Margaret May-Som Wu

Synthetic Lubricant Base Stock Processes and Products

This chapter reviews the product and process for synthetic base stocks produced from chemicals of well-defined chemical structures and in processes tailored to optimize important properties and performance features. These synthetic base stocks are critical components used in the formulation of many synthetic lubricants. (In this chapter, we use “synthetic base stock“ to represent the base fluid and “synthetic lubricant“ to represent formulated, finished lubricant product.) At the start of this chapter, we briefly discuss the background and the driving force for using synthetic lubricants. The major part of the chapter discusses the key synthetic base stocks chemistry, synthesis processes, properties, their applications in synthetic lubricant formulation and advantages compared to petroleum-derived base stocks. Many U.S. base oil manufacturers and formulators include some Group

Synthetic Lubricant Base Stock

Conventional lubricants are formulated using mineral base stocks, which are refined from petroleum and contain many chemical species. Although mineral base stocks serve general-purpose lubricants well, they cannot be optimized for specific performance features. Modern machines and equipment are increasingly designed to operate under more severe conditions, to require less maintenance, to have improved longevity and better energy efficiency. Sometimes, conventional lubricants based on mineral base stocks fail to meet these elevated performance requirements. Synthetic lubricants using tailored synthetic base stocks are designed to meet these higher performance needs and can provide superior performance and economic benefits over conventional lubricants.