Lube-Tech

PUBLISHED BY LUBE: THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

No.80 page 1

Modern Base Oils &

Blending for Optimal Performance
Meeting the Evolving Needs of the
European Lubricant Market
The lubricants industry in Europe is at a
crossroads. Historically, lubricant form-
ulations have been based upon
optimising Group I, Group III or a Group
I/III blend with a proven additive package.

Relying on Group I and Group III has

served the European lubricants industry
exceptionally well. Group I is readily
available, and typically, is the least
expensive base oil. Historically, it has
been the dominant ingredient in many
lubricant formulations, particularly
industrial lubricants and automotive
formulations with a lower viscosity index
(VI). As a result, Group I has become the
‘work horse’ base oil throughout Europe,
whilst Group III has been used to deliver
higher performance and lower viscosity.
being redesigned to boost fuel economy This means increasing tankage to
With tightening environmental legislation and are moving to fluids that can provide accommodate additional base oils or re-
this historical balance is being fill-for-life performance. Greases are evaluating formulations across a blenders
challenged. In order to meet ‘green’ being subjected to higher loads, higher entire product line and identifying
initiatives, the Automobile Manufacturers bearing speeds, and higher temperatures opportunities for reformulating with new
Association (ACEA) is pushing for tighter that require formulations with better premium base oils.
engine oil specification standards. oxidation and thermal stability. Similarly,
users of industrial lubricants want better
This has created a maze of OEM thermal stability and longer oil life.
requirements that call for emission
system protection and extended drain Generally speaking, these performance
intervals from both Passenger Car Motor trends are calling for base oils that have
Oils (PCMO) and Heavy Duty Motor Oils • Higher VI to enable better fuel
(HDMO). Meeting those specifications economy and low volatility
requires lubricants with lower viscosity • Lower volatility for reduced oil
and lower volatility. consumption
• Practically zero sulphur
• Excellent oxidation stability
• High saturates content for improved Careful selection of base oil suppliers will
additive response help reduce potential supply chain
complexity and cost. Given the complicated
Whilst these new standards are very and costly process for qualifying lubricants,
good for the environment, they are selecting base stocks from suppliers with
creating significant challenges for large volumes and multiple plants helps
lubricant manufacturers who must minimise the need for expensive requalifi-
grapple with optimising lubricant cation testing with alternative base stocks.
formulations for new specifications whilst This also reduces tankage requirements.
managing supply chain cost and These challenges have brought a new
In addition to tightening performance complexity. New premium quality base level of scientific sharing between OEMs,
requirements for crankcase lubrication, oils will need to be added to the supply lubricant manufacturers, additive
automatic transmission fluids, greases chain in order for blenders to meet the companies and base oil suppliers to find
and industrial oils are also facing tougher full range of new specifications for their solutions that optimise performance and
challenges. Automatic transmissions are Automotive Engine Oils (AEO). meet market demands.

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 Lube-Tech
PUBLISHED BY LUBE: THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
No.80 page 2

Meeting New Mid/Low SAPS motor oil grades and Group I has too automotive engine oils. As a result,
Requirements – A Blending Challenge much sulphur for the new specifications. supply reliability of fungible base stocks
for Lubricant Manufacturers should be a critical consideration in the
Of particular concern, is how to optimise This is the crossroads for European early stages of new lubricant
blending strategies for Automotive lubricant manufacturers. The challenge formulations.
Engine Oils (AEO) in light of new specifi- lies in meeting the requirements for Mid
cations. Group I base stocks are high in and Low SAPS lubricants whilst providing Where Automotive Lubricants go,
aromatics, sulphur and nitrogen, all of the necessary performance for engines Base Stock Characteristics go
which have a negative impact on requiring 10W-XX and 15W-XX Automotive lubricants demand more
lubricant performance. Historically, as the lubricants. This is particularly true for than half of all base oil production.
need for improved product quality heavy-duty engines. Large diesel engines Additionally, they have strict
increased, some combination of the are subjected to demanding workloads. requirements for physical and chemical
additive treat rate and the amount of They typically operate at low speeds and properties. So refiners, within the
Group III were increased to compensate very high torque. Their engines require capabilities of their processing scheme,
for the impurities/inefficiencies in Group I lubricants that provide sufficient high design the physical and chemical
base stocks. temperature/high shear (HTHS) character- properties of their base oil production to
istics to insure adequate wear protection meet the performance requirements of
and maximise engine durability. automotive lubricants.

To meet this challenge European blenders Refiners can influence the characteristics
are evaluating the range of base oils of their base stocks by feed stock
available and their impact on selection, processing severity and
performance and supply chain catalyst selection. But, by far, the most
economics. significant limiting factor on base oil
quality is the manufacturing process
used by the refiner. There are two
general processing schemes for
producing mineral oil base stocks. The
older process, solvent dewaxing was
In response to the introduction of Euro V developed in the 1920s and is used for
and VI emission regulations, OEMs have producing Group I base stocks. The
modified their engine designs and second, an all-hydroprocessing scheme
emission control systems to reduce the Chevron introduced in 1993 uses
level of nitrogen oxides and particulates isomerisation for dewaxing. It is used to
released into the atmosphere. One of the make Group II/III base stocks.
solutions was to install after treatment
devices, such as diesel particulate filters Group I Base Stocks –
(DPFs) and selective catalytic reduction Alternative Base Oils Excellent for many industrial
units (SCRs). The ATIEL and API base oil classification applications, but too much sulphur
system groups base oils based on their for tightening AEO specifications
Protecting the performance of these purity and VI. It was established to help Producing Group I base stocks starts with
devices drove the need for new marketers minimise re-testing costs when vacuum gas oil (VGO), one of the heavier
European specifications that restrict the blending licensed engine oils with base streams coming out of the crude unit.
levels of sulphated ash, phosphorous and oils from different manufacturing Solvents are used to selectively remove
sulphur (SAPS) in motor oils. In response sources. The system uses physical and 50-80% of the impurities. However, the
to these tightening standards, new chemical parameters to divide all base treated base oils stream still has paraffins
categories of “Mid and Low SAPS” stocks (oils) into five Groups – Groups I. that need to be removed to produce
engine oils have been designated. II, III, IV and V. usable base stocks.

Significantly, given the high amount of Base stocks, even in the same ‘Group’,
sulphur in Group I base oils, they cannot may differ widely in their molecular
be used in AEO formulations designed composition, and physical and chemical
for Mid or Low SAPS specifications. properties depending on the feedstock
This creates a significant challenge for and processing parameters used by the
producers of 10W-XX and 15W-XX refiner. Differences in base stock
multigrade lubricants, which account for composition affect the performance of
more than 85% of the European finished finished lubricants, consequently, base
lubricant’s HDMO market. Group III alone stocks are considered non-fungible in
has insufficient viscometrics to meet the many lubricant formulations. This is
performance requirements for heavier particularly true in high performance

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 Lube-Tech
PUBLISHED BY LUBE: THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
No.80 page 3

The paraffins are removed by a dewaxing Group IV/V Base Stocks –PAOs,
process that uses solvents taken to a low Synthetics and All Others
temperature, where the wax is precipitated Polyalphaolefins (PAOs) have excellent
out. The resulting Group I base stock has performance properties and are well
relatively high sulphur making it unsuitable proven in many demanding formulations.
for Mid and Low SAPS AEO specifications. However, they are a synthetic byproduct
derived from processing crude oil. A
Group II/III Base Stocks – All- complex manufacturing chain is required
hydroprocessing technology for their production.
All-hydroprocessing for base oils starts
with the same feed as a solvent plant. Manufacturing PAO starts with an
However, instead of using a solvent to ethylene cracker making the simplest
remove undesirable compounds, the feed olefin (ethylene) from hydrocarbon feeds.
is processed in a high-pressure hydro- Regions with high diesel demand are The primary cracker feed is naphtha.
cracker with catalysts that reshape the more likely to have high Group III Ethylene is selectively polymerized into
molecules, saturate the aromatic production, whilst gasoline producing linear alphaolefins (LAOs). The heart of
compounds and create high quality iso regions favour Group II production. the LAO production is C4, C6 (~16%),
paraffins. In total, 98-99.9% of the C8 (12-13%), and drops off to about
impurities are converted to high quality The principal difference between Group II 10% for C10 and 8% for C12. The
base oils. Chevron invented this and Group III base stocks is VI. They are lighter alphaolefins, C4-C8 cuts, are
processing scheme in the 1990s and both premium base oils containing less comonomers for plastics, whilst the C12-
today more than two thirds of the than 10% aromatics and less than 300 C16 cuts typically go into detergents and
world’s premium base oil is produced ppm sulphur as defined by API publication the very heavy ones -- >C24 go into
using this upgrade path. 1509. They typically have about 1% specialty applications.
aromatics or less and almost undetectable
amounts of sulphur. As a result, these The C8, C10 and C12 LAO can be
base oils have better oxidation stability, oligomerised into Polyalphaolefins (PAO).
thermal stability, and cold flow properties Most C8 goes to comonomer for plastics
than Group I base oils. – only a little goes to PAO. PAO is
primarily made from C10 LAO.
Group III+ GTL Base Stocks Additionally, PAOs require a final
The first large-scale GTL base oil plant hydrotreating step to fully saturate the
started up in 2011. It uses the same double bonds. Given the competition for
hydro-isomerization process as that used feedstock and complexity of the PAO
to produce Group II and Group III base production process, PAO supply will
oils. Like its Group II and Group III continue to be limited and relatively
counterparts, GTL base stocks have costly. As a result, its use will be confined
Whilst the same upgrading technology is exceptional thermal and oxidative to operating environments with
used for producing Group II and Group III stability. What distinguishes them from exceptionally high or low temperatures,
base stocks, the driver for which grade a other hydroprocessed base oils are their or circumstances requiring excessively
refinery produces is the source of the high VI of 135-145. Consequently, GTL long lubricant life - like space travel or
feed - a large diesel hydrocracker vs a base stocks are classified as Group III+, wind turbines.
gasoline hydrocracker. an unofficial API category that recognizes
their higher VI than other Group III base
Group II is typically produced by stocks.
processing VGO in a dedicated base oil
hydrocracker in a gasoline refinery.
Group III is primarily produced by
processing unconverted oil (fractionator
bottoms) from a two-stage diesel hydroc-
racker. Whilst any diesel hydrocracker
can make some Group III feedstocks,
they are most efficiently produced in
large-scale diesel hydrocrackers.

Given the direct correlation between New boutique base oils entering the
fuels production and base oil grade market, including those from vegetable
(Group II vs. Group III), regional base oil Whilst GTL base oils have had consid- oils, sugar cane, and re-refined base
production capacity correlates signifi- erable coverage in the industry press, stocks, have a broad quality range.
cantly with regional fuels demand. they have limited availability. Whilst some of these base stocks have

4 LUBE MAGAZINE No.107 FEBRUARY 2012

 Lube-Tech
PUBLISHED BY LUBE: THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
No.80 page 4

excellent performance properties they are Major formulators in Europe have been
all constrained by limited production developing Group II blends for the last
capacity. Consequently, they will be used three years, plus all of the major additive
in niche applications with limited volume companies have experience in North
demands. America optimising lubricant
performance with Group II base oils in
Adequate and Reliable Supply is a both industrial and engine oil
Base Oil Prerequisite for Meeting applications.
New Mid/Low SAPS AEO
Specifications Group II/II+ can meet European
The challenge confronting lubricant automotive performance specifications
marketers is how to capitalise on the for all but the lightest grades such as
range of base oils available to optimise extremely low volatility 5W-XX and 0W-
formulations for changing specifications. effective and efficient way for identifying XX grades.
optimal base oil blends. If different ratios
After reviewing the base oil alternatives are blended you end up with a curve As with any new product, formulators
for meeting new Mid and Low SAPS showing volatility at a given viscosity. will need to determine the optimal
performance specifications, the optimal Group II has a broad spectrum of viscometrics and volatility requirements
choice is Group II base oils. They have performance that meets much of the for the base oil blend that is required for
purity comparable to Group III base blending requirements for 5W-XX or the specific additive system to be used.
stocks plus the necessary viscosity for 10W-XX lubricants. The curves Through precise formulation work the
adequate wear protection in engines demonstrate increasing blending quality. level of Group III can be optimised, or in
subjected to heavy duty work loads. some cases, eliminated completely,
Most importantly, they are now available Group II/II+ Base Stocks Can Meet the leading to formulation cost savings
in Europe in sufficiently large volumes Needs of the Majority of European without compromising performance.
from more than one supply source. Formulations
The European PCMO market is highly Through optimisation with Group II base
specialised with sub-segmented markets. stocks, blenders may realise a reduction
These are defined by performance levels in additive treat rates for Group II blends
within different viscosity grades versus Group I blends.
prescribed by industry and OEM specifi-
cations. Consequently key base oil Formulating work completed with the
property requirements vary considerably major additive companies has shown
from one OEM’s performance level to that Group II/II+ base oils are an excellent
another. This has led to differing degrees alternative for producing 10W-40 and
of Group III content in mainline and 5W-30 lubricants. 10W-40 PCMO
premium automotive formulations and formulations typically include between
reflects the region’s history of Group I 20-50% Group III base oil with
and Group III base oil availability to the the remainder being Group I.
In practical reality, the question exclusion of Group II base oil. Comparable performance can be
confronting European lubricant blenders achieved with an optimised blend of
who market a full range of automotive Group II and Group II+ base oils.
engine oils, is not whether they will
integrate Group II base oils into their This formulating scheme eliminates the
processing scheme, but when and how? need for both more costly Group III and
less pure Group I base oils. Similarly 5W-
Optimising Blending With Available 40 PCMO lubricants, which typically
Supply Becomes the Next Challenge require 100% Group III, can be
Typically, lubricants use two base oils effectively formulated with a blend
with different viscosity grades to achieve dominated by Group II+ with Group III
a desired viscosity level. New specifi- used as a trim stock to meet
cations may require the use of a third performance requirements for a given
base stock as a ’correction fluid’ to meet specification.
cold crank simulator and (CCS) and Most of the automotive engine oil
volatility (Noack) requirements. volume, both for heavy duty and For lubricant manufacturers, oxidation
passenger car segments, can be blended stability is a critical component of their
Blending chart plots showing base oil with the majority component being formulating objectives. The better the
Noack volatility plotted against Cold Group II and/or Group II+. In many cases, lubricant’s oxidative stability, the better
Crank Simulator (CCS) - a measure of this blending strategy brings both cost the lubricant’s ability to minimise
viscosity at low temperature – are an and performance benefits. deposits, sludge, and corrosive

LUBE MAGAZINE No.107 FEBRUARY 2012 5

 Lube-Tech
PUBLISHED BY LUBE: THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
No.80 page 5

Graphic diagnostic tool identifies optimal blending ratios

By graphically displaying the performance range of base oil blends, one is able to identify the most efficient blend for meeting
a desired performance objective. How it is done:
• Curves are created by blending two base stocks in varying ratios
• Target base oil blend viscosity and volatility is established by backing out contributions from additive and VM packages
• If curve lies below the target, the blend of the two base stocks is capable of meeting or exceeding the volatility and
viscosity requirements
• In some cases, a correction fluid is required because only 2 blend components cannot meet either the CCS or the Noack
volatility.

Example 1
Optimising the base oil blend for an E9 10W-40
To hit the indicated Base Oil Blend
(BOB) target, an optimised blend
would use only 220N and
Chevron 110RLV (Group II+).
Case 3, as a ‘Dumbbell Blend,’ is
probably the weakest of the base
oil blend alternatives. It contains a
very high percentage of high
volatility 100N oil and may have
difficulty passing high
temperature engine tests

Example 2
Identifying the preferred correction fluid for A3/B4, 5W-30
All 3 cases meet the same
volatility and CCS requirements
but have different formulating
costs. However, if a lower Noack
and CCS are required, the
blending diagrams directionally
show the preferred correction
fluid. Again, Case 3 is a weak
blend alternative.

Example 3
dexos™ 2 – 5W-30 PCMO base oil blend needs to have lower volatility and possibly CCS
If just a lower Noack is required,
the obvious correction fluid is 8
cSt Group III. However, if both a
lower Noack and CCS are desired,
the blending diagrams
directionally show the preferred
correction fluid is still 8cSt.

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PUBLISHED BY LUBE: THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
No.80 page 6

byproducts in grease, engine oil and modified to accommodate the extended Chevron's premium base stocks can
industrial oil applications. Additionally, performance of the Group II base oils. By satisfy some of the most stringent
lubricants with high oxidative stability are decreasing the sample withdrawal lubrication applications as well as meet
much less likely to undergo undesirable volume from the test oxidation cell by critical OEM specifications for both
viscosity increase during the life of the oil. half, one can extend the maximum test automotive engine oils as well as
run time from 10,000 to 20,000 hours. industrial oils.
Thus, the Group II base oils extended
turbine life by more than 300% to 2.5 Summary
years. This performance is comparable to As performance standards tighten, the
Group III base oils at a lower total impurities of Group I base stocks will
formulation cost. make them unacceptable in many engine
oil formulations. This is already evident in
applications required to meet Mid and
Low SAPs formulations in Europe.

The use of PAO and other boutique base

oils will be confined to operating
environments with exceptional
performance demands coupled with low
The performance of five different volume needs due to their limited
lubricants blended with the same production capacity.
additive package, but alternative Group II
and Group III base oils, were compared As Europe moves into compliance with
on the Sequence IIIG test. It is a very Euro VI emission standards, Group II base
tough test designed to simulate a vehicle New Chevron Pascagoula Plant oils will become a critical component in
pulling a heavy load across a hot desert, Adding 25,000 Barrels per Day to the European market.
and is the cornerstone of the API GF- Chevron’s Global Supply Network
4/SM service category. With the world demanding more Group II/II+ base stocks have better
environmentally sustainable behavior viscometrics and volatility than Group I/III
from its industries and transportation blends enabling formulaic optimisation.
systems, Chevron committed to building In some cases additive treat rate can be
a new 25 KBPD (1.25 Million TPA) reduced whilst still meeting tough
premium base oil plant at its refinery in specifications for Mid and Low SAPs
Pascagoula, Mississippi. lubricant packages. Additionally
formulating costs for current high SAPS
Chevron’s refinery system will be specifications such as ACEA A3/B4,
producing consistent quality premium ACEA E4 can be lowered.
base oils from each of its refineries.
Global availability will be augmented by With the addition of the Pascagoula base
a network of strategically located oil capacity there will be an adequate
regional supply hubs. The Pascagoula supply of globally available Group II and
All of the formulations passed easily with plant is scheduled to come on line in late Group II+ base oils with consistent
one of the Group II blends performing 2013. Its product slate was designed to quality.
comparably well with the Group III meet the global quality and performance
formulations. needs of both premium and mainline
lubricant products. The majority of the
Group II – An Excellent Alternative production will be high quality Group II
for Industrial Oils base stocks.
The excellent oxidation stability of Group
II base oils can be leveraged for
significant performance improvement in
industrial oils as well.

When Group II based turbine oils are

subjected to a TOST test, Turbine Oil
Stability Test (ASTM D946, D5846), there
is substantially less viscosity increase in
the oil than with Group I formulations. LINK
So much so, that the standard ASTM D www.chevronbaseoils.com
943 TOST test for turbine oils was

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