact packaging

• Reduce product loss

• User-friendly fitments protect from

splashing and glugging

Institutional/Retail Advantages

• Improve inventory management and

space utilization

• Reduce overall packaging carbon footprint

See us at the upcoming PPC Spring Meeting and ILMA Forum or contact us at [email protected].

scholle.com

ipn-group.com

closer to your customers to ensure

that in times of economic uncertain-

ty they are not considering switching

suppliers.

• Focus externally on ensuring that

your procurement activity is securing

the right level and timing of price

reductions, including not only raw

materials but also transportation,utilities and services.

• Focus internally on cost-reduc-

tion projects, especially those which

reduce costs sustainably over a long

period and which are not reliant on

high energy prices to justify.

• Focus on development of new

products and capabilities addressing

unmet market needs. Stay the

course on long-term research areas

where the impact will be felt in fiveto 10 years.

I hope some of these suggestions

may be useful in these rapidly

changing economic times! ❚

Sara Lefcourt of Lefcourt Consulting

LLC specializes in helping companies

to improve profits, reduce risk and

step up their operations. Her experi-

ence includes many years in market-

ing, sales and procurement, first for

Exxon and then at Infineum, where

she was vice president, supply. E-mail

her at [email protected] or

phone (908) 400-5210.



of slackened demand and heated com-

petition from hydrotreated Group II

and III base oils. Also making for the

exits are:• Total, which in November told

workers it planned to modernize its

9,600 b/d Group I plant in Gonfreville,

France. It reportedly would decrease its

overall capacity by about half and then

upgrade the remainder to make higher-

value stocks. The plant already can

make some Group III, roughly 800 b/d.

Colas Group intends to cease making

base oils at its plant in Dunkerque,

France, around the end of March, a

company source confirmed to Lubes’n’Greases last month. The plant

has capacity to produce 5,200 barrels

per day (270,000 metric tons per year)

of API Group I, plus another 500 b/d of

Group III base stocks.

That makes the road-paving compa-

ny the latest in a parade of Europeans

leaving the Group I arena in the face

• Shell’s Group I plant in Pernis,

Netherlands, with 7,100 b/d of capacity.

It expects to switch off one lube train

by the end of this year, and to shutdown entirely in early 2016.

• Nynas will end Group I production

(3,300 b/d) in favor of making naph-

thenic specialty oils at its plant in

Harburg, Germany, which it acquired

from Shell in 2013.

All told, this latest round of closures

will remove 1.2 million metric tons of

22 MARCH 2015

Colas Joins Group



Group I capacity from the global stage.

In the case of Colas, it marks the end

of a short-lived foray into Group I

which dates back only to June 2010, when it paid a reported Euro 20.5 mil-

lion ($26.6 million) to acquire the

French bitumen and base oil plant.

In its mid-November 2014 quarterly

earnings statement, Colas revealed pre-

liminary plans for Dunkerque. “At the

end of October 2014, the executive

management of Societe de la Raffinerie

de Dunkerque (SRD), a 100 percent

wholly owned Colas company, provided

notification to the works council at SRD

regarding an employment preservationplan relating to job losses associated

with the closure of base oil production

units,” Colas stated in its news release.

The company, which is headquar-

tered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France,

said that it held an information meeting

Nov. 6, followed by a negotiation phase.

“These measures aim to refocus SRD’s

business solely on bitumen production,

in order to recover economic equilibri-

um in due course and ensure sustain-

ability for the production site inDunkerque,” the Colas release stated.

Before Colas bought it, the

Dunkerque plant had been a joint ven-

ture of ExxonMobil, Total and BP, which

owned stakes of 50 percent, 40 percent

and 10 percent, respectively. At the

time of the sale, BP sold its shares to

ExxonMobil to prepare for the plant’s

LUBES’N’GREASES

I Exodus B Y GEORGE GILL &

G ABRIELA WHEELER

Group I units will be closed by Colas in Dunkerque, France, left, Total in Gonfreville, France, center, and Shell in Pernis, Netherlands.(Photos: Colas, by Pierre-Francois Grosjean; Total; Shell International)



explained. “At the same time, they

switch from atmospheric residue to vac-

uum residue as plant feed. Other than

the bitumen product, the only byprod-

uct is the deasphalted oil that can be

disposed of in the merchant market as

heavy vacuum gas oil.”

Amy Claxton, principal of consultancy

My Energy in Hummelstown, Pa., also

confirmed that the key reason for Colas

Group’s acquisition of the Dunkerque

facility in 2010 was to have more bitu-

men/asphaltic material to support its

road-building infrastructure. At the time

of the acquisition, Colas said the loca-

tion would supply 25 percent of the

bitumen for their operations in France.

Colas is a global producer of materials

for construction and maintenance of

acquisition by Colas. An industry source

told Lubes’n’Greases that the majors

are generally no longer taking base oils

from Dunkerque.

Stephen B. Ames of SBA Consulting,

Pepper Pike, Ohio, reflected that the

purchase of SRD was driven principally

by the refinery’s approximately 300,000

t/y capacity for making bitumen. “The

base oils, extracts and waxes held little

interest to Colas,” Ames said.

He went on to observe that for Colas

to continue bitumen production at the

plant after closure of the base oil opera-

tions is relatively simple. “They [would]

shut all of the base oil units — solvent

extraction, solvent dewaxing and

hydrofinishing — other than the

propane deasphalting plant,” he

road, air, rail and maritime transport

infrastructure. Claxton said its primary

products are asphalt mixes and aggre-

gates, ready-mix concrete, liquid asphalt

and polymer modified binders and

emulsions for road construction.

“I expected Colas to exit Group I

stocks in July of 2013 because they had

a three-year agreement with ExxonMobil

to provide technical support from the

date of acquisition,” Claxton remarked

last month. “In addition, Colas had an

off-take agreement whereby Total

bought 40 percent of their base oil for

the first two years of operation.”

Technically, she explained, the Colas

facility is a small specialty plant, not a

“refinery.” She noted they bring in

reduced crude — atmospheric distilla-

24 MARCH 2015

2014. In Asia, the 5,400 barrel per day Group I

plant operated by CPC-Shell in Kaohsiung, Taiwan,

was permanently shut down at year end.

2013. Petroplus took its Petit-Couronne, France,

base oil plant off line for good in April. It had 6,300

b/d Group I and 1,000 b/d Group II units.2013. Essar shut down a 5,060 b/d Group I plant at

the former Shell Stanlow, U.K., crude refinery; it had

purchased the facility just three years earlier.

2011. Caltex closed Australia’s sole base oil facility,

a 3,300 b/d Group I unit near Sydney.

2011. Canada’s Imperial Oil stopped making base

oils, process oils and waxes at its Sarnia, Ontario,

refinery, shuttering 2,800 b/d of Group I and 3,800

b/d of Group II capacity.

2010. Shell Canada converted its entire crude oil

refinery in Montreal — which had housed a 2,700 b/d

Group I unit — into a fuels terminal for gasoline,

diesel and aviation fuels.

2008. Citgo’s 9,500 b/d base oil unit in Louisiana,

and Marathon’s 6,800 b/d unit in Kentucky both

ceased operations. No Group I plants have closed in

the United States since.

Additionally, since 2010 Japan has gradually pared

10,000 b/d of Group I capacity, and Central and

Eastern European operators have trimmed off 30,000

b/d, according to Lubes’n’Greases estimates. Essar closed the base oil plant at Stanlow in 2013.

Recent Departures



by ExxonMobil/Total/BP, began a small

Group III production operation by pur-

chasing fuels hydrocracker bottoms

from a third-party refinery as feedstock

to produce Group III base oils — again,

a very high-cost operation relative to

their competition, who produce Group

III base oils as part of a large, integrated

refinery operation.

“For all of these reasons, it comes as

tion bottoms, also called atmospheric

residuum — from another refinery as

feedstock to produce Group I base oils,

which is much more costly than operat-

ing a base oil plant that is part of a large

refinery.

“Thus their Group I economics were

not as robust as a fully integrated Group

I plant in a large refinery,” Claxton said.

“Also, Dunkerque, while it was owned

no surprise that Colas is working to

streamline their specialty plant opera-

tion to focus on asphalt, not base oils.”

And what does the future hold for the

world’s surviving Group I plants? How

will Group I producers adapt to the

changing market conditions? Those are

some of the questions that Blake

Eskew, vice president of IHS Energy’s

downstream industry consulting prac-

tice, addressed in a presentation last

November.

At the AFPM International Lubricants

and Waxes Meeting in Houston, Eskew

confirmed that while base oil demand

is growing at a steady but not very

robust rate, capacity is growing much

faster, thanks to the addition of signifi-

cant Group II and III volumes to the

global supply system.

Announced projects total almost 10million tons through 2020 — a volume

equal to roughly 20 percent of current

capacity worldwide — and these oil

additions are fairly balanced between

Group II and III, Eskew explained.

To illustrate the large shift in produc-

tion among the different base oil

groups, Eskew pointed out that, based

on announced base oil projects and

changes, Group I will only represent

about 40 percent of global capacity by

2020, down from 75 percent in 2005.

One of the main downstream markets

for base oils is the automotive segment,

and on a global basis demand from this

sector is growing only slowly, while

requirements from the industrial,

process and marine segments are flat.

Both sectors however are actually slow-

ing in mature markets such as North

America, Europe, Russia and some

Northeast Asian countries, Eskew said.

By contrast, the automotive lubricantssector is expanding in the developing

regions such as China, South Asia, Latin

America, Middle East, Africa and the CIS

countries, driven by vehicle population

growth. Even in these markets though,

“Group I producers are likely to see

strong competition for the remaining

automotive market,” Eskew said, adding

that as the automotive sector increases

its use of Group II and III oils, Group I

producers will need to retain industrial

26 MARCH 2015

+1 281 587 0900 www.soltexinc.com

+1 800 275 8580

See our full line of performance chemicals:

SULFONATES • DETERGENTS • GREASE ADDITIVES • VI IMPROVERS • SYNTHETICS • POUR POINT

DEPRESSANTS • BRIGHT STOCK REPLACEMENT • RUST & CORROSION INHIBITORS • AND MORE

For over 25 years, we’ve been a stable,reliable source for quality polybutenes.

Ready Availability. Fast shipping from large inventoriesof popular grades

Logistics Solutions. Established global network with afull range of supply chain services and support, includingblending, steaming, transloading, packaging, warehousingand private labeling

Technical Expertise. The answers you need pluslaboratory services and assistance in grade selection

Dependable Quality. Consistent, high quality withlot-to-lot traceability

Call today to see what a supplier with a 25-year commitment

to the indust ry can do for you.

If market changes have you searching for a stable supply,call Soltex.



markets to

maintain their

momentum.

While Group I

production is

not likely to

completely dis-

appear any time

soon, operating

factors such as

location advan-

tages, feedstock

advantages, operating cost control, pro-

duction of specialty products and for-

ward/backward integration will deter-

mine which Group I facilities will be

able to survive the tsunami of new base

oil capacity coming to the market.

Eskew explained that U.S producers

are well positioned relative to those in

Europe and Asia because of size andconfiguration advantages, coupled with

the benefit of lower energy and operat-

ing costs. The U.S. generally enjoys

more advantageous natural gas, hydro-

gen and power prices.

Nevertheless, most existing Group I

capacity is concentrated in Europe and

Asia. Europe has only 15 percent of the

world’s total base oil capacity, Eskew said,

but 25 percent of the Group I capacity.

Asia has 39 percent of global capacity

and 27 percent of Group I capacity.

The Group I plant profile also differs

widely across the globe. Small Group I

plants — those with less than 3,000 b/d

capacity — are commonplace in the

Middle East, Africa, Latin America and

Asia, according to Eskew, while North

America boasts the most large plants

(with over 6,000 b/d). He stressed that

even if the world’s 34 smallest plants

were rationalized, it would be insuffi-

cient to rebalance the market.How can Group I operators stay in

the game? Base oil price relationships

have changed dramatically in the last 10

years, Eskew explained, and there may

be some opportunities for producers if

they can concentrate on the more prof-

itable products. For example, light neu-

tral margins have remained unchanged

in the past decade, while heavy neutrals

and bright stock margins have

increased by almost 50 percent.

LUBES’N’GREASES

Group I byproduct values have also

risen sharply, creating opportunity to

enhance margins. Margins for byprod-

ucts sold as feedstocks/intermediates

were largely unchanged in the past

decade, while wax and specialties mar-

gins jumped by 200 to 300 percent,

emphasized Eskew.

“Bright stock, waxes, extracts and

asphalts — all are necessary to sur-

vival,” he noted. Integration within a

larger operation can help, but each

facility’s performance ultimately will be

measured relative to transparent mar-

kets: “Integration will not disguise

uneconomic operations.”

Group I producers are likely to try all

strategies in the quest to survive, and

while some will be successful, others

will not, Eskew concluded. ❚

Blake Eskew

Your Single Source For High

Quality Specialty Products1.800.437.3188

317.328.5660www.calumetspecialty.com

[email protected]

© 2014 Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P.

1.800.437.3188Quality Specialty P

ur Singl

1.800.437.3188roductsQuality Specialty P

our Single Source For High

roducts

our Single Source For High

© 2014 Calumet Specialty P

[email protected]

.calumetspecialtywww

317.328.5660

1.800.437.3188

. .artners, Lroducts P© 2014 Calumet Specialty P

[email protected]

.com.calumetspecialty

317.328.5660

1.800.437.3188

[email protected]

.com



Viscosity is arguably the

most fundamental property

of lubricants. Almost all con-

sumers have heard of “10W-

30 oil” (their heads may

explode, though, when they

first see an SAE 0W-12 oil).

SAE J300, “Engine Oil Viscosity Classification,” is

the standard for defining the

viscosity grade of vehicle

engine oils.

Dating back to 1911 and

regularly updated, SAE J300

initially defined kinematic

viscosity at low-shear condi-

tions for two temperatures:

40 degrees C (“KV40”) and

100 C (“KV100”).Measurement was made by a

capillary viscometer and

reported in mm2 /sec,

although it’s more common

to cite results in centiStokes

(cSt) now.

Over time, more tests

were added to address

engine needs, such as shear

rates and higher operating

temperatures, always using

standard ASTM test methods

that are available industry-

wide. Table 1 on page 30lists the current J300 grades

— newly updated for 2015

— and shows their defined

limits.

As the table shows, low-

temperature viscosity is also

defined in J300 using

dynamic tests. One is the

maximum cranking viscosity,

which relates to the oil’s

facilitation of starting the vehicle at low temperatures.

This a high-shear viscosity

that is measured

by the

Is Fuel

EconomyHidingin SAE

J300?B Y DON SMOLENSKI

28 MARCH 2015



cold-cranking simulator

(ASTM method D5293).

Another is the maximum

low-temperature pumping

viscosity, which relates to the

oil’s ability to circulate

throughout the engine; this

is a low-shear viscosity that ismeasured by the Mini Rotary

Viscometer (ASTM 4684).

The temperature at which

each low-temperature test is

conducted is dependent on

the SAE viscosity grade of

the oil. Both parameters

are reported in

mPa•sec,

or centipoise (cP).

Finally, high-temperature,

high-shear viscosity is

defined at 150 C

(“HTHS150”) and measured

by tapered bearing or

tapered plug methods at a

shear rate of 106 sec -1, or by a capillary viscometer at

1.4 x 106 sec -1. (It is difficult

to explain 106 sec -1 in an

easily understand-

able way.

Let’s just call it a hunka,

hunka churning stuff.)

HTHS is reported in

mPa•sec or cP, and is

believed to be related to oil

film thickness in high shear

areas of the engine.

Although not specifically covered in J300,

viscosity index (V.I.) is anoth-

er key physical property of

engine oils. It is a measure

of the variation in kinematic

viscosity with temperature. A

log-log plot of viscosity vs.

temperature gives a straight

LUBES’N’GREASES

© aleksandarfilip - Fotolia



greater than 100 is now

achievable.

Figure 1 shows the differ-

ence between high V.I. and

low V.I. oils. The higher the

V.I. of an oil, the lower the variation of its viscosity with

temperature. A benefit of a

high V.I. oil is that it can be

blended to meet the same

minimum HTHS150 as a low

V.I. oil, but will have a lower

viscosity over the rest of the

(lower) temperature range

line that is inversely propor-

tional to V.I. (See Figure 1.)

V.I. is calculated from an

oil’s KV40 and KV100. This

formula was developed long

ago; a poorly refined naph-thenic base oil was some-

what arbitrarily assigned a

V.I. of 0, and a highly refined

paraffinic base oil was

assigned a V.I. of 100. With

today’s hydrocracked and

synthetic oils and viscosity

index improvers, a V.I. far

— potentially resulting in a

fuel economy improvement.

Currently most original

equipment manufacturers

specify a minimum HTHS150

to ensure sufficient oil filmthickness in hydrodynamic

lubrication conditions, such

as you’d see in their engines’

connecting rod and main

bearings.

A very high V.I. oil could

be formulated to meet a

minimum HTHS150, but

actually fall below the mini-

mum KV100 requirement, as

Figure 2 illustrates. Instead

of a log-log plot, this graphic

shows a linear plot to more

clearly highlight the viscosity differences at lower temper-

atures. The 164 V.I. oil has an

HTHS 150 of 3.0 cP, and the

216 V.I. oil an HTHS 150 of

2.9 cP; both meet the

HTHS150 minimum of 2.9

cP for an SAE 5W-30 oil.

30 MARCH 2015


0W 6200 at -35 60 000 at -40 3.8 — —

5W 6600 at -30 60 000 at -35 3.8 — —

10W 7000 at -25 60 000 at -30 4.1 — —

15W 7000 at -20 60 000 at -25 5.6 — —20W 9500 at -15 60 000 at -20 5.6 — —

25W 13 000 at -10 60 000 at -15 9.3 — —

8 — — 4.0 <6.1 1.7

12 — — 5.0 <7.1 2.0

16 — — 6.1 <8.2 2.320 — — 6.9 <9.3 2.6

30 — — 9.3 <12.5 2.9

40 — — 12.5 <16.3 3.5 (0W-40, 5W-40 &10W-40 grades)

40 — — 12.5 <16.3 3.7 (15W-40, 20W-40,25W-40, 40 grades

50 — — 16.3 <21.9 3.760 — — 21.9 <26.1 3.7

High VI oil

Low VI oil

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

040 60 80 100 120 140 160

164 VI

216 VI

Temperature, ºC

K i n e m a t i

c e V i s c o s i t y , c S t

SAE ViscosityGrade

Low-temperature(ºC) Cranking

Viscosity 3, mPa•s,Maximum

Low-temperaturePumping

Viscosity 4, mPa•s,Maximum with No

Yield Stress

Low-shear-rateKinematic

Viscosity 5 (mm2 /s)at 100 ºC,Minimum

Low-shear-rateKinematic

Viscosity 5 (mm2 /s)at 100 ºC,Maximum

High-shear-rate Viscosity 6 (mPa•s)

at 150 ºC,Minimum

Table 1. Viscosity Grades for Engine Oils (SAE J300)1,2

Figure 1. Variation in Viscosity with Temperature

(Low V.I. Oil vs. High V.I. Oil)

Figure 2. Very High V.I. Oil Formulated to Meet HTHS150

Minimum, But Below KV100 Minimum

1 cP = 1 mPa•s; 1 cSt = 1mm2 /s.2 All values are critical specifications as defined by ASTM D3244.3 ASTM D5293 (cold-cranking simulator)

4 ASTM D4684 (apparent viscosity) Note that thepresence of any yield stress detectable by thismethod constitutes a failure, regardless of vis-cosity.

5 ASTM D445 (kinematic viscosity)6 ASTM D4683, CEC L-36-A-90, ASTM D4741

(tapered bearing or tapered plug methods)

L o g

V i s c o s i t y

VISCOSITY INDEX

Log Temperature



As Figure 2 shows, the

KV100 of the 164 V.I. oil is

10.0 cSt, well above the SAE

J300 minimum of 9.3 cSt.

The KV100 of the 216 V.I. oil

however is 8.5 cSt, below

the minimum of 9.3 cSt,

which would drop it to an

SAE 5W-20 oil — despite the

fact that it meets the

HTHS150 minimum for an

SAE 5W-30 oil.

Comparing the KV40 of

the two oils in Figure 2

shows that the higher V.I. oil

is 40 percent lower. For

those who are not oil geeks,

think of the difference

between the two lines as fuel

economy potential.

So, what is all the point of

all this? The contention isthat the current KV100 mini-

mum may actually hinder

the fuel economy achievable

for a given viscosity grade

with a very high V.I. oil.

Figure 3 illustrates the fuel

economy obtained with a

very high V.I. oil (which still

meets the KV100 minimum)

in four different fuel econo-

my test cycles, the NEDC,

the different “appetites” of

the test cycles, and is not

unexpected. This level of fuel

economy to the OEMs is like

the latest cell-phone technol-

ogy to a teenager.

Hopefully these (and yet to

come) fuel econo-

my data are com-

pelling enough to

provoke discussion

on the need for

consideration of

revising the KV100

specification mini-

mum in SAE J300.

Possible options

include lowering

the KV100 limits

for each grade, or

changing the para-meter to a “report”

rather than being

“critical.”

So what is the

path forward? The

SAE Engine Oil

Viscosity

Classification Panel would

likely be the proper vehicle

for discussion. I believe that,

at a minimum, this panel

would probably want to first

collect more fuel economy

data to prove that there is

compelling incentive to pro-

ceed.

Next would be to generate

a list of all potential issues

associated with such a

change. (This may not be

too difficult, as people gener-

ally become more vocal

when they feel threatened by a change!) For instance, will

there be any durability issues

not adequately addressed by

HTHS150? Could oil-pump

flow capacity be compro-

mised? Could oil consump-

tion be a problem? There are

likely several others, as well.

The next step would be to

sort out which are technical

issues and which are com-

mercial issues. For the tech-

nical issues, data or testing

required to adequately

address these issues should

be defined, and a coopera-

tive program designed. For

the commercial issues —

such as this change being

problematic for a small oil

market for which SAE J300

was never intended — pos-

sible solutions should be

discussed. We should be

clear, however, that com-

mercial issues should not be

a “show stopper.”

Many would say this

proposal is blasphemous

— and yet still,

We’ve done much despite

ourselveswhen we decided we will.

It’s naive to believe this

change could be straight-

forward or quick,

But it’s time to get moving,

the clock continues to tick. ❚

Based in the Detroit area,

Don Smolenski is Evonik

Oil Additives’ OEM liaison

manager for North

America. He has been

involved in developing engine oil tests and specifi-

cations, such as ILSAC and

General Motors’ Dexos, for

more than 30 years, and is

the co-creator of GM’s

patented Oil Life Monitor.

He is also the parent of 22

kids, including 19 foreign

exchange students over the

years. E-mail him at donald.

[email protected]

32 MARCH 2015

Continued from page 30 FTP75, WLTC and JC08.

These data are from tests

conducted on a 2.0-liter

Opel turbocharged engine

on an engine dynamometer.

The reference oil in this

test was a commercial oil

meeting ILSAC GF-5 and

Dexos 1 specifications. The

very high V.I. test oil uses the

same detergent/inhibitor

additive package at the same

concentration, the same

base oils — with a different

V.I. improver.

The V.I.s of the two oils are

164 for the reference oil and

242 for the test oil. The

repeatability for three tests

on each oil and each test

cycle are excellent, as shown

by the range of results; they

varied less than 0.4 percentand usually less than 0.2 per-

cent. (The repeatability

shown for the reference oil

was the worst repeatability

over the four cycles.)

The fuel economy improve-

ment with the very high V.I.

oil over the commercial oil

ranges from 0.8 percent to

1.6 percent; the variability

from cycle to cycle is due to

Figure 3. Fuel consumption difference between conventional and

very high V.I. oil in four fuel economy test cycles

100.5%

99.5%

99.0%

98.5%

98.0%

97.5%

100.0%

ReferenceOil

NEDC FTP75 WLTC JC08

Very High VI Test Oil**same DI as reference oil

F u e l C o n s u m p t i o n

R e l a

t i v e t o R e f e r e n c e O i l

3 runs average, max and min

Average

Max

Min



Photo: Trans Ocean Bulk Logistics



Industrial packaging’s rising star

is a 6,000-gallon plastic bag, fit-

ted into a standard 20-foot

shipping container. Known as

the flexitank, the market for

this bulk liquid packaging

option has more than quadru-

pled in the past 10 years — and sources

say that much of the momentum came

from the lubricants industry.

In 2005, a total of around 139,000

container loads were sent by flexitank

worldwide, estimates Trans Ocean Bulk

Logistics, a leading supplier of flexitank

shipping services. By 2014, that number

had grown to 600,000, and this year itestimates that some 700,000 container

units of nonhazardous fluids will travel

this way.

Trans Ocean itself moves about

140,000 of those units a year, making it

the world’s largest manufacturer and

shipper of flexitanks, said Mark Reader,

business development manager for the

company in Houston. “Lubricants are a

significant user of flexitanks,” he con-

firmed. “Potentially, the market is huge,

because any nonhazardous liquid canbe handled this way — lubricants,

chemicals, personal care, foodstuffs.

We’re especially seeing growth from

lubricant customers who are moving

away from drums, totes and ISO tanks

for cost reasons.”

As he explained to Lubes’n’Greases,

“With drums, you can only fit 88 55-gal-

lon drums on pallets into a 20-foot

shipping container. That’s only about

17,000 liters of actual product, versus

24,000 liters in the same space using

our flexitank. If you ship tote bins, you

probably can get 18 totes into the same

20-foot container, but that’s still just

LUBES’N’GREASES

WEIGHINGTHEFLEXITANK

OPTION

FIRST OF TWO PARTS

BY LISA TOCCI



18,000 liters. So with the 24,000-liter

flexitank you’ve reduced your shipping

cost per gallon or per kilo or pound,

any way you measure it.”

Erica Kurth, an operations manager in

Houston with SIA Flexitanks, another

seller of flexitank bags that offers load-

ing services, agreed. She said cost sav-

ings are behind the growing volumes of

base oils, additives, lubricants and trans-

former oils using this shipping method.

“Lubricants are one of the biggest

users by far,” she related. “It’s a big busi-

ness and we’re almost overwhelmed

right now by demand for shipments

going out of the United States. Here in

Houston we are shipping about 150 to

180 loads a month, with some ship-

ments as large as 30 containers.”

The flexitank is an elegant and simple

concept: A large, thick plastic or rubber bladder is unfurled inside a standard 20-

foot-equivalent shipping container, the

floor and walls of which have been

padded with heavy corrugated paper.

Next, the bag is braced with a bulkhead

(usually plastic or metal) to hold it in

place. Finally, it is filled with the liquid

product through a gate, ball or butterfly

valve. After the container doors are

closed and secured, the entire unit is

ready to travel by truck, container ship

or in some cases rail to its final destina-

tion, like any intermodal container.

Once delivered, the material is drained

or pumped out of the bladder.

“This is a one-use, disposable and

recyclable option,” Reader pointed out.

“Unlike with ISO tanks, there’s no need

to pay to have the container cleaned or

repositioned for its next trip. One of the

problems with an ISO tank is that you

have to clean it for reloading with the

next product, but at some destinations itcan be hard to find an ISO-certified

cleaning location. If a location in Africa

or the Caribbean or South America can’t

clean the tank, it has to be shipped back

to Houston for cleaning.” The deadhead

return trip and cleaning requirements

add cost that are sidestepped with the

flexitank, he emphasized.

For finished lubricants, a big advan-

tage for flexitanks is that most of the

weight conveyed is actual product —

not bottles, jugs, cartons, drums, etc.

Those packages can be easily filled at

the destination, closer to the final con-

sumer. The wine industry offers an

excellent example of the efficiency:

Frog’s Leap regularly ships wine abroad

from California in 24,000-liter flexitanks,

a volume equivalent to 32,000 bottles of

wine. Were it to use the same 20-foot

container to ship cases of wine, it

would fit only 16,800 bottles.

Bulk products such as base oils can

ship more economically too, versus

heavy steel ISO tanks or totes. Ray

Masson of the U.K.-based base oil trad-

er Puma Crown, sees growing numbers

of cargoes moving via flexitanks, espe-

cially from Europe to customers in

Central Asia, Middle East, Africa, India

and Asia.

“We’ve done five to 50 containers in asingle shipment — that’s 260,000 tons

— where the material started at an

inland terminal,” Masson said. “They

even can be cheaper than using bulk

parcel carriers, and on some routes —

like Black Sea-to-Far East — they are far,

far cheaper than bulk. Bulk is always

going to be more efficient if you have

terminals at both ends of the route,

because flexies do take more handling.

But the flexitank goes all the way to the

customer, door-to-door, under the nor-

mal documents and bill of lading; that’s

no different. In each case, you have to

attest each shipment, or each container.”

Typically, he sees base oil moving via

flexitank from a supplier’s inland stor-

age tank, then on a container vessel to

a developing country; the container is

then offloaded onto a truck and hauled

by road to the customer’s location for

unloading.

“We also see a small quantity of flexi-tanks that serve as storage. There’s

demurrage on the container, but not

nearly what it is for a tankcar or ISO

tank. For example, a receiver in Cote

d’Ivoire might keep a container for a

month, which they couldn’t afford to

do with an ISO tank,” said Masson.

Shippers do have to be mindful of

weight restrictions on European roads,

which mandate a maximum of 20 met-

36 MARCH 2015


ASK US ABOUT

Put our expertise to

work for you!

Let us join your team

to offer your clients

a full line of

biobased products under

your own confidential

private label.

See our web site for products list:

www.elmusa.com

• Over two decades of University-

transferred Technology

• World renowned and patented

Microwave based grease manufac-

turing for lower cost and improved

performance –

• Biobased, Non-bioaccumulative

• Biodegradable, USDA Bio-preferred

• European Ecolabel Products

BIOBASED/VGP

BIODEGRADABLE

Dr. Lou Honary,

Professor Emeritus, AuthorELM President

[email protected]

319-824-5203

®

YOUR

BIOBASED

PRIVATE

LABEL

HERE



trained for the process and have several

shipments under their belts, many users

take on the loading themselves.

However, Kurth of SIA said, some

transloading plant operators — rail

yards for example — require supervised

loading at all times when material is

transferred from railcars into flexies.

Loading a flexitank is a simple opera-

tion, everyone agrees, and takes from

one to two hours, depending on the

viscosity of the product being pumped

in. “Every two minutes, 24 hours a day,

365 days a year, a Trans Ocean flexitank

is being loaded or unloaded somewhere

in the world,” Mark Reader said

assuredly. “If you can load a tanktruck

or an ISO tank, you can load a flexi-

tank.”

Denny Madden, senior vice president

of Amalie Oil Co., which is based at thePort of Tampa, Fla., and has ready

access to ships, trucks and rail connec-

tions, reported, “We have used flexi-

tanks very successfully for about 15 to

ric tons, including the container’s tare

weight, Masson said. “You can ship

approximately 18 tons of product in a

flexitank, or a bit more in the Baltic

states, where road limits are greater

than 20 tons.” In other geographic

areas, the weight may climb higher.

In his experience, the effort and

equipment required are the same as

with any bulk shipment. “The bag is

fixed inside a frame. Just like with a

tank truck, you fill it from the top and

discharge from the bottom — often

just using gravity alone, although heavy

stuff may require a pump.

“The one absolutely critical thing,”

Masson added, “is that you must not

ever open the container until you’re

ready to empty the bag.”

For a fee, the top flexitank suppliersoffer “supervised loading,” sending a

representative to an approved loading

site to assure the bag is set up, filled

and closed properly. Once they are

38 MARCH 2015


A DEDICATED TECHNICAL CENTER FOR LUBRICANTSAND METALWORKING TO TACKLE THE INDUSTRY’S

MOST COMPLEX CHALLENGES

Monson Companies Lubricants & Metalworking Technical Center supports its sales team, customers

and suppliers with unrivaled formulation and technical assistance. Leverage the full range of technical

resources and quality products only Monson delivers by contacting customer sales and service at

1-800-235-0957, or via email to [email protected] for your local Monson sales representative.

1 5 4 P I O N E E R D R I V E | L E O M I N S T E R , M A 0 1 4 5 3 | 1 - 8 0 0 - 2 3 5 - 0 9 5 7 | W W W . M O N S O N C O . C O M

L U B E S A N D G R E A S E S | M E T A L W O R K I N G | P U L P A N D P A P E R | P O L Y M E R S | W A T E R T R E A T M E N T A N D P O W E R

Monson’s Testing Capabilities

• RPVOT

• Hydrolytic Stability

• Timken EP

• Four Ball Wear

• Copper Corrosion

• Falex Pin & Vee Block

• Grease Testing

“The oneabsolutely

critical thing isthat you mustnot ever openthe containeruntil you’reready to empty the bag.”



17 years now. We probably are shipping

an average of one or two per week over

a 12-month period. We like them. We

have sent them to locations as far away

as Australia and China. We most fre-

quently send flexitanks to Chile. We

have a very well-trained crew here who

set these bags up in the 20-foot con-

tainers and send them on their merry

way to the far-flung locations.

“Over the years we have had very few

problems, and our customers who use

them seem to like them,” Madden con-

tinued. “If you are good and are consci-

entious, you can take the used bags

apart and a lot of the material may be

recycled, too.”

Other lubricant blenders are also

adopting this packaging and shipping

method, hears Annie Jarquin of the

research and consulting firmMalik/Pims. Benchmarking studies of

lubricant plant operations indicate that

“it is definitely becoming more popu-

lar,” she said. “Fifteen percent of the

plants dispatching bulk finished prod-

ucts now report using flexitanks as one

of their methods.” Usage is particularly

high in port cities such as Singapore,

for example, where flexies are filled

with a range of products destined for

export and marine markets.

On the other hand, Jarquin com-

mented, “we were hearing from our

benchmarking study customers that

they felt it was more difficult.

Operationally, our data so far suggests

there is no advantage or disadvantage

with regard to opex [operating

expense]. I think people are still worry-

ing about leakage, etc. — although if

using quality flexitanks this should not

be a problem.”

That big worry — leakage from a

burst bag — has not been a problem

when flexies are used to ship base oils,Puma Crown’s Masson asserted. “If

properly fitted and loaded, they are

absolutely oil-tight. I think it’s a bigger

problem to fill a shipping container

with drums, which rub up against each

other and develop leaks during a long

journey.”

Kurth says that most leaks occur

when the user fails to secure the lock-

down pin on the bladder’s valve, allow-

ing contents to seep out. “You have to

check that the pin is locked down,” she

stressed.

Even so, the whole package makes

some uneasy. The ability to securely

load into and dispense from flexies

requires training. And insurers have

voiced concerns regarding overweight

shipments, bag integrity, fitness for rail

carriage, and added wear and tear on

the shipping containers themselves.

None of these are insurmountable

issues, says Mark Reader of Trans Ocean

— but they do require engineering

know-how, rigorous attention to quality and proper handling.

Read more about that, and some

innovative uses for flexitanks, in next

month’s issue.

LUBES’N’GREASES



Brazil appears to be

falling behind on

meeting its targets for

used oil collection. In

the first half of 2014,

according to government data, the

whole country reached a 35.7 percent

collection rate. However, its goal wasto collect 38.1 percent — meaning

that the used oil collection network

came up short by about 14.7 million

liters (4 million gallons).

Since 2005, Brazil has strictly regu-

lated the collection of used oil, which

it deems a hazardous waste, under a

system it calls “reverse logistics.” The

reverse logistics process encouragesthe reuse of various products for the

purpose of capturing value and/or

proper disposal. Each year, Brazil had

raised collection targets to encourage

greater recycling, and it seemed to be

working. In 2008, 33.4 percent of

used oil was collected; by 2011 it hit

37 percent — better than expected.

With 2014’s setback, the questionnow is whether Brazil’s reverse logistics

system has been compromised, and

what actions — if any — the govern-

ment will take to get used oil collection

back on track.

According to Brazil’s Resolution No.

362/2005, all lubricating oil used or con-

taminated (OLUC) must be collected

for recycling, preferably through rere-

fining, which is considered the best

alternative for the waste.

“Today, there are 14 rerefiners autho-

rized and registered in the National

Petroleum Agency, and only they may

work in this business,” said Pedro

Nelson Belmiro, Lubricants Committee

40 MARCH 2015

Gathering Clouds By Miriam Raquel Sands


Used OilCollectionFalters in

Brazil

Brazil’s 2015 Oil Collection Targets by Region

Nationwide Goal: 38.5%

North 31%

Northeast 32%

Center West 35%

Southeast 42%

South 37%



coordinator for the Brazilian Petroleum,

Gas and Biofuels Institute (IBP).

CONAMA, Brazil’s National Council

for the Environment, has oversight for

used oil collection, and key players

such as producers, importers, retailers

and generators (consumers) share in

legal responsibility for compliance. In

practice however, lubricant producers

and importers bear the greatest respon-

sibility for collection, which must be

done through agents properly regis-

tered at the Brazilian National

Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels

Agency (ANP).

“In Brazil, the rerefining industry is

one of the most well organized seg-

ments of the lubricant market, in terms

of reverse logistics,” observed

Demetrio Florentino de Toledo Filho,

general substitute coordinator of the

Brazilian Ministry of Development,

Industry and Foreign Trade. As he

explained to Lubes’n’Greases, the con-tract between any lubricant producer

or importer and its collection agent

must be presented to ANP before the

company can begin its sales activity in

the country. The company also must

commit to collect a minimum percent-

age of used oil, which is established by

law for each region of the country.

“This resolution applies to allregions in Brazil: North, Northeast,

Midwest, South and Southeast

regions,” said Florentino de Toledo

Filho, adding that Brazilian legislation

also determines the payment to be

made for used oil “to prevent improp-

er disposal of this waste.”

Brazil’s Ministries of the Environment

and Mines & Energy together set the

used oil collection goals to be achieved

for each region and publish them in

ministerial ordinances. The ordinances

consider the characteristics of each

individual region, including its potential

to boost oil recycling rates. The latest

Interministerial Ordinance came in

2012 and established targets through

2015. The ministries are reviewing

these figures in order to publish new

targets for the coming years.

Prior to 2014, industry seems to have

met the targets. “According to the last

presentation of the rerefiners’ represen-

tative,” Nelson Belmiro told

Lubes’n’Greases, “the percentages of

the collected used oil were very close

to those established in the law, and it

was never an issue until the third quar-

ter of last year when they became wor-

ried about not matching the target.

However, they did not close the [full-

year] numbers yet, and we cannot

ensure anything now.”

In the future, CONAMA may establish

more ambitious and more restrictive

policy goals, but the industry must first

meet the minimums established in the

current law. “The expectation is that

42 MARCH 2015

Paul A. Bessette

President

Triboscience & Engineering,

Inc.

Triboscience and Engineer-

ing, Inc. was established in

2000 to provide clients with

sound technical advice per-

taining to the manufacture

and testing of synthetic lu-

bricants. Since 2006, TS&E

has gravitated towards man-

ufacturing our own line ofsynthetic oils and greases.

Our greases include:

• PFPEs • PAOs • Silicones

• Esters • PAGs

We also have a broad line of

synthetic gear oils possess-

ing superior thermooxidative

stability, corrosion protec-

tion, and impressive tribo-chemical activity under

sub-EHD conditions.

If you are a distributor or

manufacturer wishing to ex-

pand your product line, we

would welcome hearing

from you. For us, synergism

means coupling technical

horsepower with access to

markets for the benefit of us

and our partners.

If you’re interested in this

approach, contact President

Paul A. Bessette to discuss

partnership opportunities.

We can be reached at

508-674-9116 or by email at

[email protected] on page 44


Brazil’s Mandated Oil Recycling Rates

Year National Target (avg.)

2008 33.4%

2009 34.2%

2010 35.0%2011 35.9%

2012 36.9%

2013 37.4%

2014 38.1%

2015 38.5%



than the fresh base oil.”

The latest research from Editora

Onze in Rio de Janeiro, which special-

izes in lubricants and publishes Lubes

em Foco magazine in partnership with

IBP, shows that Brazil’s demand for fin-

ished lubricants was 1.37 million met-

ric tons in 2013. It expects that when

final data is in, 2014 lubricants demand

will show a small reduction of about 3

to 4 percent.

“Based on these figures, we can

understand the importance of collect-

ing the used oil produced and the great

impact on the environment if it is not

done,” stated Nelson Belmiro, who is

also Lubes em Foco’s editor.

Additional complications are the

recent dramatic drop in crude oil prices

CONAMA may increase the percentage

for collecting for other regions than

South and Southeast. The industry is

pushing the government to increase

the inspection and control of the used

oil at the end users’ point. Government

is trying to give more responsibility to

the producers; and producers will push

the collectors and rerefiners to collect

all the amounts contracted by them,”

said Nelson Belmiro.

According to Nelson Belmiro, Brazil

still imports about 40 percent of its

base oil needs. “The base oil price in

Brazil follows the international trend,

and Petrobras adjusts their prices to it.

Rerefined base oil prices are normally

around 5 percent to 10 percent less

and consequently base oil prices world-

wide, together with rising collection

costs, Brazil’s inflation rate, and its

slowing GDP growth.

For the year ahead, Nelson Belmiro

said, “the main challenge for the rere-

finers today is the low international

price of the base oil and the high inter-

nal cost for collecting and processing

the used oil. Besides that, there are

some situations of illegal deviation of

the used oil for burning, since the

price of fuel oil is higher than the one

rerefiners pay to the industry for the

used oil.

“This will be a very interesting year,

with a lot of discussions about this sub-

ject, and everybody is very careful with

any statement at the moment.”

44 MARCH 2015


Palm Based Oleochemicals & Derivatives:

Fatty Acids Fatty Alcohols Fractionated Methyl Esters

12 Hydroxy Stearic Acid Hydrogenated Castor Oil Methyl 12 Hydroxy Stearate

Bio-PEGS

Your Partner in Global Sourcing of

Green, Renewable and Sustainable Products

CO Fatty Acid

Ricinoleic Acid Sebacic Acid

Glycerine Fatty Acid Esters

Castor Oil & Derivatives:

New Product:

[email protected]

WWW.PULSAIR.COM

PULSAIRS LINE OF RAIL CAR TANK MIXERS



fast couriers and turn-

around to clients world-

wide. Turbine operators

can collect and send their

lubricant samples, and

Intertek then provides a full

range of testing for the

oils, grease, hydraulic flu-

ids and filters. It then adds

expert interpretation and

advice to help the clients

reduce potential damage,

maintenance downtime

and costs, the company

says. Web: www.intertek.

com

Gear Oil forForeign Makes

B

ritish blender Morris

Lubricants has added to

its stable of products a

high-performance gear oil

aimed at passenger cars

with manual and semi-man-

ual transmissions. The oil,

Lodexol MTF SAE 75W-80,

is engineered for outstand-

ing cold-start fluidity, to

give problem-free winter

shifting. The product also

offers high-temperature

stability, to provide protec-tion under prolonged,

demanding operation,

while ensuring that bear-

ings and other components

remain rust- and corrosion-

free. The company said the

oil can be used in manual,

automated manual and

semi-automatic gearboxes

in makes including BMW,

Cimcool FluidTakes Flight

One of Cimcool’s

newest metalworking

fluids has earned two

thumbs-up from heavy

hitters in the aerospace

sector. Both Boeing and

Bombardier Aerospace

have given their seals of

approval to Cimcool’s

Cimtech 320Z for use in

their heavy-duty machining

of non-ferrous and ferrous

metals, including 6000 and

7000 series aluminum,

stainless steels, titanium

and other exotic alloys.

Made with Cimcool’s

trademarked InSol technol-

ogy, which uses mostly

water-soluble raw materi-

als, 320Z is designed to

increase tool life and pro-

vide superior lubricity while

remaining low foaming. It

is transparent, mild to the

skin with a near-neutral pH,

and contains no DCHA, the

company says. Web:

www.cimcool.com

TurbineCheck Launched

Intertek, the global testing

and quality-control con-

sulting company, is launch-

ing a service designed to

keep large wind turbines

producing energy instead

of headaches. Called

TurbineCheck, Intertek’s

focused service promises

to provide test kits and

46

PRODUCT NEWS

MARCH 2015

Ford, Honda, Volkswagen

and Volvo. Web: www.

morrislubricants.co.uk

Beat the Drum’s Drips

New Pig has added a

new tool for the

unending battle against

unwanted spills. Both

lighter and more mobile

than similar products, its

new containment pallet

can hold the spill yet

remain easily moveable

without a forklift. Called the

Pig Poly Deck, it can hold

two fully loaded drums

(2,000-pound load capaci-

ty), has a 22-gallon sump

well to catch spills and

drips, and can be moved

single-handedly with only a

pallet jack. Only 6.5-inches

high, the deck’s low-densi-

ty polyethylene construc-

tion resists UV rays, rust,

corrosion and most chemi-

cals, New Pig says. Web:

www.newpig.com

Shell Adds Marine EAL

S

hell has added a stern

tube fluid to its line of

lubricants designed to help

ship operators comply with

new, more-stringent U.S.

environmental regulations.

Shell’s Naturelle S4 Stern

Tube Fluid 100, made with

fully saturated ester base

oil, is fully compliant

with the Environmental

Containment deck offers cache

and carry.


PRODUCT NEWS

How is your turbine oil

performing?

A Shropshire lube



Protection Agency’s so-called Vessel

General Permit rules, which since

2013 apply to most ships entering U.S.

waters. It thus qualifies as an environ-

mentally acceptable lubricant, or EAL.

The fluid, which offers improved resis-

tance to hydrolysis and oxidation, has

already won approval by severalmarine engine makers, including Aegir

Marine, Blohm & Voss, Wartsila and

Kemel. Web: www.shell.com

Light, Strong Cartridge

Fischbach USA says it has found

the perfect opening on how to

improve their plastic grease car-

tridges: Make them easier to open.

These are the first all-plastic grease

cartridges made in North America,

and in response to customer

requests Fischbach has tweaked the

design and materials of the products’

pull tabs and breakaway membranes.

The result has to cut the force need-

ed to open them by 25 percent (from

an average of 17.5 kg to 13.5 kg).

Plus, it has done so without sacrific-

ing durability, the company added;

they remain the strongest, most

robust and durable grease cartridge

available. Web: www.plasticgrease-

cartridge.com

Low-foam Spindle Coolant

Lubricant maker Oelheld U.S. is

offering a new water-based corro-

sion inhibitor for spindle coolant sys-

tems. Called ControXid 1642, the

ready-to-use coolant is based on syn-

thetic, water-soluble rust inhibitors. It

is low foaming and protects against

fungal and bacterial contamination.

The fluid, which Oelheld says dissi-

pates heat better than similar

coolants, is not caustic and containsno nitrites, chromites, heavy metals,

phosphates, chlorine or amines. It

protects ferrous metals from corro-

sion without adversely affecting non-

ferrous metals or system seals, and

is widely recommended by equip-

ment makers, the company says.

Web: www.oelheld.com

Spotlight on Steel Drums

T

he Industrial Steel Drum Institute

is using a new, educational video

to drum up a little love for these

steel shipping containers. The trade

group wants to make sure cus-

tomers in the packaging and ship-

ping industry remain mindful of the

versatility, security, cost-effectiveness

and environmental friendliness of

steel drums. The two-and-a-half-

minute video uses whiteboard ani-

mation to show how steel drums

perform in extreme temperature,

humidity and pressure variations,

such as fire conditions. It also

describes how well steel drums

maintain their structural integrity,

helping to prevent leakage; their

reconditioning and reuse, and the rig-

ors of UN performance testing.

Catch the video on YouTube or the

group’s own website. Web:

www.whysteeldrums.org

48 MARCH 2015



Spindles chill out with Oelheld.

Cartridge opens easy, stays tough.

ISDI’s video makes the

case for drums.



easy to program and operate. The

Pro Series has a smart vision camera

that captures detailed component

part images and converts them into

high-resolution digital files, which

simplifies programming. The vision

system is integrated with EFD’s soft-

ware, specially designed for precise

fluid application, the company said.Web: www.nordson.com

Amsoil Rides A Mustang

A msoil has added Ford Mustang

to its list of cars getting special

treatment in the form of its specially

formulated Signature Series line,

which now includes an SAE 5W-50

synthetic motor oil designed to

Ford’s specifications for the sports-

car’s high-horsepower engines.Amsoil’s 5W-50 synthetic motor oil

provides outstanding antiwear pro-

tection, including top-quality deter-

gents and dispersants to help pre-

vent sludge deposits and keep

engines clean, the company says. It

withstands the stresses of high

horsepower and heat, resists viscosi-

ty loss due to mechanical shear and

maintains protection in metal-to-

metal contact regions for maximum

engine life. Web: www.amsoil.com

Nordson’s New Fluid Systems

Nordson EFD has introduced a

new series of automated fluid-

dispensing systems designed to

inject anything from lubricants to

adhesives with pinpoint accuracy in

any manufacturing operation. The

company’s Pro Series integrates

vision and laser height-sensing with

closed-loop encoding to provide a

complete automated system the

company says is quick to set up and


Puts the tang in Mustang.

PRODUCT NEWS

Nordson goes Pro.



finding Bullseye guilty of counterfeit-

ing, trademark infringement and false

advertising. The court ordered

Bullseye to recall and destroy all its

products displaying API trademarks,

and to pay $1.8 million in damages

plus interest to the trade association.

Aramco Grows S-Oil Stake

Hanjin Energy Co. in late January

wrapped up the sale of its 28.4

percent stake in S-Oil Corp., giving

Saudi Arabia’s state investment com-

pany the majority ownership position

in one of South Korea’s largest oil

companies. Aramco Overseas Co.

B.V. paid 1.98 trillion won (U.S. $1.83

billion) for the shares held by Hanjin

Energy, which is a subsidiary of

Korean Air Lines Co.S-Oil operates the world’s largest

base oil refinery, in Onsan, South

Korea, with capacity to produce

42,700 barrels a day of API Group II

and III stocks, according to its web-

site. With this stock acquisition,

Aramco Overseas now owns 63.4

percent of S-Oil.

Neste Rethinks “Oil”

A t its annual shareholders meeting

April 1, Neste Oil’s board of direc-

tors plans to recommend the compa-

ny change its name simply to Neste

Corp., to reflect its growing orienta-

tion to non-petroleum products.

President and CEO Matti Lievonen

said renewable products accounted

for 40 percent of the company’s com-

parable operating profit in 2014. Even

if the parent adopts the new name, its

Nexbase base oil brand and other

trademarks will stay the same, a com-pany spokesperson said. Its retail sta-

tion network in Finland, Estonia,

Latvia, Lithuania and St. Petersburg,

Russia, will keep the current Neste Oil

brand, for the time being.

Neste Oil was formed 10 years ago

when it demerged from Fortum, one

of whose two founding parties it was

from 1998 to 2005. Before that time,

it had operated under the name

Neste for 50 years.

Additives Picks Brenntag

A dditives International has named

Toronto-based Brenntag Canada

as exclusive distributor for all its prod-

ucts in Canada. With its warehousing

across Canada, “we believe Brenntag

Canada is a leader in supplying addi-

tives into the lubricant, metal pro-

cessing, rust preventive, grease andindustrial coatings markets,” said

Greg Jorjorian, president of Additives.

Additives International is part of

Lockhart Chemical. It produces a

wide range of petroleum oxidates,

barium, sodium and calcium sul-

fonates, rust preventive packages,

metal processing additives and

gelled calcium sulfonates for lubri-

cant, metalworking and grease mar-

kets globally.

LUBES’N’GREASES




parties are wel-

come to partici-

pate. Contacts:

Patrick Laemmle of

Panolin America

(patrick.laemm-

[email protected])

and ASTM’s

Alyson Fick

([email protected])

Done Deals

R enewable oil company Solazyme

Inc. has signed up Versalis, part

of Italy’s Eni, to expand commercial

use of Encapso, Solazyme’s

biodegradable encapsulated lubricant

for drilling fluids. Versalis’s distribu-

tion network will help drive global

sales for Encapso as a high-perfor-

mance and sustainable drilling fluidadditive. With initial emphasis on

Eni’s oil and gas fields worldwide,

sales are targeted to exceed 3,000

metric tons of Encapso annually.

Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd. was

Bio-hydraulic Standard Floated

W ith biodegradable hydraulic flu-

ids increasingly being specified

by government and industry, ASTM

has a new standard in the works:

WK31234, Specification for

Biodegradable, Low Aquatic Toxicity

Hydraulic Fluids. The aim is to help

ensure that proper fluids are beingused at environmentally sensitive

sites.

The voluntary standard will cover

fluids used in both stationary and

mobile applications. Since

biodegradable fluids have been

found to perform differently than tra-

ditional mineral oils, need has arisen

for separate performance classifica-

tions that can be used by equipment

manufacturers, operators, end users

and regulators, points out ASTMmember Patrick Laemmle, of Panolin

International.

ASTM WK31234 is being developed

by Subcommittee D02.N0.03 on Eco-

Evaluated Fluids, and all interested

named the exclusive supplier in India

of Rockwall, Texas-based Whitmore

Manufacturing’s mining, rail and

industrial lubricants and greases.

Hyundai named Shell Lubricants

as its preferred aftermarket motor oil

supplier for another five years. The

deal calls for branded motor oils

manufactured by Shell to be recom-

mended in Hyundai dealerships andworkshops in over 70 countries. In

North America, these will be Quaker

State lubricants (owned by Shell).

Spain’s Repsol Lubricants is to

supply lubricants in Australia for

56 MARCH 2015

ExxonMobil to supply Virgin Atlantic’s Dreamliners (Boeing photo by M. McQuade)

t r osee Renl Ar d euoC



Mitsui & Co., estimates the address-

able market for succinic acid in spe-

cialty lubricants to be $100 million. It

will supply Oleon from its Sarnia

plant, which is expected to be com-

pleted early this year with an initial

capacity of 30,000 tons per year.

Oleon plans to combine the bio-suc-

cinic acid with bio-based alcohols, to

produce a new line of lubricants for

industrial uses requiring high perfor-

mance, biodegradability and renew-

able content.

Open House for Tribology

Industry demand is high for gradu-

ates who have a background in tri-

bology — but where to find those?

One place is Auburn University’s tri-

bology and lubrication science minor,

the first minor of its kind in theUnited States. Industry can meet fac-

ulty and students at an open house

there April 9. The program has gar-

nered support from the National

Lubricating Grease Institute, the

Erebus Motorsport’s supercars. As

part of the partnership, Repsol will

provide support from its workshop in

Melbourne and technical center in

Queensland, New Zealand.

Virgin Atlantic has selected

ExxonMobil’s Mobil Jet Oil 387 to

lubricate the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000

turbofan engines on its new Boeing

787-9 Dreamliners. Virgin Atlantic is

the first European to operate the air-

craft, with two delivered and 15

more on order.

Oleon, BioAmber Team Up

M inneapolis-based BioAmber Inc.

has signed an exclusive supply

agreement for bio-based succinic

acid with Oleon, the European oleo-

chemicals company. Under the terms

of the five-year contract, which runsthrough 2018, BioAmber Sarnia will

supply Oleon with bio-based succinic

acid for the development and pro-

duction of succinate lubricants.

BioAmber, a joint venture with

Society of Tribologists & Lubrication

Engineers, and others.

The day will include student pre-

sentations, laboratory tours and col-

laborative discussions, plus a job fair

to interview students for internships

and jobs. Robert Jackson, associate

professor for the minor, says interest-

ed companies can create an employ-

er profile and identify prospective

Tribology Minor students at the Tiger

Recruiting Link, http://www.auburn.

edu/career/trl/. To attend, RSVP by

March 19, to [email protected].

Details: eng.auburn.edu/tribology

Faces in theNews

Wallover Oil

has named

David Custis asregional sales

manager, respon-

sible for northern

Missouri, southern

Illinois and Iowa. David Custis



Take your business to the next level with Phillips 66® base oils. We’ll manage the details

and logistics so you can focus on what you do best.

Why base oils from Phillips 66?

• Direct access to Group II Pure Performance® and Group III Ultra-S® base oils

• Proven supply chain

• Customer-first service and solutions

Contact us today. Let’s talk base oils.

800.527.3236 • [email protected] • baseoil.phillips66.com

A STEP UP IN BASE OILS

©2015 Phillips 66 Company. Phillips 66, Pure Performance and their respective logos are trademarks of Phillips 66 Company in the U.S.A. and othercountries. Ultra-S is a trademark of S-Oil Corporation.



recognizing the different

views of the audience, and

welcoming feedback can

work wonders.

Let’s consider some

advice from the experts:

“As CEO, it’s especially

important that I have

people around me who

can give me feedback —

the kind of people whowill come to me, close

the door and say, ‘You’re

wrong, and you’re mess-

ing up.’” —Susan Story,

CEO of American Water

Works Co.

It’s a good idea to begin

your communications with

a few kind words, letting

people know that they are

important. “Kind words can be short and easy to

speak, but their echoes are

truly endless.” —Mother

Teresa, spiritual leader.

Active listening is proba-

bly the most important

component of effective

communication. You can

learn a lot by keeping your

ears open and your mouth

shut. “Try to listen before you speak. Anyone who’s

worth talking to is worth

listening to.” —David

Boies, attorney.

“If I’ve done anything to

be successful it’s that I

Management con-

sultant Peter

Drucker gave this

advice to Ph.D. candidate

Robert Grayson: “Bob, if

you ever become a con-

sultant and the CEO tells

you his problems, go to

the shop floor and they’ll

tell you the solutions.” To

which he added, “Listento what the top people

have to say — then hide

in a closet for a couple of

hours. When you come

out just say, ‘your prob-

lem is communications,’

and you’ll be right 99 per-

cent of the time.”

The importance of effec-

tive communications

between (and among) topexecutives, managers and

those who report to them

cannot be overstated. In

order to properly do their

job, supervisors at every

level must become skilled

in verbal, written and per-

sonal example communi-

cations.

In order to convey their

message, managers mustmake sure that they and

their listeners are commu-

nicating on the same

wavelength. They should

make an effort to under-

stand their people estab

As novelist Ernest

Hemingway observed, “ I

like to listen. I have

learned a great deal from

listening carefully. Most

people never listen.”

Hotelier J. W. Marriott Jr.

adds, “The four most

important words in the

English language are

‘What do you think?’ Listen to your people and

learn.”

Sometimes it is also nec-

essary to read between the

lines. As Peter Drucker

points out, “The most

important thing in com-

munication is to hear

what isn’t being said.”

Gus Franklin, author of the

new leadership book “AfraidTo Win,” said this about his

former boss, Ren

McPherson, CEO of Dana

Corp.: “First of all, he knew

he did not have all the

answers, and even if he did

have the right answer, he

knew he could not imple-

ment the solution to the

problem by himself. What

he needed was the full engagement of the people

under him. And the way to

get that engagement was

to have them understand

that he cared what they

thought How did he do

YOUR BUSINESS

B Y J ACK GOODHUE Your Problem isCommunications

lubes n greases mar 15

Documents