How lubricating oil is made - material, history, used, processing, parts,

components, industry, Raw Materials, The Manufacturing Process of lubricating oil,

Quality Control, The Future
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Lubricating Oil Lubricating Oil

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Background

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Since the Roman era, many liquids, including water, have been used as lubricants
to minimize the friction, heat, and wear between mechanical parts in contact
with each other. Today, lubricating oil, or lube oil, is the most commonly used
lubricant because of its wide range of possible applications. The two basic
categories of lube oil are mineral and synthetic. Mineral oils are refined from
naturally occurring petroleum, or crude oil. Synthetic oils are manufactured
polyalphaolefins, which are hydrocarbon-based polyglycols or ester oils.
Although there are many types of lube oils to choose from, mineral oils are the
most commonly used because the supply of crude oil has rendered them
inexpensive; moreover, a large body of data on their properties and use already
exists. Another advantage of mineral-based lube oils is that they can be
produced in a wide range of viscosities—viscosity refers to the substance's
resistance to flow—for diverse applications. They range from low-viscosity oils,
which consist of hydrogen-carbon chains with molecular weights of around 200
atomic mass units (amu), to highly viscous lubricants with molecular weights as
high as 1000 amu. Mineral-based oils with different viscosities can even be
blended together to improve their performance in a given application. The common
1OW-30 motor oil, for example, is a blend of low viscous oil (for easy starting
at low temperatures) and highly viscous oil (for better motor protection at
normal running temperatures).
First used in the aerospace industry, synthetic lubricants are usually
formulated for a specific application to which mineral oils are ill-suited. For
example, synthetics are used where extremely high operating temperatures are
encountered or where the lube oil must be fire resistant. This article will
focus on mineral-based lube oil.
Raw Materials
Lube oils are just one of many fractions, or components, that can be derived
from raw petroleum, which emerges from an oil well as a yellow-to-black,
flammable, liquid mixture of thousands of hydrocarbons (organic compounds
containing only carbon and hydrogen atoms, these occur in all fossil fuels).
Petroleum deposits were formed by the decomposition of tiny plants and animals
that lived about 400 million years ago. Due to climatic and geographical changes
occurring at that time in the Earth's history, the breakdown of these organisms
varied from region to region.
Because of the different rates at which organic material decomposed in various
places, the nature and percentage of the resulting hydrocarbons vary widely.
Consequently, so do the physical and chemical characteristics of the crude oils
extracted from different sites. For example, while California crude has a
specific gravity of 0.92 grams/milliliter, the lighter Pennsylvania crude has a
specific gravity of 0.81 grams/milliliter. (Specific gravity, which refers to
the ratio of a substance's weight to that of an equal volume of water, is an
important aspect of crude oil.) Overall, the specific gravity of crudes ranges
between 0.80 and 0.97 grams/milliliter.
Depending on the application, chemicals called additives may be mixed with the

Lubricating oil is refined from crude oil. After undergoing a purifying process
colled sedimentation, the crude oil is heated in huge fractionating towers. The
various vapors—which can be used to make fuel, waxes, or propane, among other
substances—boil off and are collected at different points in the tower. The lube
oil that is collected is filtered, and then additives are mixed in.
refined oil to give it desired physical properties. Common additives include
metals such as lead or metal sulphide, which enhance lube oil's ability to
prevent galling and scoring when metal surfaces come in contact under extremely
high pressures. High-molecular weight polymerics are another common additive:
they improve viscosity, counteracting the tendency of oils to thin at high
temperatures. Nitrosomines are employed as antioxidants and corrosion inhibitors
because they neutralize acids and form protective films on metal surfaces.
The Manufacturing
Process
Lube oil is extracted from crude oil, which undergoes a preliminary purification
process (sedimentation) before it is pumped into fractionating towers. A typical
high-efficiency fractionating tower, 25 to 35 feet (7.6 to 10.6 meters) in
diameter and up to 400 feet (122 meters) tall, is constructed of high grade
steels to resist the corrosive compounds present in crude oils; inside, it is
fitted with an ascending series of condensate collecting trays. Within a tower,
the thousands of hydrocarbons in crude oil are separated from each other by a
process called fractional distillation. As the vapors rise up through the tower,
the various fractions cool, condense, and return to liquid form at different
rates determined by their respective boiling points (the lower the boiling point
of the fraction, the higher it rises before condensing). Natural gas reaches its
boiling point first, followed by gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, lubricants, and
tars.
Sedimentation
1 The crude oil is transported from the oil well to the refinery by pipeline
or tanker ship. At the refinery, the oil undergoes sedimentation to remove any
 water and solid contaminants, such as sand and rock, that maybe suspended in
it. During this process, the crude is pumped into large holding tanks, where
the water and oil are allowed to separate and the contaminants settle out of
the oil.
Fractionating
2 Next, the crude oil is heated to about 700 degrees Fahrenheit (371 degrees
Celsius). At this temperature it breaks down into a mixture of hot vapor and
liquid that is then pumped into the bottom of the first of two fractionating
towers. Here, the hot hydrocarbon vapors float upward. As they cool, they
condense and are collected in different trays installed at different levels in
the tower. In this tower, normal atmospheric pressure is maintained
continuously, and about 80 percent of the crude oil vaporizes.
3 The remaining 20 percent of the oil is then reheated and pumped into a
second tower, wherein vacuum pressure lowers the residual oil's boiling point
so that it can be made to vaporize at a lower temperature. The heavier
compounds with higher boiling points, such as tar and the inorganic compounds,
remain behind for further processing.
Filtering and solvent extraction
4 After further processing to remove unwanted compounds, the lube oil that has
been collected in the two fractionating towers is passed through several
ultrafine filters, which remove remaining impurities. Aromatics, one such
contaminant, contain six-carbon rings that would affect the lube oil's
viscosity if they weren't removed in a process called solvent extraction.
Solvent extraction is possible because aromatics are more soluble in the
solvent than the lube oil fraction is. When the lube oil is treated with the
solvent, the aromatics dissolve; later, after the solvent has been removed,
the aromatics can be recovered from it.
Additives, inspection, and packaging
5 Finally, the oil is mixed with additives to give it the desired physical
properties (such as the ability to withstand low temperatures). At this point,
the lube oil is subjected to a variety of quality control tests that assess
its viscosity, specific gravity, color, flash, and fire points. Oil that meets
quality standards is then packaged for sale and distribution.
Quality Control
Most applications of lube oils require that they be nonresinous, pale-colored,
odorless, and oxidation-resistant. Over a dozen physical and chemical tests are
used to classify and determine the grade of lubricating oils. Common physical
tests include measurements for viscosity, specific gravity, and color, while
typical chemical tests include those for flash and fire points.
Of all the properties, viscosity, a lube oil's resistance to flow at specific
temperatures and pressures, is probably the single most important one. The
application and operating temperature range are key factors in determining the
proper viscosity for an oil. For example, if the oil is too viscous, it offers
too much resistance to the metal parts moving against each other. On the other
hand, if it not viscous enough, it will be squeezed out from between the mating
surfaces and will not be able to lubricate them sufficiently. The Saybolt
Standard Universal Viscometer is the standard instrument for determining
viscosity of petroleum lubricants between 70 and 210 degrees Fahrenheit (21 and
99 degrees Celsius). Viscosity is measured in the Say bolt Universal second,
which is the time in seconds required for 50 milliliters of oil to empty out of
a Saybolt viscometer cup through a calibrated tube orifice at a given
temperature.
The specific gravity of an oil depends on the refining method and the types of
additives present, such as lead, which gives the lube oil the ability to resist
extreme mating surface pressure and cold temperatures. The lube oil's color
indicates the uniformity of a particular grade or brand. The oil's flash and
fire points vary with the crude oil's origin. The flash point is the temperature
to which an oil has to be heated until sufficient flammable vapor is driven off
so that it will flash when brought into contact with a flame. The fire point is
the higher temperature at which the oil vapor will continue to burn when
ignited.
Common engine oils are classified by viscosity and performance according to
specifications established by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
Performance factors include wear prevention, oil sludge deposit formation, and
oil thickening.
The Future
The future of mineral-based lubricating oil is limited, because the natural
supplies of petroleum are both finite and non-renewable. Experts estimate the
total recoverable light to medium petroleum reserves at 1.6 trillion barrels, of
which a third has been used. Thus, synthetic-based oils will probably be
increasingly important as natural reserves dwindle. This is true not only for
lubricating oil but also for the other products that result from petroleum
refining.
Where To Learn More
Books
Fuels, Lubricants, and Coolants, 7th ed. Deere & Company Service Publications,
1992.
Malone, L. J. Basic Concepts of Chemistry. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1989.
Nadkarni, R. A., ed. Analysis of Petroleum Products & Lubricants. American
Society for Testing & Materials, 1991.
Seal, Shirley C., ed. Fluids, Lubricants & Sealing Devices. National Fluid Power
Association, 1989.
Periodicals
Bienkowski, Keith. "Coolants and Lubricants: The Truth." Manufacturing
Engineering. March, 1993.
"System Provides Real-Time Lube Oil Blending." Design News. February 26, 1990,
p. 39.
O'Lenick, Anthony and Raymond E. Bilbo. "Saturated Liquid Lubricant Withstands
Aluminum Forming." Research & Development. February, 1989, p. 162.
Peterson, Ivars. "Friction Features." Science News. April 30, 1988, p. 283.
Templeton, Fleur. "The Right Lube Job for Superhot Ceramic Engines?" Business
Week. May 18, 1992, p. 113.
Vogel, Todd, John Rossant, and Sarah Miller. "Oil's Rude Awakening." Business
Week. September 26, 1988, p. 44.
— Craig F. Whitlow

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User Contributions:
1Per WiklundMay 16, 2006 @ 3:03 amMore and more lube oils are made using
hydrotreatment which is not mentioned in the article. With this technolgy
envirionmentally friendly production of very highly refined oil can be achieved
without the use of solvent extraction. Furthermore very heavy crudes, of which
there is plenty in the ground, can be utilized.2abhishekJul 26, 2007 @ 8:08 ami
want to know the process of refining of used oil3OliviaAug 12, 2007 @ 1:01
amCould you please let me know what is the boiling point of lubricating
oil?4MURTUZAApr 11, 2010 @ 2:02 amI want to blend high performance auto motive
engine oil what kind of chemicals should be added in how many percentage as an
additive in base oil as well what are an important apparatus necessary to check
the characteristics of lubricating oilComment about this article, ask questions,
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