Mineral Oils - Nature’s SynthesisParaffinic Cyclic/Aromatic

Low cost Big mixture

Mineral OilMineral oil refining removes many of the least desirablecomponents (e.g. aromatics, waxes) and modifies the rest(e.g. hyrofinishing, hydrodewaxing and/or hydroprocessing)

Base Stock Component Properties

Paraffins Iso-Paraffins Naphthenes Aromatics

VI very high high medium/low lowest

Pour point high low lower lowest

Traction lowest low medium/high medium/high

Volatility low low higher highest

Solvency poor fair good excellent

Oxidation good good lower easilyResistance resistance oxidized

Synthetic Base stocks

• Synthesized hydrocarbons

• Synthesized non-hydrocarbons (typically containing oxygen atoms)

Synthesized hydrocarbons

• Polyalphaolefins• Polybutenes• Alkylated aromatics • Cycloaliphatics

Polyalphaolefins (PAO)

• Chain molecular structures synthesized from ethylene polymerization

• High VI and high oxidation stability• Low pour point, low traction and volatility• Best as engine oil basestock. Most popular PAO is

polydecenes, which is the basestock of Mobil 1

Polymerization of ethylene

PAO Manufacture

1-Decene Polydecene

“Ideal” Actual

R - CH = CH2PolymerizationHydrogenation

Alpha-olefins Hydrogenated trimers,tetramers, etc.

R - CH CH2 - CH HCH3 R x

Synthetic Polyalphaolefin (PAO)

Hydrogenated Polydecene

From Crude Oil to Synthetic Lubricants Synthetics are usually sourced from crude oil Many manufacturing steps result in high cost

Atmospheric

Distillation

Catalytic

Cracking

Distillation

Catalytic

Polymerization

Hydrogenation

Separation

Cracker Feed

Light Olefins

Alphaolefins

Distillation

Catalytic

Polymerization

Formulation

Blending

Sales &

Marketing

Ethylene

1-Decene

Polydecene

Additives

Crude Oil SyntheticLubricants

On sale at Walmart for $5.00

Polybutenes

• Synthezied through controlled polymerization of butenes and isobutenes

• High dielectrics constant – electrical insulating oils• Low thermal stability – metal working and compressor lubes

to decompose to gases• High molecular weight polybutenes or polyisobutenes are

used as VI improvers

Alkylated aromatics

• Synthesized from alkylation of benzenes• Very low pour point and low viscosity – subzero

temperature applications

Cycloaliphatics

• Synthesized naphthenes, multi-ring-structured molecules• Develop a glasslike structure under high stresses to yield high

traction• Used as traction-drive fluids, also used in rolling bearings to

reduce roller skidding

Synthesized non-hydrocarbons

• Organic esters• Polyglycols• Phosphate esters• Silicate esters• Polyphenyl esters

Organic esters

• Dibasic acid esters:

• Polyol esters:

Wide temperature range and good thermal stabilityUsed as base stocks for essentially all jet engine lubes

Polyglycols

• The largest single class of synthetic lubricant bases• High VI and low pour point• Used mainly as brake fluids and hydraulic fluids

Phosphate esters

• High fire resistance• Used mainly as hydraulic fluids and compressor lubes• Also used as antiwear additives by its formation of

phosphide films on metal surfaces

Silicate ester

• Extremely high VI > 300• Used mainly as heat exchanger fluids

Polyphenyl esters

• Most thermally and oxidatively stable• Used mainly as heat transfer fluids