SYSTEMS, STRATEGIES & RESEARCH FOR LUBRICATION PROFESSIONALS AN PUBLICATION | SEPTEMBER 2016

TLT
T R I B O LO G Y &
LU B R I C AT I O N
T E C H N O LO G Y
HEAVY-DUTY
DIESEL
LUBRICANTS
12 YEARS
of publishing excellence
How they’ll impact
fuel standards.
Gear Lubrication
Q&A with Evonik’s Aidan Rose
Testing for Biodegradability
Measurement variables
Rust Resistance
Fundamentals of
corrosion protection
Rheology Explained
Tribology at the
dinner table
Career Coach
Should you accept that
job offer?

Digital TLT: Sponsored this month by Acme-Hardesty at www.stle.org.

 15
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 Contents
10
FEATURES
TECH BEAT
10 Special Report
Antioxidants: Key additives
enable lubricants to operate
under more severe conditions
But maximizing their
performance depends on
formulating the proper lubricant
and monitoring it during use.
By Dr. Neil Canter
20 MINUTES WITH…
22 Aidan Rose
Evonik’s global business
director discusses resource
efficiency, gear lubrication
and the automotive market.
By David Gray
COMMENTARY
26 Be careful what you ask for
When Man’s well-intentioned
plans bump up against Mother
Nature, unintended consequences
often are the result.
By Dr. Robert M. Gresham
W W W. ST L E .O RG
TLT / SEPTEMBER 2016 / VOLUME 72 / NO. 9
22 26
WEBINARS PEER-REVIEWED PAPER (EDITOR’S CHOICE)
28 Fundamentals of rust 46 Tribological Dependence
preventives used for of the High-Performance
temporary corrosion Ferrous-Based Coating
protection on Different Coating
Counterparts in Engine Oil
A lot of things can happen
between the steel mill and the By Yongxin Wang, Bin Wang,
finished metal part. Corrosion Jinlong Li, Fuqiang Ma and
doesn’t have to be one of them. Qunji Xue
By Dr. Nancy McGuire
BOOK REVIEW
FEATURE ARTICLE 80 A review of Tribosystem
Analysis: A Practical
36 Heavy-duty diesel lubricants:
Approach to the Diagnosis
How will they address fuel
of Wear Problems.
economy in the future?
By Dr. Robert M. Gresham
The imminent availability of
PC-11 lubricants is a focus on
fuel efficiency for HD vehicles.
By Jeanna Van Rensselar
36
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 1
 Contents
DEPARTMENTS EDITOR
Evan Zabawski, CLS
Reliability Specialist
58 Newsmakers Calgary, Alberta, Canada
evan.zabawski@gmail.com
This month’s newsmakers
include Chevron Oronite, The
PUBLISHER/ SENIOR FEATURE WRITER
Schaeffler Group, Sea-Land EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeanna Van Rensselar
Chemical, ANGUS Chemical Thomas T. Astrene
tastrene@stle.org CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
and more. Stuart F. Brown
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Dr. Neil Canter
Rachel Fowler Dr. Robert M. Gresham
68 New Products rfowler@stle.org Dr. Nancy McGuire

4
Debbie Sniderman
Silver-colored anti-friction
coating; elemental spectrom- CIRCULATION ADVERTISING SALES
eters and more. COORDINATORS Tracy Nicholas VanEe
Myrna Scott Phone: (630) 922-3459
Judy Enblom Fax: (630) 904-4563
70 Sounding Board COLUMNS (847) 825-5536 tnicholas@stle.org

What are the biggest obstacles DESIGN/PRODUCTION

to using new additives in 4 President’s Report Joe Ruck

finished lubricant formulations? STLE stands up for STEM

TECHNICAL EDITORS

6 From the Editor Patrick Brutto Michael N. Kotzalas

76 Advertisers Index ANGUS Chemical Co. The Timken Co.
Rheology at the dinner table Buffalo Grove, Illinois North Canton, Ohio
78 Resources Vincent Gatto Dr. Anoop Kumar
Vanderbilt Chemicals, LLC Royal Manufacturing Co.
Keep up to date with the latest 8 Headquarters Report Norwalk, Connecticut Tulsa, Oklahoma
technical literature available in Did you forget something? David B. Gray Shawn McCarthy
print and online. Evonik Oil Additives Ocean State Oil, Inc.
Horsham, Pennsylvania Riverside, Rhode Island
82 Career Coach
Dr. Martin Greaves
Should you accept that job The Dow Chemical Co. Dr. Mary Moon
Horgen, Switzerland Presque Isle
offer? Innovations, LLC
Michael D. Holloway Yardley, Pennsylvania
This Month’s Factoids: 86 On Condition Monitoring
ALS Tribology
William Nehart
Highland Village, Texas
Comets, meteors and asteroids Calumet Specialty
Complexity in ISFA (in-service Tyler Housel Products Partners, L.P.
INOLEX, Inc. Apple Valley, Minnesota
fluid analysis): Part XXVIII Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jason Papacek
Dr. Robert Jackson POLARIS Laboratories
88 Worldwide Auburn University Indianapolis, Indiana
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / sdecoret

Auburn, Alabama
Testing for biodegradability Dr. Mehdi Shafiei
Dr. Zulfiqar Khan
Bournemouth University Novelis Global Research
Poole, Dorset, & Technology Center
United Kingdom Kennesaw, Georgia

Dr. Kook-Wha Koh Paula Vettel

Chrysan Industries, Inc. Novvi, LLC
Plymouth, Michigan Emeryville, California

Andras Korenyi-Both Jeff Walkup

Tribologix, Inc. Gram & Juhl
Front cover image © Can Stock Photo Inc. / logoboom
Golden, Colorado Englewood, Colorado

Copyright © 2016 Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. All Rights Reserved. TRIBOLOGY AND LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY (USPS 865740)
TLT magazine is owned and published in print and electronically by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE). Vol. 72, Number 9, (ISSN-1545-858), is published monthly
The views set forth in this magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of STLE. Material from TLT magazine by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers,
may be reproduced only with written permission from STLE. TLT magazine assumes no liability or responsibility for any 840 Busse Hwy, Park Ridge, IL 60068-2376. Periodicals
inaccurate, delayed or incomplete information. For more information, contact us at TLT@stle.org. Postage is Paid at Park Ridge, IL and at additional mailing
Subscription and Single Copies: Current volume single copies are $25 (not including shipping and handling). Annual subscription offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Tribology
rate is $225/U.S., $290/international. Prepayment is required before subscription is started. Remittances from foreign countries and Lubrication Technology, 840 Busse Hwy, Park Ridge,
must be by international money order or bank draft drawn on U.S. bank. IL 60068-2376.

2 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

ExxonMobil Basestocks —
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© 2015 Exxon Mobil Corporation. All rights reserved.

All trademarks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its affiliates unless otherwise noted.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Dr. Ali Erdemir

STLE stands up for STEM

A team of volunteers introduced 51 Las Vegas high school
students to the world of tribology.
FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS STLE has
hosted STEM camps as part of its annual
meetings. For this year’s camp, May 16 in Las
Vegas, we were very privileged to have 51 stu-
dents from the Mojave High School. STEM,
which stands for science, technology, engi-
neering and math, is a nationwide educa-
tional effort to raise next-generation profes-
sionals for the challenges and opportunities
of the 21st Century.
The fact that we live in a highly mobile,
technology-savvy digital world makes clear
the importance of STEM education. Together
with its many sections, STLE is doing its part
to support STEM through camps, donations
and scholarships. STEM has become an inte-
gral part of our modern lifestyle and all that
goes on around us. Can we imagine a life with-
Professor Ashlie Martini demonstrates an experiment in friction for Las Vegas high
out smartphones, computers, HDTVs and high-
school students attending the 2016 STLE STEM Camp.
speed trains, planes and automobiles?
The short answer is no. There is a lot of
deep-thinking math and engineering princi- tively participating in 11 different experiments astronaut ate lunch with us. She explained a
ples involved in every one of these techno- run by our many academic and industrial volun- lot during lunch and her speech. She is an
logical marvels, so the value of STEM is un- teers. Running the experiments and seeing the amazing and inspirational woman.”
questionable as it literally regulates end results instantly gave the students a real STLE thanks Captain Piper and Past Presi-
everything that goes around us and impacts sense of what tribology is all about and why it dent Maureen Hunter, who has graciously as-
every aspect of our lives. Smooth, safe and is so important for so many things that we do or sumed the position of STLE STEM Ambassador
long-lasting operations of many of those tech- encounter in our daily lives. These kids were re- this year to make future STEM camps even
nological marvels are in part due to advanced ally smart in grasping the logic behind each more successful and enjoyable. Maureen has
tribological principles that were employed experiment and asking many relevant questions. been an advocate for STEM activities for a
during their productions. Many moving parts One of the major highlights of this year’s long time and we are honored to have her
in complex mechanical systems also rely on STEM camp was a lunch session with retired take on this leadership role. We also thank
advanced materials, coatings and lubricants U.S. Navy Captain Heidemarie Stefanyshyn- ExxonMobil Corp. for its generous financial
to execute their specific functions. Piper, who shared her experiences as a NASA support for our STEM educational and scholar-
As the Mojave STEM students entered the astronaut. Captain Piper is one of our STEM ship programs.
convention center at this year’s camp, they enthusiasts who graciously travelled a long Finally, thanks to the real unsung heroes
were warmly greeted by the smiling faces of way to join us at this year’s camp. of this year’s STEM camp—the many volun-
our headquarters staff and many volunteers. After the STEM camp, students were asked teers who set up and ran the experiments
Students wore their conventional attire but to express their favorite memory and the with the students.
were given a nice T-shirt with the STLE logo coolest thing they had learned in words and
on the front and an “I Love Tribology” sign on in drawings. There were so many of them, but Ali Erdemir is a Distinguished
the back. The shirts were a big hit as almost this one summarizes in a nutshell the reflec- Fellow at Argonne National
all of the students wore them. tions that these kids conveyed: “I’ve learned Laboratory in Lemont, Ill.
Then all of a sudden you were among a that lubrication is in my life more than I an- You can reach him at
room full of curious young tribologists proac- ticipated. My favorite memory is when the erdemir@anl.gov.

4 A comet is a relatively small solar system body that orbits the sun. When close enough to the sun, they display a fuzzy outline called a coma or tail.
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 FROM THE EDITOR
Evan Zabawski
Rheology at the dinner table
A popular condiment explains non-Newtonian flow.
WE HAVE ALL STRUGGLED AT ONE TIME OR
ANOTHER to get the right amount of ketchup
out of a glass bottle. Ketchup never pours
readily—and sometimes pours too quickly—and
each witness to the struggle offers a different
technique to get it right.
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / OxfordSquare
Ketchup’s origins stem from a seasoned
sauce made from fermented or pickled fish
thought to have been brought by traders
from Vietnam to Southeast China. Around the
late 17th or early 18th Century, British trad-
ers sought to recreate the sauce at home,
evidenced by a recipe published in 1732 for
Ketchup in Paste by Richard Bradley, which
referenced “Bencoulin [a British settlement
on Sumatra] in the East Indies” as its origin.
British recipes did not call for a tomato base
and instead used walnuts, anchovies, oysters or
Jane Austen’s purported favorite: mushrooms.
The first known recipe calling for toma-
toes wasn’t until 1812, but it was still missing
vinegar and sugar. Ketchup’s popularity rose
due to its nearly year-long shelf life, but the
challenge was year-round preservation of the
tomato pulp obtained during a short grow-
ing season. A variety of preservatives were
6 A comet’s tail is created as the comet gets closer to the sun, causing water, carbon dioxide and other compounds to sublime from its surface.
employed, including coal tar and sodium ben-
zoate. By 1896 a study deemed that 90% of
commercial ketchups contained ingredients
that posed a health hazard, and Dr. Harvey
Washington Wiley spearheaded efforts against
their use.
One must simply cause
the ketchup to shear
and it will flow readily.
Dr. Wiley believed high-quality ingredi-
ents and proper handling negated the need
for such preservatives, and he partnered
with a ketchup manufacturer whose recipe
called for ripe, red tomatoes (which had
higher levels of the natural preservative
pectin) and much higher levels of vinegar
(which also reduced spoilage). His partner’s
name was Henry J. Heinz, who began pro-
ducing ketchup in 1876 and developed a
preservative-free recipe in 1906.
A concoction of tomato paste, vinegar,
sugar and spices is not inherently thick, so
thixotropic xanthan gum is added, which
gives ketchup its non-Newtonian proper-
ties. (A Newtonian fluid is one whose viscos-
ity does not change relative to time, flow or
stress, and time-dependent non-Newtonian
fluids are called thixotropic.) Non-Newtonian
fluids, whose viscosity is time independent,
are largely shear thickening (like Oobleck) or
shear thinning (like paint).
These properties prevent the ketchup from
flowing off of a hamburger but also are what
makes it so difficult to get out of a bottle.
There is no trick to it; one must simply cause
the ketchup to shear and it will flow readily.
Some people have taken the literal approach
by inserted a knife up the neck of the bottle,
which works best when the bottle is full. In
1983 Heinz introduced the squeeze bottle,
completely negating this effort, since forced
flow through an orifice creates the necessary
stress for the viscosity to decrease. Funnily
enough, it took until 2002 before they de-
signed the bottle to be stored upside down so
that partially consumed bottles did not require
shaking to get the ketchup toward the cap.
Returning to our struggle with a glass
bottle, others resort to thumping the bottom
of the bottle. Though this does occasionally
produce positive results, it can be difficult to
control and can produce an excessive glop.
This excess of ketchup is a result of achieving
the yield stress, a point at which the viscosity
decreases by a factor of 1,000.
For best results, firmly tap the sweet
spot of the bottle with two fingers (index and
middle). Just where is that sweet spot you
ask? On a bottle of Heinz it is where the 57
is embossed, a secret that Heinz’s Website
claims only 11% of people know, so now you
have joined a reasonably exclusive club.
Ketchup displays thixotropic (it will even-
tually flow to the bottom of the bottle), shear-
thinning (squeeze bottle) and yield-stress (big
glop) properties, making it a great example
for learning about rheology.
Evan Zabawski, CLS, is a
reliability specialist based in
Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
You can reach him at
evan.zabawski@gmail.com.
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HEADQUARTERS REPORT
Edward P. Salek, CAE / Executive Director

Did you forget something?

Don’t let a memory lapse damage your career prospects.
Keep your STLE membership and certification credentials current.
LIKE MOST ASSOCIATIONS, STLE enjoys a
membership renewal rate of 80%-85%.
Looked at another way, in any given year we
lose 15%-20% of our members. Fortunately,
our recruiting efforts replace most of those
departures with new members, and we have
kept the total stable at 3,500 members for the
past 10 years.
Reducing the attrition rate would be a
good thing for the organization. However, fac-
tors such as job reassignments, career chang-
es and retirements make retention an uphill
battle. But association marketing experts
point to one other factor that suppresses re-

© Can Stock Photo Inc. / jorgophotography

tention rates—people simply forget about us!
The vice president of a marketing firm
that specializes in association membership
development emphasized that point in a re-
cently released study. He observed, “Associa-
tions must realize that many members fail to
renew because they simply aren’t paying
close attention to renewal notices.”
STLE goes to considerable lengths to ad-
dress that situation and get your attention.
Every member receives three dues renewal
notices over a 90-day period before they are
dropped from the rolls for non-payment of dues.
The notices provide multiple payment options.
You can also self-check your dues status
and renewal deadline by logging into your pro-
file on www.stle.org. Several other technolo-
gy-based programs that support renewal no-
tices and payments are being investigated.
We’re also happy to personally assist if you call
STLE headquarters during normal business
hours to check status or process a renewal.
STLE’s internal research emphasizes that
membership matters because the benefits are
valuable. In STLE’s 2016 Association Labora-
tory Membership Satisfaction study, survey
respondents gave STLE stellar ratings for both
value and relevance. Nearly 90% of the 500
members who participated in the study rated
their overall satisfaction with membership as
Nearly 90% of the 500 members who participated in the study rated their overall
satisfaction with membership as high.
high. According to the report, “Participants
are highly satisfied with STLE member bene-
fits. Benefits with the highest satisfaction
ratings are also the ones considered most
important to the membership decision.”
If you are among the more than 1,800
people who have earned one of STLE’s certi-
fication credentials, it also pays to pay atten-
tion when it’s time to renew every three years.
Factors similar to those affecting member-
ship, such as retirements or job changes,
sometimes result in a non-renewal. But simply
forgetting to renew in the prescribed time
period can be a painful experience. The only
way to reactivate a lapsed certification cre-
dential is by taking and passing the certifica-
tion exam once again.
STLE’s strategic plan places renewed em-
phasis on creation of members-only benefits.
As a result the number and variety of high-
value exclusive services is growing. Case in
point will be the debut this fall of expanded
professional development tools on the STLE
Website, www.stle.org. Individuals seeking
relevant professional development guidance
and support will have a better experience when
accessing and locating this more focused con-
tent—provided they are an STLE member!
Don’t let a simple memory lapse lock you
out of access to this valuable members-only
education resource and from the many other
tangible and intangible benefits that accrue
to STLE members.
You can reach Certified
Association Executive Ed Salek
at esalek@stle.org.

8 Comets are made of ice, dust and small rocky particles.

Efficiency from
a new perspective.

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TECH BEAT
Dr. Neil Canter / Contributing Editor
SPECIAL
REPORT
Antioxidants
Key additives enable
lubricants to operate
under more severe
conditions

© Can Stock Photo Inc. / pmm

But maximizing their performance depends on formulating
the proper lubricant and monitoring it during use.

KEY CONCEPTS DEMANDS PLACED ON LUBRICANTS TO PROVIDE SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE under more
stressful operating environments over longer periods of time are increasing. This
• Three types of antioxidants means that the function that antioxidants perform to protect lubricants is continu-
are used to protect industrial ing to increase in importance.
With the implementation of two new engine oil specifications, as was discussed
lubricants from
from external
fr
in a previous TLT article,1 antioxidants will continue to play an important role
factors that will result in
in automotive lubricants. But antioxidants also are an important additive used in
the generation of free
freee industrial lubricants.
r di ls.
radicals. This article furnishes an update on the use of antioxidants in industrial lubri-
cants that includes discussions about critical lubricant applications, how to select
• Multiple types
type of antioxidants
a ti id ts antioxidants, assessing antioxidant performance and future trends.
are recommended for use Input on developments with antioxidants has been obtained from representatives
in lubricant
lubrica t applications
lubric at the following companies: BASF, Chemtura, Fluitec Industries, King Industries,
because they complement
compleme t Polnox, Rhein Chemie and Vanderbilt Chemical.
eachh other.
th .
FUNCTION OF ANTIOXIDANTS
• Evaluating the effectiveness Oxidation is a multistep process involving a three-step radical process that if left
of antioxidants used in a unchecked will eventually lead to the total breakdown of the components in the
lubricant. In the first step of the radical process, known as initiation, an external
specific lubricant
lubrica t requires a
lubric
factor such as heat, severe pressure or the presence of a metal will trigger the forma-
series of laboratory tests tion of a free radical (or unpaired electron) that is derived from one of the organic
followed by an assessment components found in the lubricant. Either a bond inside the organic species between
of field performance. two atoms is broken to form the radical or an electron is subtracted from a molecule
by an oxidized metal.

10 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

 Radical Mechanism of Aging and Oxidation/Point of Action of Antioxidants
initation, '/hQ/catalyst/starter &DWDO\VWVFRXOGEHGLUWEXWDOVR 7HUWLDU\DQWLR[LGDQWVLQKLELWWKH
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multiplying PRUH±UDGLFDOVE\GHFD\DQGEUHDN SHUR[LGHVZLWKRXWJHQHUDWLRQRI
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LQWRVPDOOHUPROHFXOHVZKLFKPLJKW UDGLFDOV
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R R

Figure 1 | The three-step process describing oxidation involves the initiation, propagation and multiplication of free radicals. (Figure courtesy of
Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH.)

Termination Step of Radical Process/Final Results of Oxidation

7KHRQO\WHUPLQDWLRQVWHSRIWKHUDGLFDOSURFHVVLVWKHUHFRPELQDWLRQ
recombination, VWHSZKHUHWZRRIWKHIUHHUDGLFDOVZLOOFRPELQHWRIRUPDVWDEOH
end of radical process
R + R R R FRPSRXQG
rarely/unlikely
%\WKLVVWHSODUJHUPROHFXOHVFRXOGEHJHQHUDWHGZKLFKPLJKWEH
LQVROXEOHDQGIRUPGHSRVLWV

ROOH + O2 7KHILQDOSURGXFWVRIR[LGDWLRQRIDOORUJDQLFPDWWHUZLOOEHPDLQO\
oxidation,
+ O2 CO 2 & H2O FDUERQGLR[LGHDQGK\GURJHQR[LGH
ultimate degradation

Figure 2 | Termination of oxidation takes place through recombination of two free radicals as shown in the top reaction. The ultimate oxidation
products as shown in the bottom reaction are carbon dioxide and water. (Figure courtesy of Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH.)

The free radical formed is a highly
reactive species that can react with oxy-
gen to form a hydroperoxide radical in
the second step of the radical process.
This is known as propagation because
the additional radicals formed acceler-
ate the decomposition of the lubricant.
The hydroperoxide radicals formed en-
gage in a third step, known as the mul-
tiplying step, leading to the formation
of additional radicals.
Dr. Michael König, senior manager
application for Rhein Chemie Rheinau
GmbH in Mannheim, Germany, says,
“A second aspect of propagation is that
the peroxides formed can further react
to form additional radicals in a branch-
ing and multiplying process. By con-
tinuous breaking of bonds, smaller or
even volatile molecules are generated.”
A schematic showing initiation, propa-
gation and multiplying is illustrated in
Figure 1.
The only termination step of the
radical process is the recombination
step where two of the free radicals will
combine to form a stable compound in
a reaction that essentially removes free
radicals from the lubricant as shown in
Figure 2.
The termination step is only effec-
tive in stopping the process if no more
free radicals are formed during ini-
tiation. For this to occur, the external
stresses that are causing the lubricant
to oxidize must stop.
Ultimately, König points out that
the final products of oxidation are car-
bon dioxide and water, as shown in
Figure 2.
Antioxidants interfere with oxida-
tion through reacting with free radicals

W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 11

to form stable species. STLE-member
Vince Gatto, research director for
Vanderbilt Chemicals LLC in Norwalk,
Conn., says, “The two major classes of
antioxidants used in industrial lubri-
cant applications are aromatic amines
and hindered phenols. They are clas-
sified as primary antioxidants because
they function to scavenge peroxy radi-
cals in the oil, converting the peroxy
radicals into more stable hydroperox-
ides. Quite frequently the combina-
tion of these two classes are used due
to the known stabilization synergy that
results (basically aromatic amines an-
tioxidants at high temperatures while
hindered phenolics are more effective
at lower temperatures).”
STLE-member Cyril Migdal, R&D
director for Chemtura Corp. in Nau-
gatuck, Conn., provides specific exam-
ples of aromatic amines and hindered
phenolics. He says, “The most widely
used aromatic amine are the alkylated
diphenylamines (ADPAs). Another
radical scavenger aromatic amine type
used is phenyl-alpha-naphthyl amine
(PANA) or its alkylated version, alkyl
phenyl-alpha-naphthyl amine (APA-
NA). The most widely used hindered
phenolic is 2,6-di-t-butyl-p-cresol,
commonly known as BHT. Other ex-
amples of hindered phenolics with the
benefit of lower volatility than BHT
are 3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxy-hydrocin-
namic acid, C7-C9 branched alkyl ester
and 4,4’-methylenebis (2,6-di-tertiary-
butylphenol).”
Secondary antioxidants are a sec-
ond class that decompose less stable
hydroperoxide radicals to more stable
alcohols. Migdal says, “Examples of
secondary antioxidants are zinc dial-
kyldithiophosphates (ZDDPs), phos-
phites, sulfides and thiocarbamates.”
Gatto believes that ashless dithio-
carbamates provide some additional
benefits. He says, “Ashless dithiocarba-
mates are an example of a supplemental
antioxidant that are used in addition to
aromatic amine and hindered phenolics
to enhance certain specific properties of
the finished industrial fluid. They are
synergistic with the aromatic amine
antioxidants and can enhance general
12 The name comet comes from the Greek word meaning ‘hair of the head.’ Aristotle coined the phrase because he observed comets as ‘stars with hair.’
oxidation control but in addition also
can deliver some antiwear benefits.”
A third type of antioxidant is ter-
tiary antioxidants. König says, “Tertiary
antioxidants inhibit the formation of
catalysts used in the initiation reaction
(see Figure 1). They typically have the
function of acting as ferrous and non-
ferrous metal inhibitors.”
‘The two major classes
of antioxidants used
in industrial lubricant
applications are aromatic
amines and hindered
phenols.’
An example of a tertiary antioxi-
dant is an alkylated diphenylamine
derivative of tolutriazole. Gatto says,
“Alkylated diphenylamine derivatives
of tolutriazole function as both pri-
mary antioxidants (scavenging peroxy
radicals) and corrosion inhibitors (pas-
sivating metal surfaces). They also are
synergistic with ashless dithiocarba-
mates.”
CRITICAL LUBRICANT
APPLICATIONS
STLE Past President Robert Baker,
technical sales & marketing advisor
for King Industries in Norwalk, Conn.,
says, “Very few applications (such as
lost lubricants and once through) do
not benefit from the ability of antioxi-
dants to extend the functional life of
the lubricant and prevent premature
failures. There is economic incentive
in most cases with critical applications
being those where the cost of down-
time to change out the lubricant is sig-
nificantly greater than the cost of the
lubricant itself. Perhaps the most cur-
rent example may be the wind turbine.”
Galen Greene, technical service
manager for BASF Corp. in Tarrytown,
N.Y., agrees and says, “Almost every
lubricant needs antioxidants! They are
used across the spectrum of industrial
lubricants, from relatively low-temper-
ature applications such as hydraulic
oils to more demanding applications
where the lubricant is exposed to high-
er temperatures such as gas turbine oils
and compressor oils.”
STLE-member Jo Ameye, general
manager Europe for Fluitec Inter-
national in Antwerp, Belgium, says,
“Antioxidants are needed in any ap-
plication where the fluid’s primary
mode of failure is oxidation. Examples
include turbine, compressor and rotat-
ing equipment (rust and oxidation for-
mulations) and the new generation of
synthetic gear oils.”
STLE-member Ashok Cholli, presi-
dent and chief technology officer of
Polnox Corp. in Lowell, Mass., says,
“Lubricant products essentially com-
prise approximately 85%-95% base
stock oil that basically consists of or-
ganic hydrocarbon molecules derived
from petroleum, synthetic or biobased
raw materials. Antioxidants are an es-
sential additive for all applications,
and their use depends upon the nature
and quality of oil and the stability re-
quirements of the end-use application.
Lubricants containing more stable oils
(such as synthetic base stocks) may
need only a very low level of anti-
oxidant, while less oxidatively stable
vegetable oils may require higher treat
levels.”
König says, “All industrial lubri-
cants formulated for long lifetime op-
erations and exposed to heat and/or air
require antioxidants.”
Migdal lists criteria involving the
application, lubricant type and appli-
cation where antioxidants are needed.
He says, “The most critical antioxidant
needs are applications where the sus-
tained operating temperature is > 40 C,
the base stock is of poor quality (high
in aromatics and unsaturates), metal
contamination in the lubricant is pos-
sible and applications that are intended
to be ‘filled for life.’”
Gatto discusses operating condi-
tions that place a large demand on
antioxidants. He says, “The stress ap-
plied to antioxidants is most severe in
applications such as high temperature
turbines and compressors, where the Synergy Between ADPA and HP in Turbine Oil
lubricant is exposed to severe environ-
ments involving high temperatures,
TOST/ASTM D943
cold spots and metal contamination 3 ADPA
and where water places a large demand HP

on antioxidants. Even more severe con- 2.5 HP + ADPA

0.8 wt % Total Antioxidant
ditions are encountered when tempera-
tures in a specific application are highly 2

TAN, mg KOH/g
variable. This is due to the potential for
water buildup at low temperatures that 1.5

can lead to acid buildup and corrosion

1
which both accelerate oxidation.”

0.5
ANTIOXIDANT SELECTION
In selection of antioxidants, it is im-
0
portant to use a mixture of aromatic

1168

1504

1840

2176

2512

2848

3184

3520

3856

4192

4528

4864
500

836
amines and hindered phenolics to af-
ford the broadest temperature coverage. Time (Hours)
Migdal says, “At temperatures less than
120 C, hindered phenolic antioxidants
Figure 3 | Better results in delaying the onset of oxidation are achieved with multiple anti-
perform very well and are predominate-
oxidants such as the combination of an alkylated diphenylamine (ADPA) and hindered phenolic
ly used, however at temperatures great- (HP) in the TOST. (Figure courtesy of Chemtura Corp.)
er than 120 C, aromatic amines such
as alkylated diphenylamines are more
effective than hindered phenolics.”
The need for multiple antioxidants Synergy Between ADPA and HP in Turbine Oil
is demonstrated in Figure 3 that shows
the evaluation of turbine oils in the RPVOT/ASTM D2272
Turbine Oil Oxidation Stability Test 800
(TOST—ASTM D943) and in Figure 4 700
that shows the same samples examined 600
using the Rotating Pressure Vessel Oxi- 500
OIT (minutes)

dation Test (RPVOT—ASTM D2272). 400

These studies demonstrate how com-
300
bining an alkylated diphenylamine
200
with a hindered phenolic leads to better
oxidation protection than either of the 100
two antioxidants used by themselves. 0
HP

ADPA

ADPA
HP +

Gatto indicates that combinations

of antioxidants represent the best ap-
proach for lubricant formulators to use
in order to ensure that the lubricant
will perform up to its capability in a
particular application. He says, “The
formulator should use a combination
of hindered phenolics and aromatic
amines plus one or more supplemen-
tal antioxidants. This strategy takes
advantage of the performance synergy
between antioxidant classes and gener-
ally allows for the lowest cost formula-
tion. Formulators should use hindered
phenolics in combination with aro-
matic amines plus supplemental ash-
less dithiocarbamates and supplemen-
0.5 wt % Total Antioxidant
Figure 4 | The ADPA, HP antioxidant combination also shows better results in the RPVOT.
(Figure courtesy of Chemtura Corp.)
tal alkylated diphenylamine derivatives is a problem, hindered phenolics are fa-
of tolutriazole. The ratio among anti- vored. In high temperature applications
oxidants is important and needs to be where sludge and deposits are less of
worked out for each application.” an issue, aromatic amines are favored.”
Gatto also gives guidelines for Baker is in agreement that multiple
how hindered phenolics and aromatic antioxidants should be used. He says,
amines should be used. He adds, “In “Even in applications not considered
applications where sludge or deposits severe, a mix of chemistries may be

W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 13

more cost effective.” Figure 5 shows Antioxidant Synergism
an example of data compiled by formu-
lating an ISO VG 46 Group I base oil
with antioxidants. Better performance
results are achieved when the RPVOT
and TOST are run using formulations
with two antioxidants, as well as two
metal catalyst passivators.”
Baker also points out an important
factor regarding the heat/temperature
of the application. He says, “Oxidation
is a typical reaction for which the rate
doubles approximately every 10 C. An-
tioxidants are sacrificial and are con-
sumed as they perform their function,
so there will be a half-life decrease for
every 10 C increase in the average op-
erating temperature of the lubricant.”
Greene feels that antioxidant selec- Figure 5 | Formulating with two antioxidants and two metal catalyst passivators leads to su-
tion needs to be done by developing a perior RPVOT and TOST performance results. (Figure courtesy of King Industries.)
test program that correlates well with
a specific application. He says, “Once a
Hydraulic Fluid – TOST Study
field-correlated test program has been
selected and validated, antioxidants can 16000 100

be selected and validated based on base

fluid solubility, regulatory requirements 14000

and performance.” 80
12000
Making a careful selection of anti-

1000 h TOST Sludge (mg)

(modified) TOST Life (h)

oxidants when formulating can lead to

10000
beneficial results as shown in the TOST 60

study in Figure 6. Greene says, “In this

8000
case a hydraulic fluid formulated with
an ashless additive package can be sup- 6000
40

plemented with a mixture of specific

aromatic amine antioxidants. Since the 4000
right antioxidant system is in place, a 20

lubricant formulator can dial in the 2000

desired TOST performance up to very
high levels without compromising the
fluid’s sludging tendency while keeping
a very low additive treat rate.”
Cholli lists three key considerations
that the lubricant formulator must con-
sider in selecting an antioxidant for a
specific lubricant application. He says,
“The formulator must know the na-
ture of the base stock and whether it
is derived from petroleum, synthetic
or a biobased raw material. Operating
temperature that the lubricant will be
subjected to must be evaluated as there
are different antioxidants optimized for
low-temperature or high-temperature
performance, and cost-performance re-
quirements must be considered based
TOST Life TOST sludge
0 0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15
% of a Supplemental Aromatic Amine Antioxidant Mixture Added
Figure 6 | Supplementing a hydraulic fluid with a mixture of specific aromatic amines enables
the antioxidation performance to be tailored to meet particular operating conditions. (Figure
courtesy of BASF Corp.)
on the price of the antioxidant and its is needed for a food-grade lubricant. He
treat rate.” says, “The formulator must select an
König feels that one other factor antioxidant for a food-grade applica-
that a formulator must be aware of is tion that is registered under a certifi-
whether the specific antioxidant meets cation such as USDA’s HX-1 category.”
the regulator requirements of the spe-
cific country or region. Migdal points BIOLUBRICANTS
out that there is an additional step the One specific class of base stocks that
formulator must take if the antioxidant is particularly troublesome from the ÎÎÎÎÎ

14 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

DAWN OF A
NEW ANTIOXIDANT

Lubricant Additive

Outstanding Performance
in Both Thin-Film and Bulk
Oxidation Protection

hemic
ilt C a
rb
de

ls
,
Van

LLC

30 Winfield Street, PO Box 5150, Norwalk, CT 06856-5150 UL

(203) 853-1400 • F: (203) 853-1452
®

petro@vanderbiltchemicals.com • www.vanderbiltchemicals.com
1
IS

O 46
90 02
0 1:2
008 100

Registered and pending trademarks appearing in these materials are those of R.T. Vanderbilt Holding Company, Inc. or its respective wholly owned subsidiaries. For complete listings, please visit this location for trademarks, www.rtvanderbiltholding.com.

PDSC Evaluation – ASTM D6186
55.0
Commercial AO
50.0
DT-mPM AO
45.0
40.0
35.0
OIT in Minutes
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0 1 2 3
Figure 7 | A PDSC study shows that an alternative antioxidant technology known as DT-mPM
exhibits superior performance in canola oil versus a commercial antioxidant. (Figure courtesy
of Polnox Corp.)
ÎÎÎÎÎ oxidation standpoint are biolubri-
cants. Cholli explains, “In contrast to
petroleum-based lubricants, biolubri-
cants consist of esters of mixed fatty
acids (i.e., saturated, monosaturated
and polyunsaturated) that contain sig-
nificant levels of unsaturated compo-
nents particularly those that are poly-
unsaturated. The level of unsaturated
components is known to correlate with
increasing oxidative instability.”
Cholli maintains that the perfor-
mance of conventional antioxidants is
relatively ineffective when used with
biolubricants. He says, “The most seri-
ous issues in using conventional anti-
oxidants are the lack of sufficient reac-
tivity to efficiently scavenge the highly
reactive free radical intermediates that
propagate oxidation chains in polyun-
saturated oils and the sacrificial nature
of conventional existing antioxidants
that makes them incapable of function-
ing as antioxidants once they scavenge
a free radical.”
An alternative antioxidant technol-
ogy known as DT-mPM has been found
to be a better option for lubricant for-
16 • SEPTEMBER 2016
4 5 6 7 Day
mulators. Cholli says, “This technology
exploits a unique regenerative mecha-
nism to improve the antioxidant per-
formance by multiple times to provide
a significant improvement in efficacy
over conventional products.”
Performance data showing the effec-
tiveness of DT-mPM versus a commer-
cial antioxidant are shown in Figure 7.
The two antioxidants are each added
separately at a 2% treat rate to canola
oil and metal catalysts (iron and cop-
per) and their effectiveness compared
using the Pressure Differential Scan-
ning Calorimetry (PDSC) test proce-
dure, ASTM D6186. Both samples are
heated at 135 C for seven days and the
oxidation induction time (OIT) deter-
mined on a daily basis and charted in
Figure 7.
Cholli says, “Subjecting the canola
oil containing DT-mPM to pro-oxidant
metal catalysts and a temperature of
135 C for four days leads to an iden-
tical OIT compared to the canola oil
sample after it is just blended with 2%
of a commercial antioxidant (see arrow
in Figure 7). The DT-mPM antioxidant
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
provides strong performance under se-
vere conditions compared to a commer-
cial antioxidant that has not even been
subjected to the harsh experimental
conditions.”
Figure 7 also reveals that even af-
ter seven days of exposure of heat and
metal catalysts to the oil, the DT-mPM
antioxidant outperforms and maintains
its superior efficacy compared to the
commercial antioxidant, according to
Cholli.
Baker points out that the type of
base stock used in the biolubricant
is critical in determining whether an
antioxidant will be effective. He says,
“Natural oils simply cannot be inhib-
ited to withstand any significant heat
and are restricted to more or less ambi-
ent applications. The life of formulated
conventional and many synthetic fluids
can be compared using the TOST in the
thousands of hours; however, inhibited
natural oils are at best in the hundreds
of hours and biodegradable synthetics
can only be compared without the ad-
dition of water.”
Figure 8 on Page 17 compares the
performance of petroleum, natural oil
and synthetic ester base stocks with an
appropriate treat rate of the same an-
tioxidant blend in the TOST and the
RPVOT. The natural oils display infe-
rior oxidation characteristics compared
to the petroleum base oils and the satu-
rated biodegradable, synthetic ester.
Baker adds, “For more demand-
ing applications that require or desire
biolubricants, it is necessary to move
toward synthetic esters and utilize the
benefit of antioxidant blends similar to
those that have been demonstrated in
petroleum base stocks.”
König believes that hydrolysis of
biolubricants is as important as oxida-
tion. He says, “Hydrolysis products of
esters promote the radical formation
and aging of esters. This means that
esters need as much protection from
hydrolysis as from oxidation and ag-
ing of esters by radical reactions must
be distinguished from aging by hydro-
lysis. One challenge faced by lubricant
formulators is the main types of anti-
oxidants are not readily biodegradable,
W W W. ST L E .O RG
so care must be taken by lubricant for- Multicomponent Ashless R&O Package
mulators in developing biolubricants
Bench Test Results by Base Oil
that only contain antioxidants that are
non-bioaccumulative and exhibit low
aquatic toxicity.”
Greene is in agreement and states
that formulating biolubricants is con-
strained by regional specifications. He
says, “Specifications for biolubricants
in specific global regions (e.g., the Eu-
ropean Eco-Label) often limit which
antioxidants can be used and the treat
rate that may be used.”
Migdal offers suggestions for what
antioxidants to use in formulating un-
saturated biolubricants. He says, “In
general, higher doses of antioxidant are
required and even then biolubricants
Figure 8 | The challenge in protecting natural oil-based lubricants from oxidizing as compared
will not be as oxidatively stable as low
to other base stocks is shown in this RPVOT and TOST study. (Figure courtesy of King Industries.)
unsaturated counterparts. Antioxidants
such as PANA and APANA generally
work well in vegetable oils and other erence is to use one bulk oil oxidation not designed for that purpose.”
ester base stocks whether bio-derived test (dry TOST or Indiana Stirring Oxi- Besides the PDSC, Ameye offers
or not.” dation Test (ISOT)), one thin film oxi- other tests for evaluation of antioxi-
Gatto also feels that combinations dation test (PDSC) a varnish or sludge dants in order to differentiate their
of aromatic amine-based antioxidants test (Cincinnati Milacron Thermal Sta- performance. He says, “Linear Sweep
are useful in working with biolubri- bility Test or 1,000 hour TOST) and a Voltammetry (LSV) is used to mea-
cants. He says, “Alkylated diphenyl- deposit test (Panel Coker). The RPVOT sure the content of aromatic amines
amines should be used with alkylated is used by the lubricants industry as an and hindered phenolics in turbine oils
phenyl-alpha-naphthylamines and a antioxidant screener for turbine and through the ASTM D6971 and D6810
supplemental antioxidant such as the compressor oils, although the test was test methods, respectively. FT-IR mea-
ashless dithiocarbamates.”

DIFFERENTIATE ANTIOXIDANT
PERFORMANCE
The best approach to differentiate an-
tioxidant performance is through run-
ning a series of laboratory tests (recog-
nizing that no bench test simulates all
the possible operating conditions to be
encountered). Details on the available
tests can be found in the ASTM Fu-
els and Lubricants Handbook.2 Baker
says, “Four of the most common fluid
lubricant oxidation tests are the TOST,
RPVOT, PDSC and the Cincinnati Mi-
lacron ‘thermal stability’ test” (see Table
1). It should be noted that automotive
engine oils are typically confronted
with conditions not common to most
industrial applications and industrial
bench tests are generally not consid-
ered predictive of engine performance.”
Gatto offers his thoughts for evalu-
ating antioxidants. He says, “My pref-
Common Fluid Lubricant Oxidation Tests
Test Method
“TOST” – ASTM D943
Standard Test Method for
Oxidation Characteristics of
Inhibited Mineral Oils
“RPVOT” – ASTM D2272
Standard Test Method for
Oxidation Stability of Steam
Turbine Oils by Rotating Pressure
Vessel
“PDSC” – ASTM D6186
Standard Test Method for
Oxidation Induction Time of
Lubricating Oils by Pressure
Differential Scanning Calorimetry
“Cincinnati Milacron Thermal
Stability” – ASTM D2070
Standard Test Method for Thermal
Stability of Hydraulic Oils
Table 1 | (Table courtesy of King Industries.)
Description
Commonly referred to as the Turbine Oil Oxidation
Stability Test, perhaps the bench test that best
correlates to reality. Unfortunately well-inhibited
oils run thousands of hours. There are several
similar bench tests that produce results in less
time, mostly by accelerating conditions.
The test is used to measure the remaining life of in-
service oils by comparing the current result to the
new oil value. It is not intended to compare the
performance of different oils; however, it is
commonly used for screening because the results
are in minutes rather than hours and is helpful in
comparing similar AO variations.
This test provides fast results with very small
samples and is useful in screening; however, ASTM
states, “no correlation has been established
between the results of this test method and service
performance.”
A well-recognized test that includes oxidation as an
occurring mechanism with copper and iron
catalysts added to the fluid sample evaluated at
135 C for one week.

Short-term comets like Halley’s Comet have orbital periods of fewer than 200 years. Long-term comets have orbital periods of more than 200 years. 1 7
sures the concentration of hindered
phenolics in lubricants and high-pres-
sure liquid chromatography/gas chro-
matography are two methods that also
can be used to measure the concentra-
tion of antioxidants in lubricants.”
Migdal feels that a series of tests can
be used to properly differentiate antiox-
idant performance. He says, “The PDSC
can be tailored for use under different
pressures, temperatures, atmospheres
and catalysts. The RPVOT is used to
simulate an environment of 150 C in
applications where water may be pres-
ent. The TOST is used in steam tur-
bines, where water is present and is run
at a temperature (95 C) that simulates
the low temperature of this application.
For gas turbines, a relatively new test
method known as the Determination of
the Oxidation Stability and Insolubles
Formation of Inhibited Turbine Oils at
120 C was developed and is known as
ASTM D7873.”
Migdal continues by stressing that
‘Specifications for biolu-
bricants in specific global
regions often limit which
antioxidants can be used
and the treat rate that
may be used.’
statistical experimental design (SED)
methodology should be used to maxi-
mize the information obtained from a
series of environmental stress tests used
to evaluate antioxidant performance.
He says, “SED is the best technique
to identify synergistic or antagonistic
effects between additives. Variables to
consider when setting up an SED to
evaluate antioxidants include: additive
concentration, end-use temperature
range, presence/type of metal ions, oxi-
dation in bulk or thin-film and whether
to include water.”
Greene indicates that field perfor-
mance will drive customer perception
about the value of the lubricant and
counsels that test programs should be
tailored to evaluate the performance
parameters that matter. He says,
“Combinations of parameters such as
viscosity control, acid number control,
sludge and deposit control must be
prioritized with regard to the specific
application. Many well-understood, in-
dustry-standard bench-and-rig tests are
available for industrial lubricants and
OEM specifications can offer a guide to
which tests are appropriate for which
applications.”
Cholli prefers to use the PDSC to
assess antioxidant performance. He
says, “The PDSC is a direct method that
detects the heat generated as a result
of exothermic processes that are oc-
curring due to the reaction of heat and
oxygen with the lubricant oil molecules

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18 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

in auto-oxidation reactions. It is simple bricant. He says, “The second class
to correlate the role of antioxidants to is the chelating type that can attach
retard such exothermic reactions by ‘Radical scavengers and/or themselves to metal ions in solution
measuring the time required to go to peroxide decomposers can keeping them from catalyzing the oxi-
the auto-oxidation stage under the dation process. An example of a chela-
isothermal conditions of the test. The be added in an attempt to tor is N,N-disalicylidene-1,2-propane-
PDSC also is highly accurate and repro- slow down the oxidation diamine.”
ducible, requires only a small amount Gatto feels that sulfur- and phos-
of sample and more importantly does process.’ phorus-free molybdate esters act syn-
not take a long time to run.” ergistically with antioxidants. He ex-
König cautions that evaluation of plains, “Both of these additive types are
antioxidants may actually take a long not very effective antioxidants, but they
period of time. He says, “Sometimes, of O-O bonds in the peroxides that synergize alkylated diphenylamines
it is necessary to run long-term tests to inevitably form in a lubricant. Mini- and sulfurized compounds. This ap-
cover all aspects of complex antioxi- mizing the catalytic activity of metals proach has been used in engine oils but
dant mechanisms.” through the use of a robust corrosion has not been tried as much in industrial
inhibitor and metal deactivator system lubricants. One reason for their use in
ADDITIVES THAT COMPLEMENT is an important element in formula- engine oils is that molybdate ester also
ANTIOXIDANTS tion of an industrial lubricant with a are synergistic with zinc dialkyldithio-
Secondary and tertiary antioxidants long service life.” phosphates.”
work to supplement the performance Migdal points out that there is a
of primary antioxidants. Greene says, second class of metal deactivators be- EXTEND OPERATING LIFE OF AN
“Most machines are made of metals sides the triazoles that are effective in OXIDIZED LUBRICANT
that can play a role in accelerating preventing metal ions (i.e., Fe+2, Cu+2) All of the respondents caution that
oxidation by catalyzing the hemolysis from catalyzing oxidation of the lu- once oxidation of a lubricant starts,

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7010 Mykawa R Houston, Texas 77033 R 800.228.3848 R www.jamdistributing.com
Esterex, SpectraSyn, SpectraSyn Ultra and Synesstic are trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation. Ultra-S is a trademark of S-Oil Corp. and Pure Performance and ConoPure are registered by Phillips 66 Company.

W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 19

it will continue to accelerate, in many
cases exponentially, making it difficult
to stop and leading eventually to the
need to replace the lubricant. A few
suggestions are offered below.
Greene says, “One approach is to
top treat the lubricant with an antioxi-
dant, but this can lead to unpredictable
results and is generally unadvisable.
This is because the antioxidant system
is carefully balanced, and it is highly
possible an end-user would upset this
balance leading to worse performance.”
König agrees that addition of anti-
oxidants may be helpful if the lubricant
system has not reached a critical situa-
tion. He says, “Radical scavengers and/
or peroxide decomposers can be added
in an attempt to slow down the oxida-
tion process.”
Ameye says, “Two steps to take are
to remove oxidation and degradation
products by chemical filtration to pre-
vent further base-oil degradation and
to replenish with fresh antioxidants.”
Cholli says, “Where oil contamina-
tion is limited, it may be possible to
consider replenishing the lubricant sys-
tem with fresh oil at regular intervals to
maintain performance.”
Baker suggests the use of another
additive type to minimize the presence
of insoluble species if the lubricant
system has not reached the point of
no return. He says, “Addition of a dis-
persant may be helpful in reducing the
presence of sludge or varnish formation
that can result from oxidation.”
Gatto claims that use of a highly re-
fined base oil gives the lubricant end-
user more of a chance to stabilize the
situation. He says, “If a lubricant based
on a Group I base oil has started de-
grading, then not much can be done.
But lubricants formulated with Group
II, III and IV base stocks have a very
high oxidation stability and usually
do not degrade to a large extent in the
presence of antioxidants. Monitoring
antioxidant depletion in the system
can be used to find the optimum point
where antioxidant replenishment is fea-
sible. This is usually at a stage where
between 50% and 75% of the antioxi-
dant is depleted.”
20 Records of humans observing Halley’s Comet go back thousands of years, with appearances noted by Babylonian, Chinese and European star gazers.
Improve Oxidation Control While Reducing Sludge
Formulated in Group II ISO 32 Base Oil
900
Experimental
800
Turbine Package B
ASTM D2272 (mins)
0.8 % Treat Rate 700
Antioxidants 62.5 % 600
500
Corrosion
6.25 %
Inhibitor
400
Rust Inhibitor 12.5 % 300
200
Diluent Oil 18.75 %
100
0 0
Turbine Package
Figure 9 | Addition of the proper top treat can boost antioxidant performance as shown in the
evaluation of a turbine oil using the TOST and a thermal stability test. (Figure courtesy of
Vanderbilt Chemicals LLC.)
Ultimately, Gatto considers all of
these approaches to extend the operat-
ing life of the oxidized lubricant to be
operationally challenging and techni-
cally complex. “Some are only tempo-
rary measures requiring the lubricant
to eventually be changed to avoid
equipment failure,” he says.
Gatto also indicates that a new
antioxidant shows good performance
in initial testing and can be used in a
broad range of base stocks including
Group IV oils and PAG-based fluids.
He says, “This antioxidant has a key
benefit of boosting fluid resistance
to oxidation without compromising
sludge control. Normally this is very
difficult to do.”
Figure 9 shows RPVOT and sludge
control data prepared from a turbine oil
formulated with a Group II base oil and
0.8% of a turbine oil package contain-
ing antioxidant, corrosion inhibitor,
rust inhibitor and diluent oil in the list-
ed percentages. Introduction of 0.2%
of the new antioxidant as a top treat
boosts the RPVOT while lowering the
milligrams of sludge to an acceptable
level as evaluated using ASTM D2070,
35
30
Sludge Fail
ASTM D2070 (mg of sludge)
25
20
15
10
5
w/ 0.2 % VANLUBE®
w/0.2% AOX
top407
treat
a method that is done to evaluate ther-
mal stability of industrial lubricants.
Gatto adds, “This work demon-
strates that a top treat can work if the
correct formulation approach is used.”
ASSESSMENT OF
CURRENT ANTIOXIDANTS
The increasingly stressful operating
conditions for lubricants means that
there is need to assess the performance
characteristics of the currently available
antioxidants. Ameye says, “A better
synergy needs to be achieved between
different types of aromatic amines and
hindered phenolics. Better antioxidant
solutions are needed on the newer gen-
eration of steam and gas turbines and
radial/centrifugal compressors because
they tend to use smaller oil reservoir
volumes that have less dwell time lead-
ing to additional oxidative stress.”
One other area where improvement
is needed is in hydraulic fluids. Ameye
says, “More hydraulic oils need to be
enhanced with primary antioxidants
such as aromatic amines and hindered
phenolics instead of relying on second-
ary antioxidants.”
 Baker points out that a big chal-
lenge for the lubricants industry is the
lack of new antioxidants to work with
in new and existing products. He says,
“Registrations of new antioxidant can-
didates have become more difficult and
expensive, which is virtually preclud-
ing the development of new chemis-
tries. The continuing challenge is to
seek cost-effective synergies of existing
chemistries.”
FUTURE TRENDS
Future trends revolve around the
continuing use of more highly refined
petroleum oil base stocks, synthetic
base stocks and the need to find ways
to keep lubricants based on these
materials operating effectively over
longer lifetimes. “Higher refined and
modern base oils promise a longer
lifetime,” says König, “while end-user
requirements for oxidative stability
of lubricants increase. The required
stabilities—even in higher refined
and modern base oils—can only be
achieved by use of optimized antioxi-
dant and/or industrial oil packages.”
Cholli emphasizes that biobased
lubricant use will continue to grow as
will the challenges associated in using
them. He says, “Increased environmen-
tal awareness in society to minimize
the consequences of pollution coupled
with increased regulatory requirements
are expected to drive the development
of lubricant additives that are non-tox-
ic and environmentally friendly. The
trend also may include using raw ma-
terials from renewable resources (bio-
based) in manufacturing of additives
in order to lessen dependence on the
petroleum-based chemicals that domi-
nate the world today.”
Migdal points out that the lubri-
cants industry trend away from Group
I base oils will leave a need for inte-
grating a specific antioxidant type into
future formulations prepared with
more highly refined base oils. He says,
“Blending of hydrocarbon synthetic-
based lubricants may require an addi-
tional antioxidant because the ‘natural’
antioxidant present in Group I base oils
is removed in processing more highly
W W W. ST L E .O RG
refined base oils. The antioxidant that
lubricant formulators may need to add
is generally the secondary type or hy-
droperoxide decomposers.”
Baker sees that maximizing lubri-
cant performance in the future will
only be part of an overall strategy by
the end-user to maximize the perfor-
mance of the system. He says, “Increas-
‘Sometimes, it is necessary
to run long-term tests
to cover all aspects of
complex antioxidant
mechanisms.’
ing attention is being paid to a system
approach to equipment operation and
maintenance, such that the benefit of
prolonging the functional life of the
lubricant to the system as a whole is
recognized (versus the cost of the lu-
bricant alone).”
Greene focuses on the greater de-
mands that end-users are facing, which
puts more pressure on antioxidants to
effectively perform. He says, “Custom-
ers continue to expect lower cost of
ownership including longer service
intervals and higher energy efficiency.
This means longer lubricant life at
higher operating temperatures. More
and higher performing antioxidants
will be needed to meet these expecta-
tions.”
Gatto specifically discusses the op-
portunity to conduct proper condition
monitoring of compressor and turbine
oils to extend lubricant performance.
He says, “An enormous opportunity
exists for extending the useful life of
certain compressor and turbine oils via
antioxidant replenishment. The tech-
nology already exists to do this with the
key being proper condition monitoring
of the service lubricant and having the
right systems in place for removing
contaminants that build up over time.
Using the right combination of antioxi-
dants that can be easily monitored in
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
the turbine oil and easily replenished at
the appropriate time is essential. This
can potentially provide enormous cost
savings to the power generation indus-
try if developed properly.”
Gatto continues, “Another oppor-
tunity exists for higher temperature,
more thermally stable antioxidants pro-
viding superior deposit control. Such
technology already exists for aviation
lubricants but is exceedingly expen-
sive. Cost reduction for this technol-
ogy becomes a challenge because it
may require the development of a new
molecule that is costly and can take
many years.”
Ameye points out that longer lu-
bricant life will lead to reduced main-
tenance costs and improved reliabil-
ity in lubricant applications. He says,
“Higher use of antioxidants in insulat-
ing/transformer fluids is needed as the
lubricants industry has switched from
naphthenic to paraffinic base oils.”
It is clear that antioxidants will con-
tinue to be an important additive type
that is required to protect lubricants
from the more demanding operating
conditions they face on a daily basis.
Finding better ways to use antioxidants
in specific combinations for particular
applications and working to better
monitor lubricant systems are two ways
that the industry will be able to maxi-
mize their value in the future.
Neil Canter heads his own
consulting company, Chemical
Solutions, in Willow Grove, Pa.
Ideas for Tech Beat items
can be sent to him at
neilcanter@comcast.net.
REFERENCES
1. Canter, N. (2015), “GF-6, PC-11
and dexos1™: New engine oil
specifications mean new additive
challenges,” TLT, 71 (9), pp. 10-
24.
2. Totten, G., Ed. (2003), “Fuels and
lubricants handbook: Technology,
properties, performance and test-
ing,” ASTM International.
SEPTEMBER 2016 • 21
20 MINUTES WITH…
By David Gray

Aidan Rose
Evonik’s global business director discusses resource efficiency,
gear lubrication and the automotive market.

AIDAN ROSE – The Quick File

Aidan Rose is the global business director,

driveline and industrial gear oils, for
Evonik Oil Additives USA, Inc. With more
than 20 years at Evonik, he has held a va-
riety of business roles in Europe and
North America. He’s currently responsible
for their global automotive and industrial
transmissions and gear business.
Rose started his career with a major
U.S.-based oil company where he gained Aidan Rose
technical and marketing experience in a
broad range of lubricant and fuels applications.
A physics graduate from Imperial College London, based for many
years in the U.S., he led the introduction and market development of a
new generation of VI improver polymers that deliver improved fuel
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / gina_sanders

efficiency and durable service life for lubricants.

He leads a business team focused on providing cost-effective and
advanced technology components to oil marketers, and in specific
cases, creating fully developed formulation solutions for the industry.

22 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

TLT: What do you think your back-
ground adds to your team?
Rose: It’s a pleasure to lead a team that
works closely with creative industry ex-
perts and formulators. I trust my experi-
ence has ensured we have the projects
balanced between immediate applica-
tion needs and the longer term perspec-
tive of changing industry demands and
issues, especially from OEMs.
My past responsibilities in testing,
both vehicle emissions and conduct-
ing fleet test programs, have helped us
move in this direction at Evonik, confi-
dent we can demonstrate transmission
efficiency improvements with high
quality data, especially as it has to be
readily accepted by our customers and
the industry in general.
We continue to do fundamental re-
search on next generation additives, a
strength the industry well recognizes
in polymethacrylates from Evonik, and
will continue to participate in longer
term projects. I’m convinced the cus-
tomers get a better offering and final
outcome because we’ve checked more
boxes before they see the materials. It’s
not our customer’s job to develop our
products for us. We work hard to un-
derstand the market, encourage cus-
tomers to share their perspective and
help define what they want from us.
We share our learnings at conferences
and regional industry meetings and
believe the industry benefits from the
flow of expert papers and publications
for knowledge sharing. A little self-
ishly, there’s also company promotion
and the benefits for individuals as part
of their career development and peer
recognition.
With past experience coordinating
new product market introductions, I’ve
worked to ensure we have a practical,
selective view on what we need to de-
velop and that our customers receive
robust, effective experimental and
branded additives, with good support-
ing data. This can take more resources
and effort with longer lead times before
pre-commercial sampling, or a creative
approach, if we work to optimize a tai-
lored product in formulations for im-
Halley’s Comet can be seen with the naked eye from Earth every 75-76 years, although the time period has stretched to 79 years.
portant customer projects.
All this is made possible by contin-
ued demand from the market for im-
proved energy efficiency solutions and
the commitment from Evonik to be in
this business segment for the long term.
My scientific background has al-
ways made for easy technical dialogues
and comprehension. I guess I have a
mechanical bent, and with some phys-
The complete powertrain
system has been
challenged to continue
to improve efficiency.
ics, I can usually make some contribu-
tions when physical fluid phenomena
are on the agenda. I stopped playing
under the car hood years ago—systems
got way too complex for an amateur
like me. Motorcycles proved to be eas-
ier, even though electronics are chang-
ing there as well.
TLT: Describe the industry’s biggest
gear challenge today.
Rose: In automotive markets, it’s all
about OEMs meeting emissions tar-
gets, and a key contributing element is
the drive for constant improvement of
drivetrain fuel efficiency.
In industrial markets, we see tech-
nical challenges to ensure durable ser-
vice life, especially in large gearbox
systems such as wind turbines. There
is a growing trend to search more in-
tensively for industrial energy efficien-
cy opportunities, where well-designed
lubricants can demonstrate less power
loss and deliver measurable cost ben-
efits to end-users. We are developing
our NUFLUX™ technology to serve
this need, for example, in general in-
dustrial gear oils.
Lubricants for gearboxes, whether
automotive or industrial, continue to
develop to service evolving and diverse
mechanical designs. They are expected
to last longer (in some cases provide
fill-for-life), run reliably at higher tem-
peratures and manage this with lower
sump/system volumes.
For example, hybrid transmis-
sion lubricants may need to ensure
performance for both mechanical and
electrical component cooling, provide
gear and bearing wear control and meet
some challenging materials compatibil-
ity issues.
As automotive transmission designs
vary considerably and serve various
vehicle emissions requirements, the
lubricant suppliers must continue to
provide tailored, highly cost-effective
lubricants for automotive drivetrain
energy efficiency and service life. Our
challenge is to align with and contrib-
ute to this goal.
TLT: It seems a lot of the lubricants
industry is focused on resource ef-
ficiency right now. Are you involved
in any projects that bring resource
efficiency to new markets?
Rose: Absolutely. Our DRIVON™
technology is generating a significant
number of customer and OEM projects
where improved fuel efficiency is a key
attribute.
For example, for formulators with
the option to select high-performance
viscosity index improvers, either as
alternatives to traditional OCP in en-
gine oils or for improved viscometrics
in ATF-type fluids, there is increasing
interest in new polymer structures over
conventional linear systems. One such
example is Evonik’s COMB polymers.
They deliver durable, fuel-efficient
performance gains, often for lower vis-
cosity formulations, while still retain-
ing high-temperature high-shear and
load-carrying performance.
We have seen up to 4% overall drive-
train fuel efficiency improvements over
conventional oils. This level of improve-
ment gets attention in a market where
OEMs can be motivated to consider less
than 1% economy improvements.
Some of these projects have already
transitioned into ongoing business, so
23
it’s gratifying to see these returns on system has been challenged to con- TLT: Is there any legislation that is
our investment. This is no small issue, tinue to improve efficiency, and given actually holding back promising new
as the research and development time- the complexity of engine-transmission developments?
lines are typically several years long integration, it has to be optimized as
and the significant costs involved are a whole entity. Perhaps an even bigger Rose: Generally we don’t see legislation
sustained by our core business. challenge is for lubricants to become holding us back. If anything, the regional
The long-established focus on en- more of an intrinsic design element in and national emissions and fuel efficien-
gine oil fuel economy is accompanied engines and transmissions from the out- cy legislation changes encourage us to
by a parallel focus on ATF efficiency im- set, and for the cost-benefit balance to develop improved performance from our
provements. The complete powertrain be better recognized by OEMs. automotive viscosity index improvers.
Nevertheless, we typically introduce
new products to the market with full
global product registrations to meet
customer needs and certainly this is an
issue. Registration timelines and grow-
ing and potentially significant costs
You Use It. weigh in the consideration. This be-
comes especially important as we adopt
Calcium, Barium Sodium Sulfonates new raw materials and intermediates to
expand our product portfolio. There-
Neutral, Overbased, Natural, Synthetic
fore, we work especially close with cus-
tomers on tailored products to ensure
Oxidized Waxes and Petrolatums good transparency and understanding.
Various acid values, esters and soaps Specifically one aspect of legisla-
tion that comes to mind are national
Rust Preventive Packages regulations requiring extreme low-tem-
Calcium or barium sulfonate-based perature fluidity for wind turbine gear
Water displacing and water-emulsifiable oils in regions where turbine systems
would never experience these envi-
ronmental extremes. To prevent dam-
Emulsifier Packages
age from highly viscous oils, wind tur-
Soluble and semi-synthetic bases bine manufacturers require preheating
For naphthenic and paraffinic base oils lubricants prior to circulating pump
activation and system rotation. While
Metalworking Processing Additives it could be that special oils are needed
Corrosion inhibitors, amides and for a few extreme winter locations, in
lubricity additives general, this only serves to limit end-
user lubricant choices where no risks
exist. We think a more pragmatic ap-
Gelled Calcium Sulfonates proach could address variations in loca-
Oil, solvent and water soluble tion and lubricant types, would expand
competition and still serve to fully pro-

We Manufacture It. tect gearbox operations.

TLT: What would you like

to be your legacy?

Rose: Satisfied customers, new prod-

ucts in development and my colleagues
busy as always working to overcome
the next challenges this industry so
ISO 9001-2008 readily creates!
4302 James P. Cole Boulevard, Flint MI 48505 • (810) 785-3165
sales@additivesinternational.com • www.additivesinternational.com You can reach Aidan Rose at aidan.rose@
evonik.com.

24 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

 For a relationship
built on a high level
of collaboration

Relationships built on trust, integrity and flexibility help drive us to new

heights. At Chevron Oronite our strong commitment to building
enduring relationships is not only a core value, it’s a way of doing
business that we believe differentiates us in the marketplace. We strive
Add Oronite.® to create value for our customers with our shared vision, market
insights, and close collaborations. For further information about how a
relationship with Oronite can add up for you, please contact your local
Oronite representative or visit www.oroniteaddsup.com.

© 2016 Chevron Oronite Company LLC. All rights reserved. Chevron, the Chevron hallmark, Oronite, and Adding Up are registered trademarks of Chevron Intellectual Property LLC.
COMMENTARY
Dr. Robert M. Gresham / Contributing Editor
Be careful what you ask for
When Man’s well-intentioned plans bump up against Mother Nature,
unintended consequences often are the result.
ONE OF HUMANITY’S INHERENT
WEAKNESSES is that some-
times we are so certain about
the veracity of what we think
and about the consequences
of our enlightened actions,
thoughts or deeds. Some of
this must come from the be-
lief that we are the highest
form of animal and there-
fore know everything. But of
course we don’t.
There are any number of
environmental disasters we
have created for ourselves
(sometimes with the best of
intentions) because we acted
without properly considering,
perhaps due to arrogance, the
unintended consequences of
our actions. Anyone living in
the U.S. South can attest to
the insidious nature of kudzu, a plant
imported to the U.S. from Japan in 1876
that gained widespread popularity in the
1930s and 1940s to help control ero-
sion. Well, it certainly does that. Kudzu
grows really well in the South and has
caused problems for many years by
over-shading trees and shrubs so much
it kills them. Plus it is nearly impossible
to get rid of once established. As kids,
for a prank, we would plant kudzu in
someone’s yard if we didn’t like them.
Nice! The photo on Page 27 shows how
kudzu, now considered a noxious weed,
can cover whole trees and forests.
I’m sure you can come up with
some examples of such things in your
own experience, such as the pythons
infesting Florida and other well-intend-
ed assaults on our environment where
26
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / vencavolrab
There is always more than one way to solve a problem, but
usually only one solution is truly optimal, and that one is
usually driven by economics and sustainability.
we thought we were going to improve
on nature’s handiwork.
A more recent example is the heav-
ily subsidized wind and solar energy
program in Germany. According to
a Daily Caller article titled Germany
Votes To Abandon Most Green Energy
Subsidies by Andrew Follett, an energy
and environmental reporter, Germany’s
legislature voted July 9 to sharply cut
back on subsidies and other financial
incentives supporting green energy
due to the strain wind and solar power
placed on the country’s electricity grid.
The first problem is cost. Germa-
ny’s government plans to replace most
of the subsidies for local green energy
with a system of competitive auctions
where the cheapest electricity wins.
The average German pays 39 cents per
While the coma over Halley’s Comet can stretch up to 100,000 km across, the nucleus
kilowatt-hour for electricity
due to intense fiscal support
for green energy. The average
American only spends 10.4
cents per kilowatt-hour.
Another problem is that
Germany’s wind and solar
power systems have pro-
vided too much power at
unpredictable times, which
damaged the power grid and
made the system vulnerable
to blackouts. Grid operators
paid companies $548 million
to shutter turbines to fix the
problem, according to a sur-
vey by the business magazine
Wirtschaftswoche of Germa-
ny’s largest power companies.
The German government
plans to cap the total amount
of wind energy at 40%-45% of
national capacity, according to a report
published earlier this month by the Ger-
man newspaper Berliner Zeitung. Ger-
many will get rid of 6,000 megawatts of
wind power by 2019.
And if that weren’t bad enough, de-
spite the cutbacks to wind power, the
German government estimates that it
will spend more than $1.1 trillion fi-
nancially supporting wind power, even
though building wind turbines hasn’t
achieved the government’s goal of ac-
tually reducing carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions to slow global warming.
The amount of money flowing into
European green energy from govern-
ments and the private sector collapsed
from $132 billion in 2011 to $58 bil-
lion last year, according to a May re-
port by a British auditing firm. Green

energy’s failure to meet reliability and
cost goals were the primary reasons
for declining investment. Europe has
poured $1.2 trillion into the green en-
ergy industry to fight global warming,
but its CO2 emissions and power bills
just keep rising.
The enormous German utility Rhe-
inisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk
(RWE) was forced by the government
to shut down many of its profitable nu-
clear reactors and build expensive wind
and solar power alternatives. The gov-
ernment’s mandate to replace nuclear
reactors with wind or solar power cost
more than $1.1 trillion. The company
has a 46% chance of going bankrupt
within the next two years, according
to investment groups.
The massive amount of money Ger-
many poured into green energy is a
direct result of the government’s deci-
sion to abandon nuclear energy after
the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
in Japan galvanized political opposi-
tion. Nuclear power made up 29.5% of
Germany’s energy in 2000. The share
dropped to 17% in 2015, and by 2022
the country intends to have every one of
its nuclear plants shut down. This shift
caused Germany’s CO2 emissions to ac-
tually rise by 28 million tons each year
after Germany’s nuclear policy changed.
Nuclear power’s decline has created
an opening for coal power, according to
a Voice of America article published in
November. Coal now provides 44% of
German electricity.
That is quite a shift from altruistic
environmental goals to environmental
goals driven by harsh economics and
the reality of technical limitation.
is only around 15 km (9.3 miles) long, 8 km (5 miles) wide and 8 km thick.
As I was writing all this, I received a
serendipitously and timely email from
STLE-member Dr. Mathias Woydt, who
also is from Germany. He attached an
unpublished manuscript of his that di-
rectly addresses the point I am laboring
to make. He poses several questions:
“Will the sustainable use of natural
resources, non-natural resources and
management of wastes in the future be
an environmental or, better, economical
objective?” “Or is it more likely that
the availability of resources threatens
our level of prosperity in an age of ris-
ing population awaiting access to ame-
nities as well as scarcities of food and
water in some regions?”
Woydt reminds us, “The traditional
political or regulatory circuit for pre-
serving the environment is: ‘The use of
non-renewable resources, such as met-
als, minerals and hydrocarbons and the
associated generation of byproducts and
wastes, gives rise to numerous impacts
on the environment and human health.’”
Thus, we mistakenly have the notion
that these impacts can only be managed
through taxation and regulation.
Woydt believes “both the Europe-
an and global models of prosperity are
much rather jeopardized by the short-
age of resources than by CO2 emissions.
With increasing demand of a growing
world population, resources will be-
come more expensive. Economic access
to resources as a basis for the model
of prosperity will soon turn into a so-
cial issue.” I think we are seeing that
in some of the rhetoric in our current
political flagellations.
He goes on: “Environmental protec-
tion only tackles the symptoms even if
Imported to the U.S.
from Asia to prevent
erosion, kudzu grows
so fast that it can
kill entire forests by
blocking out the sun.
there is an urgent need for it (in terms
of pollutants). The solution is not an
elaborate geostrategic model but the
sensible, efficient and sustainable use
of resources, which eventually will
also reduce CO2 and pollutants much
quicker than regulations mandated by
politics and legislation.” I think he is
correct.
Woydt observes: “It is noteworthy
that the American Petroleum Industry
has declared for engine oils the energy-
conserving designation as obsolete and
switched now to resource-conserving
designations.” Perhaps that is an ex-
ample of this trend.
Certainly these stories highlight ex-
amples of the best of intentions—and
the unintended consequences that can
arise. One can only hope that we as a
global society can learn and quickly
adapt. Over the years, I’ve found there
is always more than one way to solve
a problem, but usually only one solu-
tion that is truly optimal, and that one
is usually driven by economics and
sustainability. Also, one can only hope
that our leaders can learn to set envi-
ronmental policy based on sound judg-
ments and not always politics and self-
interest. Probably that’s a little (OK, a
lot) naïve on my part. I just don’t want
to be overrun by kudzu.
So be careful what you ask for.
Bob Gresham is STLE’s director
of professional development.
You can reach him at
rgresham@stle.org.
27
WEBINARS
Dr. Nancy McGuire / Contributing Editor

Fundamentals of
RUST PREVENTIVES
used for temporary
corrosion protection

© Can Stock Photo Inc. / Rost9

KEY CONCEPTS

• Rust preventive films provide weeks to months of corrosion protection.

• Sulfonates, waxes and oils in rust preventives
prev ti s interact synergistically to
to keep water away
a ay from metal
metal surfaces.
su aces.
• Rust preventive testing evaluates a range of attributes, including
in uding corrosion protection
pr ecti n and water separation.

28 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

 MEET THE PRESENTERS

This article is based on a Webinar originally presented by STLE University on Nov.

5, 2014. “Fundamentals of Rust Preventives Used for Temporary Corrosion Pro-
tection” is available at www.stle.org: $39 to STLE members, $59 for all others.
Greg Moran is a project manager, technical services, with The Lubrizol Corp.’s
metalworking group. He has 24 years of experience with rust preventive additive
technology, development, formulation, applications and testing. Greg received
his bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh
at Bradford. He worked as a research and development chemist for anticorrosion
product development with RPM Inc.’s Alox metalworking additives business. After
Lubrizol acquired Alox, Greg joined Lubrizol’s metalworking group. You can reach Greg Moran Ben Faber
Greg at gregory.moran@lubrizol.com.
Ben Faber is the metalworking North America product manager at The Lubrizol Corp. where he has worked for seven years. He is a Certified
Metalworking Fluids Specialist™. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry from Case Western University, and he began his career
doing research and development of rust prevention products. His current focus is on product management. You can reach Ben at ben.faber@
lubrizol.com.

A lot of things can happen between the steel mill

and the finished metal part. Corrosion doesn’t have
to be one of them.
IN THE JOURNEY FROM A STEEL MILL TO A FAC-
TORY MAKING FINISHED PARTS, metals are often
subjected to machining processes, heat treat-
ments, chemical washes and other aggressive
operations. There are many instances in this
journey where unfinished metal is exposed to
corrosive environments that require tempo-
rary corrosion protection. Keeping corrosion
at bay requires the right kind of protection
for each stage of the process.
Rust preventives are not the same as the
corrosion inhibitors that protect metal sur-
faces during machining and grinding. Cor-
rosion inhibitors, surface-active additives
that are soluble in metalworking fluids, are
typically composed of organic acid salts or
similar compounds. Corrosion inhibitors
are effective at protecting metal that is im-
mersed in a cutting fluid, and they provide
a few weeks of protection if the cutting fluid
residue is left on the metal.
Rust preventives are applied as barrier
films to metal surfaces after the machining
and grinding stages. They displace water and
protect metal parts from corrosive environ-
ments during shipping or storage.
Roller bearings, for example, could be
flooded with a water-based coolant during
the final polishing step. If the coolant is left
on the metal, it could stain and corrode the
bearings, so after polishing the bearing as-
sembly is dipped into a rust preventive to dis-
place the coolant and leave a protective film.
Rust preventives are used in many other
applications for temporary corrosion protec-
tion, including protecting unfinished pipe,
steel consumer products, car underbodies,
steel fasteners and coiled steel. They are of-
ten chosen in applications where removal is
important.
MARKET SUMMARY
Rust preventives are generally included in
the metalworking fluids market because they
share many of the same suppliers and cus-
tomers. In 2012 an estimated 300,000 tons
of metal protecting fluids were used around
the world—about 12% of the total market for
metalworking fluids.1
Asia uses about half of the world’s supply
of rust preventives, driven in a large part by
China’s large metal parts exporting industry,
which requires parts to be protected during
shipping. The remainder of the market is

W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 29

split about evenly between the Ameri-
cas and Europe. Asian markets use sol-
vent-based or oil-based protective flu-
ids almost exclusively. These fluids also
dominate in American markets, repre-
senting about 80% of market share. Eu-
ropean markets, where environmental
regulations can be more stringent, uses
a higher percentage (about 40%) of wa-
ter-based rust preventives.1
TEMPORARY VERSUS PERMANENT
Painting metal surfaces is another way
to keep rust away from finished parts,
but not every metal surface can be or
needs to be painted. For example, parts
that will later be put through a met-
al-forming application should not be
painted. Alternatively, some metal parts
that have a short life cycle are better
served with a short-term rust preven-
tive instead of a long-term paint.
Permanent coatings, of which paints
are one example, are typically 25–200
microns thick and can be applied as
multiple coats. Many are water based,
and they are applied to clean, dry sur-
faces. These coatings can be durable and
damage-resistant, providing protection
against hundreds to thousands of hours
of exposure to corrosive environments.
Rust preventives are typically ap-
plied as a single coat that is 2–20 mi-
crons thick. Most rust preventives are
solvent based, and they can be applied
over oily, wet or soiled surfaces. These
coatings are meant to be temporary—
they are typically removed after they
have served their purpose. They are
also easily damaged, but when left in-
tact they can provide as much as 200
hours of protection against salt spray
(one common way to measure protec-
tion against corrosion and the basis of
several standard testing methods).
FORMULATING RUST PREVENTIVES
Many rust preventives are made by
mixing additives into a diluent of
choice. The diluent can make up 80%-
95% of the finished fluid, and it is gen-
erally chosen based on the desired film
characteristics as well as other factors
like flash point and volatile organic
compound (VOC) emissions.
30 • SEPTEMBER 2016
Metal Sulfonates
Oils
Finished Rust
Preventative
Preventive
13
Figure 1 | Metal sulfonates combine synergistically with waxes or oxidized waxes to form a
corrosion protection layer over a metal surface. Oils or solvents act as diluents. (Figure cour-
tesy of The Lubrizol Corp.)
Solvent-based diluents, including
mineral spirits, evaporate off and are
not a part of the dried protective film.
This makes for a more durable film,
but the solvent fumes can cause health,
safety and environmental problems, as
well as concerns because of their low-
flash point.
Oil-based diluents provide rust
protection as well as lubrication. Their
VOC content is lower than for solvents
but not completely absent. Because oil
diluents are a part of the final film, the
coated part will have an oily surface
and will never fully dry. Traditional rust
preventives use naphthenic oils, but
cost-effective Group II paraffinic oils
are gaining in popularity. Older addi-
tives may not dissolve well in paraffinic
oils, but newer additive packages with
better solubility are now available.
Water is an attractive diluent be-
cause it is inexpensive and has no VOC
content. Water fully evaporates and is
not a part of the final film, which in-
creases the protection offered by the
film. However, drying times are slow
and impurities (e.g., hard water min-
erals) can be a source of problems.
Water-based rust preventives do not
effectively displace water, so additional
cleaning may be necessary to remove
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
Waxes
Oxidized Waxes
coolant residues prior to application of
the rust preventive.
Rust preventives are formulated
using a mixture of additives with the
formulator carefully balancing per-
formance with cost. Ingredients com-
monly used in rust preventives include
waxes, sulfonates, oils and specialty in-
gredients (see Figure 1).
Waxes, which are highly crystal-
line and have a flaky texture, often are
oxidized to improve their performance.
Oxidizing a wax, oil or petrolatum
produces a product with more chemi-
cal polarity, lower crystallinity (which
gives it a smoother texture) and a lower
melt point. These chemical changes
produce a rust preventive with a stron-
ger attraction to a metal surface, better
solubility and better lubrication.
Metal sulfonates are typically salts
of sulfonic acids with barium, calcium
or sodium. These polar compounds en-
hance the ability of the rust preventive
to wet the metal surface, giving a more
intact and uniform coating. The sul-
fonates’ affinity to metal can displace
water from the metal surface. Metal
sulfonates also assist in solubilizing the
waxes and oxidized waxes in the fluid.
Barium and calcium sulfonates of-
fer the best water-displacement prop- Î Î Î Î Î
W W W. ST L E .O RG
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Metal Surface
Wax/Oxidate
Figure 2 | Metal sulfonate molecules have polar heads that bind to metal surfaces, driving off
water. Their long organic tails become entangled with the long molecular chains from the wax
component, forming a water-repellent protective layer. (Figure courtesy of The Lubrizol Corp.)
ÎÎÎÎÎ erties, while sodium sulfonate is best
for making emulsifiable (water-based)
rust preventives. Barium presents some
environmental concerns, but some re-
gions continue to use barium sulfonate
because historically it was known to
separate water better than calcium and
sodium sulfonates. However, improve-
ments in rust preventive formulation
have produced calcium sulfonate-con-
taining fluids with equal or better water
separation performance compared with
barium sulfonate.
Metal sulfonates have hydrophilic
(polar) heads that adhere (chemisorb)
to metal surfaces and hydrophobic
(nonpolar) tails that protrude away from
the metal and provide a barrier film. The
organic tails of the sulfonates can vary
in molecular weight and branching, and
the number of tails can vary.
Metal sulfonates by themselves pro-
vide a barrier between a metal surface
and the outside environment, but that
film can have defects that leave parts of
the surface exposed. Wax or oxidized
wax molecules become entangled with
the hydrophobic tails of the sulfonate
molecules, forming a more robust,
more hydrophobic film than either the
sulfonate or wax component alone. For
example, 10% of either a sulfonate or
an oxidized wax in a solvent might pro-
vide 30 days of protection to a metal
part in a humidity cabinet (a common
testing environment). However, a 10%
combination of wax and sulfonate
could provide more than 60 days of
protection (see Figure 2).
Specialty ingredients also are added
for niche products to enhance protec-
32 A meteoroid is a small rock or particle of debris in our solar system. They range in size from dust to around 10 m (33 feet) in diameter.
Hydrophobic
Tail
Polar Head
Sulfonate
tion against acid fumes and provide
better surface wetting and a range of
other properties. Formulating metal
protection fluids requires a balance be-
tween several factors, including perfor-
mance factors (barrier properties, wet-
ting and water separation) and the cost
and solubility of various components.
RUST PREVENTIVE REMOVAL
Rust preventives can be applied using a
dip tank, sprayer (conventional or elec-
trostatic), roller, brush or by wiping,
and the application method often de-
pends on the size and shape of the part.
After the film has served its purpose, it
is removed, commonly using alkaline
degreasing cleaners. Clean removal of
High performance Medium performance
calcium calcium
Figure 3 | Dipping test panels into a copper plating solution shows differences in the ease of
removal of various rust preventive fluids by an alkaline cleaning solution. Here, barium sulfo-
nate films are removed less completely than similar calcium sulfonate films. (Figure courtesy
of The Lubrizol Corp.)
the rust preventive is essential to the
performance of subsequent processing
steps like painting, phosphating or gal-
vanizing, or welding.
To see how well a rust preventive
coating can be removed after use, The
Lubrizol Corp. does an in-house clean-
ing test. Panels coated with a rust pre-
ventive are allowed to dry completely,
and then soaked in a 5% alkaline
cleaning solution. During the soak,
the panels are submerged halfway in
the cleaning solution, where they sit
for 7.5 minutes at 45 C. Afterward, the
panels are rinsed with deionized water
and dipped into a copper sulfate plating
solution. Panels where the rust preven-
tive has been cleanly removed show a
more uniform copper plating. Harder
to clean formulations show gaps in the
plating, indicating that the rust pre-
ventive was not well removed by the
cleaner (see Figure 3).
Interestingly, the copper plating test
shows that barium sulfonate products
are more difficult to remove compared
to calcium sulfonate products. This
might lead to the assumption that bar-
ium-based products offer more protec-
tion against corrosion. However, the
salt spray test described below reveals
that traditional barium and calcium sul-
High performance Medium performance
barium barium
fonate products protect about equally
well against corrosion, while new-gen- ( '

) 

 &  

    

eration calcium sulfonate products offer '   


much better protection (see Figure 4).
(    
 %*
TESTING METHODS    

 

Several standard methods are used to 
(  




evaluate and compare the performance


 &+ 

, 

of rust preventives. Some tests use a sim- 
    !"
ulated environment to accelerate corro-  #

sion, while other tests evaluate rust pre- (  

 -
'
  
vention under actual usage conditions.


! 
In ASTM B117 Salt Spray, an ac-  $   !"


 ' '
celerated testing method for extreme  #%  
atmospheres, test panels are housed in
a chamber held at 35 C. A 5% aqueous
sodium chloride solution is continu- Figure 4 | Having a rust preventive (RP) film that is difficult to remove does not guarantee the
ously sprayed throughout the chamber. best protection against corrosion. Top to bottom: traditional barium and calcium sulfonate
Coated metal panels are run to failure products offer less corrosion protection than either of two new-generation calcium sulfonate
(disregarding the outer eighth-inch of products. (Figure courtesy of The Lubrizol Corp.)
the panel). The test method does not
provide a criterion for failure—the ven-
dor and the customer generally define ASTM D1748 Humidity Cabinet is Polished carbon steel test panels are
suitable criteria. The Lubrizol Corp. an accelerated testing method for in- run to failure, defined as one or more
defines failure as more than 5% rust door storage. The test chamber is held dots of rust larger than 1 mm, or four
on the surface of the panel. at 49 C and 100% relative humidity. or more dots of any size. Again, the

W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 33

 RP A = Traditional barium

RP B = Traditional calcium

RP C = New gen. calcium #1

RP D = New gen. calcium #2

Photos taken 2.5 minutes into

the water separation test

Figure 5 | In this water separation test, shown after 2.5 minutes, a traditional barium sulfonate product expelled 20 mL of water (out of 25 mL
added), and a traditional calcium sulfonate product only separated out five mL. Two new-generation calcium sulfonate products separated out
all 25 mL of water. (Figure courtesy of The Lubrizol Corp.)

outer eighth-inch of the test panel is
disregarded, as well as areas surround-
ing the holes for the hanger hooks.
The salt spray test gives results much
more quickly than the humidity cabinet
test. Coated test panels can withstand
as much as 60 days in a humidity cabi-
net without showing signs of corrosion,
whereas salt spray can initiate corrosion
in the first couple of hours. The speed
of the salt spray has made it a common
test method, even though metal parts
in a given application might never be
exposed to salt in actual use.
A stack stain test based on the mili-
tary specification MIL-C-22235A can
determine the effects of water contami-
nation, heat and metal-to-metal contact
on coiled or stacked metal surfaces.
Test panels are coated with a neat rust
preventive solution or one contaminat-
ed with water and stacked in a sand-
wich arrangement. The panel stack is
stored for 24 hours at 82 C. Failure is
defined as any sign of staining or rust.
This test is useful for situations where
air does not penetrate between the lay-
ers of metal. Here, corrosion does not
appear as red rust, but rather as a dark
stain. Specially formulated non-stain-
ing rust preventive fluids are called for
in this situation.
A rust preventive’s ability to dis-
place water from a metal surface can be
tested using MIL-PRF-16173E. Clean
test panels are submerged in distilled
or deionized water for five seconds and
then immediately submerged in rust
preventive solution for 15 seconds. The
panels are stored in a static humidity
chamber at 25 C for one hour. Failure
is defined as any sign of rust, mottling
or surface stains.
For rust preventives applied by dip
application, water carried on the part
into the dip tank can interact with a
rust preventive fluid, which can reduce
its ability to offer effective protection.
One method for measuring water sepa-
ration is ASTM D1401. The Lubrizol
Corp. has its own water separation test,
in which a room-temperature mixture
of 75 mL rust preventive solution and
25 mL water is placed into a 100-mL
graduated cylinder and inverted six
times. The time needed to separate
out all 25 mL of water is recorded—
anything less than five minutes is
considered good. This method can be
modified to better simulate specific
real-world conditions (see Figure 5).
The protection that rust preventive
fluids offer may be only temporary, but
this protection is a key factor in reduc-
ing loss during storage and shipping,
making these fluids a worthwhile in-
vestment.
Nancy McGuire is a free-lance writer based in Silver
Spring, Md. You can contact her at nmcguire@
wordchemist.com.
REFERENCES
1. Kline and Co. (2014), Global met-
alworking fluids: Market analysis
and opportunities. Report #Y650C.
Available at www.klinegroup.com/
reports/y650series.asp.

34 A meteoroid that burns up as it passes through the Earth’s atmosphere is known as a meteor. The shooting stars we see are actually meteors.
 Mark Your Calendars!

2016 STLE Please mark your calendars

Tribology for the 2016 TFC, Nov. 13-15 in
Frontiers Chicago’s historic Drake Hotel.

Conference
We’ll again gather an international community
to share tribology’s most cutting-edge research.
The Drake Hotel Chicago Come join us for three information-packed days
Nov. 13-15, 2016 with tribology’s top minds--you’ll leave with a better
understanding of how your company’s products
will fit into an ever-evolving technical future.

Visit www.stle.org for program updates,

online registration, and hotel reservations.

See you in Chicago!

• Cutting-edge tribology research

• Networking
• Industry Recognition
• Leadership Opportunities
• Invited Speakers
• International Community
• Idea Sharing

© Can Stock Photo Inc. / rudi1976

Places of Interest • The Art Institute of Chicago • Museum of Science and Industry • Follow us on:
Field Museum • Shedd Aquarium • Willis Tower • Lincoln Park Zoo •
John Hancock Building • Navy Pier • Millennium Park • Michigan Avenue shopping

Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068 • info@stle.org • www.stle.org • 847-825-5536
FEATURE ARTICLE
Jeanna Van Rensselar / Senior Feature Writer

Heavy-duty
diesel lubricants

KEY CONCEPTS How will they address fuel

• PC-11
C standards
t d d will achieve
ac e e a 9%-23%
9% 23% economy in the future?
reduction in emissions and fuel
consumption from affected HD vehicles
over 2010 baselines.
• Lower viscosity equals lower CO2 AS MUCH AS 30% OF THE OPERATING COSTS OF A COMMERCIAL TRUCK FLEET
e issio s andd improved fuel
emissions ue efficiency. are attributed to fuel. A 1% increase in fuel economy might not seem like
a lot, but it would result in significant reductions in both fuel consump-
Through additives, formulators have
tion and CO2 emissions.
been able to lower viscosity without If every U.S. truck increased its fuel economy by just 1%, it could
compromisi g performance and
compromising save fleet and owner operators combined an estimated $2.5 million a
durability, but
b t there
the e is still
th stt lll a limit
lli t as day and reduce annual CO2 emissions by four million tons—this is the
to how low viscosity can go. equivalent of removing 23,000 trucks from the road (see Cummins Rock
Solid Rules for Trucks and Fuel Economy).1
• Because PC-11 lubricants
l b ts aree new and the In addition to private fleet owners, one of the major beneficiaries of
understanding
d t d g of how ho they perform is improved fuel consumption in heavy-duty (HD) vehicles is the military.2
not yet complete,
complete experts say oil analysis Fuel consumption is a significant burden—not just in cost but more so
may be more important than ever. in terms of logistics. More fuel-efficient military vehicles would be able
to operate with less fuel on the battlefield, which would mean a greater

36 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

 CUMMINS ‘ROCK SOLID RULES’ FOR TRUCKS AND FUEL ECONOMY3

• Every 2% reduction in aerodynamic drag results in approximately 1% improvement

in fuel economy.
• Above 55 mph, each 1-mph increase in vehicle speed decreases fuel economy by 0.1 mpg.
• Worn tires provide better fuel economy than new tires, up to 7% better fuel economy.
• Used lug drive tires can get up to 0.4 mpg more than new lug tires.
• Ribbed tires on the drive axles provide 2%-4% better fuel economy than lugged tires.
• Every 10 psi that a truck’s tires are underinflated reduces fuel economy by 1%.
• The break-in period for tires is between 35,000-50,000 miles.
• Tires make the biggest difference in mpg below 50 mph; aerodynamics is the most
important factor over 50 mph.
• The most efficient drivers get about 30% better fuel economy than the least
efficient drivers.
• Idle time is costly. Every hour of idle time in a long-haul operation can decrease fuel
efficiency by 1%.

ber when trucks rarely turned off; they
were either driving or idling the whole
time. Fleet owners started to look at
those things—where they were wast-
The imminent ing fuel. So, for example, we are seeing
auxiliary power units that reduce the
availability of amount of idle time while still allowing
the driver to stay comfortable.”
PC-11 lubricants OEMs, aftermarket customizers and
is a focus on fleet owners themselves have made
improvements through low-rolling
fuel efficiency resistance tires, aerodynamic design
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / ziss
and heavy-duty vehicles. The new
regulations, which are being phased in
from 2014-2018, impose fuel-efficiency
targets based on the vehicle’s size and
weight. The toughest GHG regulations
will be enforced in 2017 (see U.S. Emis-
sion Regulations).
Vehicles impacted include combi-
nation tractor/trailers, pickup trucks,
buses, vans and vocational service ve-
hicles. Together these vehicles are the
U.S. transportation segment’s second-

changes and add-ons, automatic tire largest and fastest-growing contribu-

for HD vehicles. inflation systems, driver training and
idle management.
One way to improve fuel efficiency
is by lowering viscosity. But the chal-
lenge continues to be: How do we do
range of operation without refueling in that without compromising engine dura-
highly volatile conditions. bility and performance?
Dan Arcy, global OEM technical
manager, Shell Lubricants, and chair- WHY NOW?
man of the Proposed Category 11 (PC- The existing CJ-4 oil specification, in-
11) New Category Development Team, troduced in October 2006, has been
says that improvements in fuel econo- the standard longer than nearly all
my for HD vehicles have been gradually diesel engine oil categories. In 2010
taking place. “In a lot of respects, we the National Highway Traffic Safety
have been working on fuel economies Administration together with the EPA
for HD vehicles for a long time,” he announced regulations that would
says. “We have seen a trend over the reduce the level of greenhouse gas
years of looking at everything that con- (GHG) emissions and require fuel
tributes to fuel consumption. I remem- economy improvements for medium-
U.S. EMISSION REGULATIONS
The greenhouse gas and fuel economy
standards that were jointly issued by
EPA and the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration in 2011 mandate
reduction of CO2 emissions and fuel
consumption in medium- and heavy-
duty vehicles. Emissions and fuel
economy standards vary by model
year and vehicle class. In general the
target is up to 20% improvement over
baseline 2010 model-year vehicles.
Tougher standards have already been
proposed that will require even better
fuel economy over the next 10 years.

W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 37

tor to oil consumption and GHG emis-
sions. The heavy-duty sector addressed PC-11 SEQUENCE TESTS
in these joint rules accounts for nearly
6% of all U.S. GHG emissions. There are seven engine sequence tests that have been carried over from the current
These final standards will achieve API CJ-4 category and two new sequence tests that have been added: Volvo T-13 and
a 9%-23% reduction in emissions and Caterpillar Oil Aeration Test. These nine tests are as follows:
fuel consumption from affected tractors • Mack T-11. Evaluates a lubricant’s ability to mitigate soot-related viscosity increase.
over 2010 baselines.4
• Mack T-12. Measures the engine oil’s ability to protect against ring and liner wear.
Certain semitrucks will be required
to achieve up to 20% reduction in fuel • Caterpillar 1N. Evaluates engine oils for certain high-temperature performance
consumption and GHG emissions by characteristics such as the ability to protect against carbon and lacquer deposit
model year 2018, saving up to four gal- formation with aluminum pistons and oil consumption.
lons of fuel for every 100 miles traveled.5 • Caterpillar C13. Tests piston deposit and oil consumption with iron pistons (see Figure 1).
API PC-11 is a new generation of
• Cummins ISB. Evaluates the engine oil’s ability to prevent slider valve-train wear.
HD engine oils that will facilitate com-
pliance with the new regulations (see • Cummins ISM. Evaluates an engine oil’s ability to protect turbocharged, after-
PC-11 Sequence Tests). The date of first cooled four-stroke cycle diesel engines equipped with EGR against valve-train wear,
license for PC-11 oil, now called API filter plugging and deposit formation under soot conditions.
CK-4 and API FA-4 oils, is Dec. 1. To • RFWT. Roller-follower wear test to evaluate soot-induced wear in roller-followers.
comply with these new regulations,
• Volvo T-13. Evaluates engine oil’s resistance to oxidation and bearing corrosion.
there have already been significant
diesel engine design changes such as: • Caterpillar Oil Aeration Test. This is an aeration test to evaluate the oil’s ability to
resist/release entrained air.
• Diesel engine downsizing: 15 L to
13 L
• Down speeding: 1,600 rpm to
1,200 rpm
• Advanced combustion design
• Active oil temperature control
• Variable valve timing
• Start/stop technology.6
The new PC-11 diesel engine oils
will play a pivotal role in supporting
new design changes and complying
with new regulations by increasing
fuel economy through lower viscosity
grades and improving engine durabil-
ity through advanced additive formula-
tions and careful base oil selection.
The Engine Manufacturer’s Asso-
ciation (EMA) requested that the new
category for lubricants be split into
subcategories, one that meets current
heavy-duty criteria (> 3.5cP high-
temperature high-shear [HTHS])7 and
one that provides fuel efficiency ben-
efits while maintaining durability (de-
creased HTHS) (see Figure 2). The pro-
posal presented by the EMA includes
performance specifications to address:
Figure 1 | The wear rates for iron (top) and aluminum (bottom) were nearly identical for
• Improved oxidation stability all three oils. In all three cases, microscopic wear particles show early break-in wear fol-
• Compatibility with and protection lowed by a reduction to a consistent low wear rate. (Graphic courtesy of Dan Arcy and Shell.)
from biodiesel ÎÎÎÎÎ

38 A meteoroid that survives falling through the Earth’s atmosphere and collides with the Earth’s surface is known as a meteorite.
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Figure 2 | No discernible difference in wear was observed be-
tween engines using the prototype low-HTHS viscosity oil and
the two higher viscosity oils. In fact, the engine using the proto-
type oil had a notable lack of wear. The cam lobe, piston and
wrist pin bushings pictured here were observed to be in a very
good state after running for 520,398 miles with the prototype
oil. The contact areas of these components are critical for wear
protection, as they are subjected to extreme pressures with
high heat and friction. (Photo courtesy of Dan Arcy and Shell.)
Shell has played a leading role in the development of the
new engine oil categories, with Arcy serving as NCDT Chair.
“Anyone can request a new category and ask API to de-
velop one,” Arcy explains. “With PC-11 the request was for a
new performance standard to protect next generation engines
that would reduce GHG emissions and provide improvements
in fuel economy. In this case there was a need for improved
oxidation protection, aeration control, improved shear stabil-
ity and thinner oils for fuel economy. There also was a request
for biodiesel compatibility, but the NCET didn’t see that as a
challenge that needed to be addressed. So that was removed.
The team reviewed the requests and made a recommendation.”
He continues, “We had meetings every six weeks or so.
Phase 1 took six months; Phase 2 took four years. During that
time ASTM determined standards for tests and composed the
pass/fail limits for each.”
TWO NEW CATEGORIES
PC-11 introduces two new performance standards (see Figure 3):
• CK-4. Oils that provide increased engine protection at tra-
ditional viscosities—maintaining the performance of CJ-4 ÎÎÎÎÎ

• Better aeration control

• Better protection against scuffing/adhesive wear
• Improved shear stability.
It was after receiving the request and conducting prelimi-
nary research that the API determined the need to establish
two new performance categories.

SPECIFICATION PROCESS
The development and approval of an engine oil is a three-
phase process:
• Phase 1. The New Category Evaluation Team (NCET) is
formed, which consists of manufacturers (EMA), oil mar-
keters (API) and additive companies (American Chemistry
Council). The focus of the NCET, through a consensus
process, is to review the request and evaluate the need for
a new specification.
• Phase 2. The New Category Development Team (NCDT)
is formed to oversee the specification and test method
development and to agree to any additional guidelines.
The NCDT is structured with four functional work groups
(API, ASTM, ACC and EMA) that report to the NCDT.
Each of the four groups has specific responsibilities. In
addition, ad hoc work groups from SAE and engine test
laboratories are asked to participate. The NCDT uses a
consensus process to develop the category. Once the cat-
egory and the tests have been defined, the first licenses are
scheduled for issuance. Figure 3 | A quick overview of two new PC-11 engine oils.
(Graphic courtesy of Dan Arcy and Shell.)
• Phase 3. This is the category implementation.8

40 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

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ÎÎÎÎÎ oils in higher viscosity grades, such
as 15W-40 (see Figure 4). These oils
would provide additional oxida-
tion stability, resistance to aeration,
scuffing and adhesive wear and in-
creased shear stability.
° Licenses on Dec. 1, 2016
° Is backward compatible with
API CJ-4, API CI-4+, etc.
° Covers XW-40 and XW-30 vis-
cosity grades (X = 0, 5, 10 or 15)
° Minimum 3.5 cP HTHS
° Has the same limits on sulfur,
phosphorus and sulfated ash as
CJ-4
° Is compatible with after-treat-
ment systems. Figure 4 | The rate of viscosity increase throughout the oil-drain interval is similar for
all three oils (shown by the similar gradient of the lines). Oxidation is a major cause
of viscosity increase, which indicates oil aging. (Graphic courtesy of Dan Arcy and Shell.)
• FA-4. Oils at lower viscosities that
yield better fuel economy and meet
the same performance requirements
(but might compromise protection and development to design new chem- engines? We are going to have to wait
in older engines, thus limit back- istry to meet—and exceed—the perfor- and see what each manufacturer says.”
ward compatibility). mance and durability requirements of
these new FA-4 oils and as such I would BASE STOCK AND ADDITIVES
° Licenses on Dec. 1, 2016
suggest fuel economy has been and will One of the primary catalysts for PC-11
° Has limited or no backward
remain one of Afton’s highest priorities oils was OEMs that wanted an oil with
compatibility—any backward
in heavy-duty engine oils.” significantly better protection against
compatibility depends on the
According to a recent Commercial wear and oxidation. This, in turn, com-
OEM
Carrier Journal survey, almost 48% of pelled oil formulators to incorporate
° Covers only XW-30 viscosity respondents are slightly to very con- new additives into more stable base oils.
grade (X = 0, 5 or 10) cerned about the implementation of PC-11 base stock can run the range
° Has a viscosity range between PC-11. Respondents’ top concerns in- of mineral oil, semisynthetics and syn-
2.9-3.2 cP HTHS cluded: thetics. Base oil selection will depend
• The fear that lower viscosity oils on oil performance tier and viscosity
° Has improved fuel economy
will increase engine wear grade.
compared to API CJ-4 and CK-4
There is some overlap in additive
oils • The possibility of needing both API packages for CK-4 and FA-4 oils; most
° Has the same limits on sulfur, CK-4 and FA-4 oils PC-11 oils will include at least two
phosphorus and sulfated ash as • Determining the right oil for their classes of additives: viscosity index
CJ-4 fleet (VI) improvers and antioxidants.
° Is compatible with after-treat-
• Not being able to use the new for-
ment systems. 1. VI improvers. These account for 23%
mula in older engines and what will
happen if it is used in older engines.9 of all additive sales. VI improvers are
Both CK-4 and FA-4 oils can help the preferred technology for optimiza-
reduce CO2 emissions and maintain “OEMs are working to determine tion of lubricant and hydraulic fluid
engine durability while improving ox- if there is backward compatibility,” viscosity behavior in both low-temper-
idation resistance, shear stability and Arcy explains. “One of the challenges ature vehicle and equipment start-ups
aeration control. is going to be fleets that have a range and high-temperature operations. VI
Phil Ames, heavy duty engine oil of ages of vehicles and manufacturers. improvers help strike the optimal bal-
marketing manager for Afton Chemical CK-4 should be no problem. The chal- ance of thickening efficiency and shear
Corp. in Richmond, Va., says, “Afton has lenge is going to be FA-4. Will those stability in a variety of base stocks and
made significant investments in research FA-4 oils be acceptable for use in older more recently have begun to serve as

42 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

an important design tool in improving fuel and energy efficiency. In
addition to their lubricant thickening powers, VI improvers impart
mechanical, thermal and oxidative stability as well as dispersancy.
The basic functions of viscosity modifiers are:
• Reducing viscosity changes with temperature
• Enabling the engine to start at low temperatures
• Ensuring engine durability during boundary layer lubrication regimes
• Providing non-viscometric performance benefits
• Providing protection and better operation for a secondary usage of
engine oil, including removing contaminants to the filter, prevent-
ing rust and corrosion and in some cases transmitting power.
2. Antioxidants. Sacrificial antioxidants deplete over time and include:
• UV absorbers
• Peroxide decomposers
• Chain-breaking electron donors
• Chain-breaking electron acceptors.
Primary antioxidants include:
• Phenolic or aromatic amines
• Chain-breaking antioxidants
• Free radical-absorbing antioxidants (able to stop more than one
free radical).
Secondary antioxidants include peroxide decomposers. Other ma-
jor additives can include dispersants, detergents, pour-point depres-
sants, foam inhibitors, corrosion inhibitors and antiwear additives.
Following is the range of additive treat rates for HD engine oil:
• Ashless dispersants: 8%-12%
• VI improvers: 0%-10%
• Detergents: 2%-3%
• Antioxidants: 0.3%-1.5%
• Antiwear additives: 1%-1.5%
• Others: 1%-2%.
Greg Shank, executive staff engineer coordinator: fluids technol-
ogy for Volvo Group Trucks Technology, explains that the oxidation
and aeration performance improvement in CK-4 and FA-4 oils is very
important for engine protection and maintenance intervals.
Jackie Liu, global business director, engine oils for Evonik Oil Ad-
ditives, says, “We need to take a very close look at every component
in the lubricant formulation and its value. In this way, it should be
possible to maximize the value of all of the components that make
up today’s heavy-duty diesel lubricants. For example, viscosity index
improvers can be formulated with additional functionality, such as dis-
persant, or improvements in film thickness. Allowing key components
in lubricants to address multiple concerns will allow lubricant for-
mulators greater flexibility, leading to improvements in the efficiency
of the hardware/lubricant combinations that are not available today.”
THE SOURCE OF FRICTION10
Friction is the enemy of fuel economy. Many re-
searchers have studied the frictional contribution
of individual engine components both theoretical-
ly and through laboratory engine tests. The con-
sensus is that the engine components resulting in
the majority of engine friction are the piston ring
assembly, valve train system, bearing system and
engine powered auxiliaries (such as the water
pump, oil pump, fuel pump and alternator).
• Piston ring assembly (PRA) friction. The pis-
ton ring assembly consists of the piston rings,
piston skirt and liner. This is the site of the
majority of engine friction. PRA friction may
best be characterized by the simple recipro-
cating motion of the piston within the liner,
leading to areas of mixed and boundary lubri-
cation followed by stretches of hydrodynamic
lubrication in between. The high in-cylinder
pressure due to combustion promotes higher
friction due to greater normal forces between
the rings and liner.
• Valve train friction. Major sources of valve
train friction include the cam/follower inter-
face, cam bearings, rocker arm axles/pivots
and friction between tappets and their bores.
The cam interface, tappet and bore friction
account for the majority of this friction.
• Bearing friction. Loads on main bearings
and rod bearings vary in both magnitude
and direction because they result from in-
cylinder pressures as well as inertial loads
from piston/connecting rod accelerations and
decelerations.
• Engine-powered components. Internal
engine friction originates in the fuel pump,
coolant pump and oil pump. Due to the low
loads and high-operating speeds of these
pumps, the majority of the friction losses are
due to fluid friction.

DURABILITY/VISCOSITY TRADE-OFF
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / Zalias

Engine oils contribute to fuel economy in two ways:

• As an enabler by providing the high-performance protection that
allows changes to engine design and after-treatment technology
without affecting fuel economy.

The fastest meteoroids travel through the solar system at a speed of around 42 km per second (26 miles per second). 43
• As a direct contributor through for-
mulation changes that maximize KINEMATIC VISCOSITY VERSUS HTHS VISCOSITY
fuel economy.
Kinematic viscosity is a common measure of the fluid’s resistance to flow and shear
While fuel economy for passenger under forces of gravity—how easily the oil flows to the different parts of the engine.
cars has been a design consideration High-temperature high-shear (HTHS) viscosity is an indicator of an engine fluid’s resis-
for decades, this is not true for heavy- tance to flow in the passages between fast moving parts in fully warmed up engines.
duty diesel engines (see The Source of HTHS is a much more useful measure of what happens to the oil in the engine. It is
Friction on Page 43). Now that the in- HTHS viscosity that is a critical property and that will distinguish backward compatible
dustry seems to have reached the point CK-4 oils from fuel economy FA-4 oils for newer engines. Lower HTHS viscosity improves
of diminishing returns in the area of fuel economy and lowers greenhouse gases, but higher HTHS viscosity has better wear
reducing diesel exhaust gas emissions, protection.
the emphasis is back on fuel econo-
my.11 PC-11 FA-4 oils are focused on
enhanced fuel efficiency with HTHS
viscosity being the main determinant helps prevent wear. Additive packages sense that lowering the viscosity saves
of fuel economy performance (see Kine- can be designed with more robust anti- fuel. However, the oil still needs to be
matic Viscosity versus HTHS Viscosity). wear performance to help offset debits thick enough to protect the engine and
“While viscosity does play a criti- from lighter viscosity base oils.” prevent wear. FA-4 oils are being for-
cal role in preventing metal-to-metal Because the oil pump in the engine mulated in a way that allows reduced
contact and wear, it is not the only suctions the oil out of the oil pan and viscosity without sacrificing durability.
factor that impacts wear and durabil- circulates it around in the engine to pro- Lower-viscosity oils for HD engines
ity,” Ames says. “The additive package vide lubrication, the more viscous that have already been adopted in Europe,
also plays a critical role in maintaining oil is the more fuel-draining energy it where the most widely used grade is
durability and contains chemistry that takes to pump the oil. So it just makes 10W-40, and they are moving to 5W-

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44 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

30 in many cases, particularly in winter
operations.12
So just how low can viscosity go?
“One issue is lower oil pressure,”
Shank says. “Some components are
impacted by oil pressure. This is not
a wear issue, but oil pressure limits
may be different for CK-4 and FA-4.
Today we would say the floor for HTHS
viscosity is 2.9 HTHS (FA-4). Maybe
lower in the future, but it’s too soon
to predict.”
Liu says, “We recognize that while
fuel economy is critically important, it
cannot be achieved at the expense of
durability. As such, we work diligently
with our partners to enable durable
long-life lubricants with enhanced low-
temperature viscometrics and superior
fuel economy.”
Liu continues, “It has been dem-
onstrated that by optimizing viscos-
ity across a broad range of tempera-
tures significant fuel economy can be
achieved without compromising dura-
bility. However, much heritage hard-
ware cannot benefit from such technol-
ogy. Redesigning heritage hardware is
not practical, but designing new hard-
ware with the new lubricant technol-
ogy as a design element will permit sig-
nificant improvement of fuel economy
and will maintain or even exceed the
durability of today’s lubricants.”
The formation of air bubbles in an oil formu-
lation. (Photo courtesy of Dan Arcy and Shell.)
Ames adds, “OEMs will need to as-
sess whether FA-4 oils are suitable for
use in each engine type and applica-
tion. While FA-4 oils must pass the
same challenging wear tests as CK-4
oils in order to be API licensable, they
still must be assessed for suitability of
use in heritage engines.”
Analysis of used FA-4 oil is ex-
tremely important for two reasons: to
ensure the correct oil is being used and
to monitor wear metals, which could
be an issue with FA-4 oils in older en-
gines.
“One of the things that I recom-
mend is oil analysis, because fleets are
running some long drain intervals and
you want to detect potential issues ear-
ly on,” Arcy says. “With new engines
and new oil coming out and the long
drain intervals, we want to understand
how these oils are performing and
watch for oil contamination.”
The U.S. has already proposed
a Phase 2 GHG emissions standard
which, if approved, will continue to
drive CO2 emissions down and improve
fuel efficiency. “So the shift to lighter
viscosity oils in the name of fuel econ-
omy will very likely continue just as we
have seen in the passenger car market,”
Ames says.
Liu concludes, “Within the frame-
work of improved resource efficiency
and reduced overall cost of operations,
today’s lubricants must meet the equip-
ment owner’s and operator’s needs.
These include continuous improve-
ment of lubricant quality, exemplified
by extended drain intervals, improved
oxidation control and superior aeration
performance.”
Jeanna Van Rensselar heads her
own communication/public
relations firm, Smart PR
Communications, in Naperville,
Ill. You can reach her at jeanna@
smartprcommunications.com.

REFERENCES
1. From Shell’s Preparing for API CK-4 and FA-4: What the 7. Centipoise high-temperature high-shear.
New Categories Mean for You and Your Heavy-Duty Engines.
8. From Shell’s Preparing for API CK-4 and FA-4: What the
Available at www.whatispc-11.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/
New Categories Mean for You and Your Heavy-Duty Engines.
Shell_Lubricants_CK4_and_FA4_technical_brochure_lo.pdf.
Available at www.whatispc-11.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/
2. Since more than 95% of all heavy-duty trucks are diesel- Shell_Lubricants_CK4_and_FA4_technical_brochure_lo.pdf.
powered, the term heavy-duty lubricants in this article refers
9. From Chevron’s PC-11 Explained website. Available at http://
to lubricants for heavy-duty diesel vehicles.
pc-11explained.com/.
3. From http://cumminsengines.com/uploads/docs/Secrets%20
10. From An Introduction to Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine Frictional
of%20Better%20Fuel%20Economy_whitepaper.pdf.
Losses And Lubricant Properties Affecting Fuel Economy – Part I.
4. From EPA and NHTSA Adopt First-Ever Program to Reduce Available at www.researchgate.net/publication/235152586_An_
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improve Fuel Efficiency of Introduction_to_Heavy-Duty_Diesel_Engine_Frictional_Losses_and_
Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles. Available at www3.epa.gov/ Lubricant_Properties_Affecting_Fuel_Economy_-_Part_1.
otaq/climate/documents/420f11031.pdf.
11. From The Lubricant Contribution to Improved Fuel Economy
5. From Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards and Fuel Efficiency in Heavy Duty Diesel Engines (abstract). Available at http://
Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles. papers.sae.org/2009-01-2856/.
Available at www.nhtsa.gov/fuel-economy.
12. Ibid.
6. From PC-11 Explained. Available at http://pc-11explained.com/
pc-11-explained.html.

W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 45

PEER-REVIEWED

Tribological Dependence of the High-Performance

Ferrous-Based Coating on Different Coating
Counterparts in Engine Oil
Yongxin Wanga, Bin Wanga, Jinlong Lia, Fuqiang Mab, and Qunji Xuea
a
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies,
Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, P.R. China; bZhejiang Electric Power Company
Maintenance Branch, Ningbo, P.R. China

Received Mar. 20, 2015 KEY WORDS

Accepted Aug. 9, 2015
Review led by Dong Zhu
© STLE
Editor’s Note: The primary
driver in engine innovation is
emission requirements, which
in turn drives fuel-efficiency
efforts. These efforts typically
focus on reducing the friction at
the ring/cylinder interface. This
month’s Editor’s Choice paper
investigates the tribological
performance of various coat-
ings, mimicking the piston
sliding against an as-fabricated
ferrous-based plasma-sprayed
coating representing the cylin-
der. The most promising pairing
was with diamond-like carbon,
strongly suggesting further re-
search is required to bring this
coating to the forefront of the
market and thus reducing emis-
sions and fuel consumption.
Evan Zabawski, CLS
Editor
Plasma-sprayed ferrousbased coating; tribological performance; coating counterpart;
DLC coating; engine oil
ABSTRACT
A ferrous-based coating with significant chromium was fabricated on aluminum alloy sub-
strate using a plasma spray technique. The tribological performance of the as-fabricated
ferrous-based coating sliding against different coatings including Cr, CrN, TiN, and diamond-
like carbon (DLC) in an engine oil environment were comparatively studied. Results showed
that the high hardness of the sprayed ferrousbased coating was achieved due to the dispersion
strengthening effect of Cr7C3 phase embedded in the austenite matrix. The ferrous-based
coating exhibited low friction coefficients when coupled with these four coating counter-
parts, which could be attributed to the boundary lubricating effect of engine oil. However,
both friction and wear of the ferrous-based coating were different when sliding against these
different coating counterparts, which might be closely related to the surface roughness, self-
lubricating effect, and mechanical properties of the coupled coatings. Ferrous-based coating
sliding against CrN and DLC coatings exhibited good tribological performance in engine oil.
The best coating counterpart for the ferrous-based coating in an engine was DLC coating.
INTRODUCTION
For a number of years, aluminum alloys have been successfully used to replace cast iron
in the fabrication of engine cylinder blocks to reduce vehicle weight. This development
has been made possible by transcending the poor wear resistance of aluminum. Among
the technologies used to protect the working surfaces of aluminum cylinder blocks,
thermal spray coating has drawn attention because of its special advantages, including
high efficiency, low heat input, cost reduction, and scuffing resistance (Edrisy, et al. (1);
Hilla, et al. (2)). In addition, it has been proven that an appropriate plasma-sprayed
ferrous-based coating on the cylinder block can reduce oil consumption by about 2–4%
(Gérard (3)). The main problem was that the corresponding low hardness ranging from
about 200 to 500 HV of the common ferrous-based coating would only provide limited
wear resistance for the application on the inner surface of the cylinder block (Vencl, et
al. (4); Smith and Mutasim (5); Uozato, et al. (6)). Therefore, various research works
focused on composite ferrous-based coatings that possess a high hardness. Song, et
al. (7) studied the wear resistance of a composite coating fabricated by STS 316 spray
powders mixed with Al2O3-ZrO2 powders. They found that iron oxides formed in the

46 The Earth’s atmosphere experiences millions of meteors every day, most of which burn up in the atmosphere.

Figure 1 | Morphology of the composite ferrous-based powder.
austenitic matrix by oxidation during the spraying process,
and Al2O3-ZrO2 oxides were additionally formed in the matrix
for the blend coatings. The blend coatings with Al2O3-ZrO2
oxides showed better hardness and wear resistance than the
STS 316 coating without Al2O3-ZrO2 oxides, but the main
wear mode was changed from abrasive wear to delamination
wear as the volume fraction of Al2O3-ZrO2 oxides increased
due to cracking of oxides and separation of oxide/matrix in-
terfaces. Bobzin, et al. (8) reported that ferrous-based pow-
ders with 5% boron were proven to be capable of producing
a coating with a hardness of 1,200 HV0.1, which showed low
friction, but numerous microcracks were found in the coating.
In addition, various coatings were fabricated on piston
rings to protect the substrates and obtain good tribological
performance of cylinder block–to–piston ring tribopairs, in-
cluding hard Cr coating, metal nitride coatings, and amor-
phous carbon coatings (Friedrich, et al. (9); Gangopadhyay,
et al. (10); Wang and Tung (11)). Due to the excellent wear
and corrosion resistance, electroplated hard Cr coatings have
been widely used on piston rings (Bozyazı, et al. (12); Sohi,
et al. (13)). However, hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) was uti-
lized in the deposition process of the electroplated hard Cr
coating, which had been classified as a carcinogen compound
(Walter, et al. (14); Lee, et al. (15)). Consequently, intensive
research has been performed on possible alternatives to re-
place electroplated hard Cr coatings on piston rings, such as
metal nitride coatings, amorphous carbon coatings, and so
on. Shi, et al. (16) deposited thick CrN coatings on piston
rings using an arc ion plating system. The test results were
very encouraging for the application of CrN thick coatings in
replacing electrodeposited hard Cr coatings. Sun, et al. (17)
fabricated multilayers of Ti-TiN coating with a thickness of
4–5 μm on a cast iron piston ring. The experimental results
showed that the tribological performance of the cast iron pis-
W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
ton ring–to–cylinder block pair of an internal combustion
engine can be appreciably improved utilizing this technique.
Tung and Gao (18) compared the tribological performance
of thermally sprayed CrN coating and diamond-like carbon
(DLC) film prepared by physical vapor deposition (PVD) on
nitride stainless steel piston rings using different lubricating
oils. The results showed that the DLC coating produced the
lowest wear on the cylinder liner segment and had wear simi-
lar to that of nitrided and CrN-coated piston rings. Cho and
Lee (19) evaluated the effects of various surface coatings in-
cluding TiN, TiAlN, Cr-ceramic, and DLC on the tribological
characteristics of the piston ring and cylinder block surfaces
of a diesel engine. They found that TiN and DLC coatings
showed better scuffing resistance than the other coatings,
and the DLC coating showed only mild abrasive wear that
prolonged the time to scuffing failure. Cai, et al. (20), (21) in-
vestigated the nanolayered CrN/TiAIN coating and CrxTi1-xN
composite coating in tribological applications on piston rings.
Although it has been proven that ferrous-based coat-
ings could improve the tribological performance of cylinder
blocks, various studies have found that proper coatings were
beneficial to the piston rings. The dependent relationship be-
tween high-performance plasma-sprayed, ferrous-based coat-
ing for the cylinder block and different coatings for piston
rings has not been extensively investigated, which is impor-
tant for the design of the cylinder block–piston ring tribopair
in an engine system. Therefore, the present study fabricated
a plasma-sprayed composite ferrous-based coating with high
hardness following a comparative investigation on the tribo-
logical performance of the as-fabricated ferrous-based coating
sliding against different piston ring coatings including Cr,
CrN, TiN, and DLC in engine oil. The selected four coating
counterparts represent typical commercial coating systems
in the modern engine industry. The main objective was to
obtain the tribological dependence of the high-performance
ferrous-based coating on the nature of typical piston ring coat-
ings. Then the guidelines for selection of coating pairs in the
application for a cylinder block–to–piston ring tribopair in
engine system could be deduced.
EXPERIMENTAL
Coating preparation
The ferrous-based coating was fabricated using an XM-80SK
plasma spray system on aluminum alloy ZL109 (ZAlSi2-
Cu1Mg1Ni1) substrates with dimensions of 45 mm = 20 mm
= 5 mm. In order to achieve a high performance of the sprayed
ferrous-based coating, ferrous-based composite powder with
significant Cr was used (Liu, et al. (22)). The composition of
the composite powder was Fe-18Cr-8.5Ni-3Si-0.8C-0.96Mn
(wt%). The morphology of the composite powder is shown
in Figure 1. The spraying parameters are shown in Table 1
on Page 48. Before spraying, the substrates were sand-blasted
using brown fused alumina with a particle size of 1.2–1.4 mm
for about 30 s and then ultrasonically cleaned in alcohol and
acetone for 15 min. After spraying, the coated samples were
SEPTEMBER 2016 • 47
Table 1 | Plasma spraying parameters.
Spray Parameter Value
Arc voltage (V) 55
Arc current (A) 500
Flow of primary gas Ar (L/h) 1,900
Flow of secondary gas H2 (L/h) 88
Flow of carrier gas N2 (L/h) 400
Spray distance (mm) 100
polished to a roughness less than 0.3 μm. Four typical piston
ring coating of Cr coating, CrN coating, TiN coating, and DLC
coating (PR4) were chosen as the coating counterparts. The
Cr coating was a commercial electroplated hard Cr coating.
The CrN coating and TiN coating were deposited by a Hauzer
Flexicoat850 Arc Ion Plating Deposition System, and the DLC
coating was deposited by a Teer UDP650 Magnetron Sputter-
ing Deposition System. In order to perform the comparative
study, all four piston ring coatings were deposited on GCr15
balls with a diameter of 6 mm.
Coating characterization
Morphologies of the powder and the ferrous-based coating
were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
The microstructures of the ferrous-based coating were also
analyzed using energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) loaded
in the SEM system and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The hard-
ness of the ferrous-based coating was measured using a MVS-
1000D1 Vickers microhardness tester under loads of 0.1 and
1.0 kg, respectively. The microstructures of the four coating
counterparts were analyzed using XRD. Mechanical properties
including hardness and modulus of the four coating counter-
parts were tested using an MTS-Nano G200 Nano-indentor.
The roughness of the four coating counterparts was tested
using a surface profiler. XRD patterns of the coating coun-
terparts are shown in Figure 2. Typical microstructures of
Figure 2 | XRD patterns of coating counterparts.
48 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
Table 2 | Characteristics of the coating counterparts.
Coatings Hardness (GPa) Modulus (GPa) Poisson Ratio Roughness (nm)
Cr 7 281 0.26 112
CrN 21 328 0.18 283
TiN 28 496 0.18 302
DLC 14 162 0.20 27
commercial Cr, CrN, TiN, and DLC coatings are revealed. No
peak related to carbon could be detected in the DLC coating
due to the amorphous matrix feature. Peaks related to CrN
in the DLC coating were attributed to the interlayer of CrN
between the DLC layer and the substrate. Characteristics of
the coating counterparts are shown in Table 2.
Tribological test
A UMT-3 multifunctional attrition testing machine with a
reciprocating ball-on-flat model was used to test the tribo-
logical behaviors of the as-fabricated ferrous-based coating
against different coating counterparts at an ambient room
temperature. Mineral engine oil (SJ 5w-40) was selected as
the lubricant for these tests. The schematic diagram presented
in Figure 3 shows the working principle of the tribometer.
The aluminum alloy substrate with ferrous-based coating was
fixed on a reciprocating motion platform and the mating ball
with a certain coating was fixed in a holder that was con-
nected to a transducer. An injector was used to supply oil to
provide a lubricated condition for the duration of the test.
During the test, the variation in the coefficient of friction as
well as normal and friction forces were monitored and logged
by a computer. The amplitude was 5 mm, the reciprocating
frequency was 5 Hz, the normal load was 15 N, and the sliding
duration was 60 min. After each test, a cross-sectional profile
of the wear track was measured using an Alpha-Step IQ pro-
filometer to obtain statistical data on the wear rate. The wear
morphologies of the ferrous-based coatings and their different
coating counterparts were examined using a Leica DM2500
optical microscope and SEM.
Figure 3 | Schematic diagram of the reciprocating tribometer.
W W W. ST L E .O RG
RESULTS
Characteristics of the composite ferrous-based coating
Figure 4 shows the microstructure of the sprayed composite
ferrous-based coating. It can be seen that the as-fabricated
ferrous-based coating has a compact and uniform structure.
The thickness of the coating was approximately 500 μm.
From the higher magnification micrographs of the snapped
and polished cross section of the sprayed coatings, a typical
Figure 4 | Cross-sectional morphologies of the ferrous-based coat-
ing: (a) total view of the peeled coating; (b) snapped micromorphol-
ogy; and (c) polished micromorphology.
The word meteor comes from a Greek word that means suspended in the air. They can become visible as high as 120 km (75 miles) above Earth.
thermal spray coating morphology mixed with melted and
unmelted regions was observed. Fully melted powders im-
pacted on the rough surface of the substrate and spread out
to form a curved lamellar structure with no cracks. Due to
the uneven heating, extreme cooling, and shrinkage of the
powders, unmelted particles and pores appeared.
More details on the lamellar region were detected by EDS
as shown in Figure 5. In Figure 5a, four lamellar regions de-
Figure 5 | Details of the lamellar structure: (a) selected regions for
EDS; (b) Cr and C contents due to EDS; and (c) magnified micrograph
of the lamellar region.
49
pendent on different colors were selected. Figure 5b reveals
the Cr and C contents of the selected regions due to the EDS
analyses. It can be seen that all of these regions mixed with
significant Cr and C. A slight difference might be attributed
to segregation during the cooling process. It also indicated
that the Cr-C compound might be formed inside the coating.
A magnified micrograph of the lamellar region 4 is shown in
Figure 5c, which illustrates that the homogeneous matrix was
embedded in a mass of rod-like or strip-like phases.
In order to identify the phase structure, the XRD pattern of
the ferrous-based coating in comparing with spraying powder
was acquired. The XRD patterns of both the ferrous-based
coating and the powders are shown in Figure 6. As seen in
Figure 6, the main phase of the powder was austenite (Cr-
Ni-Fe-C). Weak signals of Cr7C3 and CrC were detected. The
intensity of austenite peak decreased and the intensity of the
Cr7C3 peak increased. The weak signal of CrC was still de-
tected, which indicates that a significant hard Cr7C3 phase
would generate inside the ferrous-based coating. The rod-like
or strip-like phases dispersed in the homogeneous matrix of
the ferrous-based coating could be assigned the hard Cr7C3
phases; that is, a mass of rod-like or strip-like Cr7C3 phases
dispersed in the homogeneous austenite matrix arose from the
precipitation of Cr and C during the cooling process following
the coating solidification, which would play an important role
in the mechanical property of the as-fabricated ferrous-based
coating (Wang, et al. (23)).
Figure 6 | XRD pattern of the ferrous-based coating compared to
spraying powder.
50 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
Vickers microhardness tests of the sprayed coatings were
carried out at two loads, 0.1 and 1 kg. The obtained average
values were 664.94 and 768.24 HV1.0, respectively. Because
the typical austenite matrix was approximately 200 HV, the
as-fabricated ferrous-based coating exhibited extremely high
hardness, which might related to the formation of a hard
Cr7C3 phase, whose hardness is about 1600 HV (Azimi (24)).
The dispersion of the hard phases with small size strength-
ened the austenite matrix effectively.
Tribological performances of the ferrous-based coating
against different coatings
Figure 7 reveals the friction coefficients of the as-fabricated
ferrous-based coating against different coating counterparts
in engine oil. The ferrous-based coating exhibited low friction
coefficients sliding against all four selected coating counter-
parts, which could be attributed to the boundary lubricating
effect of engine oil under the ball-on-flat friction contact con-
dition. However, differences between the friction coefficients
also existed. The order of the friction coefficients was as fol-
lows: ferrous-based coating against TiN > ferrous-based coat-
ing against CrN > ferrous-based coating against Cr > ferrous-
based coating against DLC. The highest friction coefficient of
approximately 0.15 was found when the ferrous-based coating
slid against TiN in engine oil. The friction coefficients of the
ferrous-based coating sliding against CrN and Cr were 0.11
and 0.10, respectively. When coupled with the DLC coating,
the ferrous- based coating exhibited the lowest friction coef-
ficient of about 0.09 under the same condition. That is, the
ferrous-based coating showed the best low friction behavior
when sliding against the DLC coating.
Figure 8 on Page 52 reveals the specific wear rates of the
as-fabricated ferrous-based coating against different coating
counterparts in engine oil. Though the wear rates were dif-
ferent, the order of wear rate was the same as that for fric-
tion coefficient: ferrous-based coating against TiN > ferrous-
based coating against CrN > ferrous-based coating against
Figure 7 | Friction coefficients of the ferrous-based coating sliding
against different coatings. ÎÎÎÎÎ
W W W. ST L E .O RG
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Figure 8 | Specific wear rates of the ferrous-based coating sliding
against different coatings.
Cr > ferrous-based coating against DLC. The highest specific
wear rate of approximately 7.8 = 10-15 m3N-1m-1 was found
when the ferrous-based coating slid against TiN. The specific
wear rates of the ferrous-based coating sliding against CrN
and Cr were 8.9 = 10-17 m3N-1m-1 and 7.5 = 10-17 m3N-1m-1,
respectively, which were two orders of magnitude lower than
that sliding against TiN. When coupled with the DLC coating,
the ferrous- based coating exhibited the lowest specific wear
rate of about 2.1 = 10-18 m3N-1m-1, which was three orders of
magnitude lower than that sliding against TiN. It was clear
that the ferrous-based coating showed the best antiwear per-
formance when sliding against the DLC coating in engine oil.
Figure 9 shows wear track profiles of the ferrous-based
coating sliding against different coating counterparts, which
52 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
Figure 9 | Wear track profiles of the ferrous-based coating sliding
against different coatings.
reflects the wear properties of the ferrous-based coating.
When sliding against TiN coating, the ferrous-based coating
generated the widest and deepest wear track. Though the wear
track of the ferrous-based coating sliding against CrN coating
was narrower than that sliding against Cr coating, the wear
track of the ferrous-based coating sliding against the CrN
coating was deeper than that sliding against Cr coating. The
smallest width and depth of the ferrous-based coating was
observed if the coupled coating was DLC. The valleys of the
wear track profiles that reflected wear grooves on the wear
surfaces might be related to the abrasive wear regime on the
friction contact interface.
The wear surface morphologies under an optical micro-
scope are shown in Figure 10. It is clear that the ferrous-based
coating exhibited mild wear with a few wear
grooves when sliding against Cr coating as
seen in Figure 10a. As seen in Figure 10b,
the wear surface of the ferrous-based coat-
ing against CrN coating reveals more wear
grooves, demonstrating more severe wear
than that for ferrous-based coating against Cr
coating. If the coating counterpart changed to
TiN, as seen in Figure 10c, a wide wear track
with plenty of deep grooves was observed,
which showed the highest wear rate under
this condition. When the coating counterpart
was DLC, the mildest wear of ferrous-based
coating with almost no wear grooves was de-
tected, as shown in Figure 10d. An abrasive
wear regime was proposed according to the
wear grooves. The TiN coating counterpart
promoted the most severe abrasive effect on
Figure 10 | Wear surfaces of the ferrous-based
coating against different coatings: (a) Cr; (b) CrN;
(c) TiN; and (d) DLC. ÎÎÎÎÎ
W W W. ST L E .O RG
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ÎÎÎÎÎ the ferrous-based coating, where the DLC coating counterpart
resulted in the mildest abrasive effect. The order of the abra-
sive effect was ferrous-based coating against TiN > ferrous-
based coating against CrN > ferrous-based coating against Cr
> ferrous-based coating against DLC.
Figure 11 shows the wear surfaces of the different coating
counterparts. Firstly, the difference in surface roughness of
these coating counterparts is clear. The roughest surface was
observed for the TiN coating. The CrN coating also revealed
a correspondingly rough surface, but the Cr coating appeared
smooth. The DLC coating had the smoothest surface. Sec-
ondly, different wear losses of the coating counterparts could
be estimated due to the sizes of the wear scars. The diameters
of the wear scars were in the following order: TiN > Cr > CrN
> DLC, which indicated that the TiN coating counterpart not
only led to the most severe wear of the ferrous-based coat-
ing but also exhibited the most severe wear among the coat-
ing counterparts. Though the ferrous-based coating exhib-
ited a higher wear rate against CrN coating than Cr coating,
the coupled Cr coating revealed more severe wear than the
coupled CrN coating. The coupled DLC coating showed the
mildest wear among these coating counterparts.
DISCUSSION
It was found that the composite ferrous-based coating exhib-
ited different friction and wear behaviors when sliding against
Cr, CrN, TiN, and DLC coatings in engine oil. The differences
in the friction coefficient and wear rate revealed a similar or-
Figure 11 | Wear surfaces of different coating counterparts: (a) Cr; (b) CrN; (c) TiN; and (d) DLC.
54 Meteors can give off various colors when they burn, which is associated with their composition.
der: ferrous-based coating against TiN > ferrous-based coating
against CrN > ferrous-based coating against Cr > ferrous-based
coating against DLC. Firstly, different surface roughnesses
might play an important role in this phenomenon. As shown
in Table 2 and Figure 11, the surface roughness of these differ-
ent coating counterparts from high to low were TiN > CrN > Cr
> DLC. Under the ball-on-flat contact condition in this study,
the engine oil would only have a boundary lubricating effect
in the friction action. Thus, solid–solid contact for the mating
surfaces must exist at the microscale. Consequently, the high
surface roughness of the counterpart would generate high fric-
tion shear to the friction contact surface of ferrous-based coat-
ing, which was apt to induce high friction resistance and severe
shear damage caused by microbulges and vice versa. As seen
from Figure 10c, severe ploughing grooves on the wear surface
of the ferrous-based coating against TiN with the roughest sur-
face were observed. Large abrasion dust was also detected on
the wear surface of TiN coating. No ploughing grooves on the
wear surface of the ferrous-based coating against DLC with the
smoothest surface could be observed. Correspondingly, debris
on the wear scar of DLC was rather fine as well. Secondly, the
friction and wear difference for different coating counterparts
might be closely related to the self-lubricating effects of these
coatings. Due to the unique microstructure—that is, an amor-
phous matrix mixed with sp2 carbon and sp3 carbon—the DLC
coating demonstrated good self-lubricating behavior with a low
friction coefficient in combined with high hardness resulting,
in a low wear rate (Al Mahmud, et al. (25); Mistrya, et al. (26);
Gangopadhyay, et al. (27)). Many re-
search works demonstrated a lower
friction coefficient of DLC coating
compared to Cr, CrN, and TiN coat-
ings (Vera, et al. (28); Erikson and
Olson (29); Xiao, et al. (30)). Because
the Cr-based coating would generate
the lubricating product Cr2O3, the
lower friction coefficients of Cr and
CrN coatings compared to TiN-based
coatings were reasonable (ZuKöcker,
et al. (31); Wang, et al. (32)). The low-
er friction coefficient of the Cr coating
compared to the CrN coating might
be related to the easier formation of
Cr-based lubricating products for
the former than the latter. Under the
boundary lubricating condition, the
difference in friction for solid–solid
contact regions would determine the
total friction coefficient though there
were liquid lubricating regions at the
microscale. The different self-lubricat-
ing effects resulted in a difference in
the friction coefficients for these coat-
ing counterparts as follows: TiN > CrN
> Cr > DLC, which also means that the
friction shear of these coatings to the ferrous-based coating
was in the order TiN > CrN > Cr > DLC. Thirdly, the different
mechanical properties of these coating counterparts might be
another factor. According to the Hertz theory for a ball-on-flat
contact regime (Liu, et al. (22)), the contact area radius (a) and
the maximum contact stress (m0) would be determined by the
following equations:
1 1 ¡ n1 2 1 ¡ n2 2
D C
E E1 E2
 13
3 WR
aD
4 E
 1
WE2 3
s 0 D 0:58 : (3)
R2
For this study, the flat was an aluminum alloy with a fer-
rous- based coating, and the balls were GCr15 with coatings.
In order to simplify the calculation, the ferrous-based coating
was assumed as the flat made of the cast iron, and the coupled
coatings on the GCr15 balls were assumed as homogeneous
balls made of the corresponding coating materials. The elastic
modulus E1 and Poisson ratio v1 of typical cast iron are 150
GPa and 0.3, respectively. After importing the parameters of
different coatings shown in Table 2 and the normal load W,
which was 15 N, a series of Hertz contact values was obtained
as shown in Table 3. The calculated Hertz contact values might
include great errors due to the simplification, but the order
from high to low can be determined. It was found that the
order of maximum contact stress under the same normal load
was ferrous-based coating against TiN coating > ferrous-based
coating against CrN coating > ferrous-based coating against
Cr coating > ferrous-based coating against DLC coating. Then
the damage to different coating counterparts with the ferrous-
based coating under the same condition would be TiN coating >
CrN coating > Cr coating > DLC coating. Three factors includ-
ing surface roughness, self-lubricating effects, and mechanical
properties of coupled coatings worked synergistically, leading
to the differences in the friction coefficient and wear rate of the
as-prepared ferrous-based coating sliding against different coat-
ing counterparts, which was TiN coating > against CrN coating
> against Cr coating > against DLC coating.
However, the wear losses of the coupled coating counter-
parts revealed little difference compared to the wear rates of
the ferrous-based coating. Though the wear law of ferrous-
based coating was against TiN coating > against CrN coating
Table 3 | Contact area radiuses and maximum contact stresses of the
ferrous-based coating against different coating counterparts.
Coating Contact Area Maximum Contact
Counterpart Radius (mm) Stress (GPa)
Cr 0.068 1.54
CrN 0.067 1.58
TiN 0.064 1.71
DLC 0.073 1.31
W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
> against Cr coating > against DLC coating, the wear losses
of the corresponding coating counterparts were TiN > Cr >
CrN > DLC. This was attributed to the lower hardness of the
Cr coating compared to the CrN coating. The high mechani-
cal properties of CrN fabricated by the PVD technique would
provide antiwear performance, though the friction coefficient
for the ferrous-based coating sliding against the CrN coating
was slightly higher than that for the ferrous-based coating
(1) sliding against the Cr coating.
It is clear that the friction coefficient of the ferrous-based
coating sliding against TiN was much higher than that sliding
(2)
against other coatings. Both friction contact surfaces suffered
more severe wear than the other tribopairs. Though the friction
coefficient and wear rate of the ferrous-based coating coupled
with the Cr coating exhibited a slightly lower friction coef-
ficient, the wear of the Cr coating was more severe than that
of the CrN coating. The friction coefficient and wear of both
friction contact surfaces for the ferrous-based coating–to–DLC
coating tribopair were much lower than those of other tribo-
pairs. Accordingly, the ferrous-based coating to CrN coating or
DLC coating could exhibit good tribological performance in
engine oil. The best coating counterpart for the ferrous-based
coating in engine oil circumstance was the DLC coating.
CONCLUSION
A plasma-sprayed ferrous-based coating was fabricated by
using a ferrous-based powder with significant Cr content.
The as-fabricated ferrous-based coating possessed high hard-
ness due to the formation of a Cr7C3 phase dispersed inside
the coating matrix. When coupled with typical piston ring
coatings including Cr, CrN, TiN, and DLC, the ferrous-based
coating exhibited good tribological performance with differ-
ences in engine oil. The friction coefficients were low, which
could be attributed to the boundary lubricating effect of en-
gine oil. The different friction coefficients and wear rates for
the ferrous-based coating sliding against these four coating
counterparts showed the same order, which was ferrous-based
coating against TiN coating > ferrous-based coating against
CrN coating > ferrous-based coating against Cr coating > fer-
rous-based coating against DLC coating. However, the wear
loss of the coupled coatings was TiN > Cr > Cr > DLC. The
tribological differences in the ferrous-based coating against
different coatings were closely related to the surface rough-
ness, self-lubricating effects, and mechanical properties of the
coupled coatings. In contrast, the plasma-sprayed ferrous-
based coating exhibited good tribological performance in
engine oil when coupled with CrN or DLC coating. The best
coating counterpart for the ferrous-based coating in an engine
is DLC the coating.
FUNDING
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.
51202261 and 51475449) and the National Basic Research
Program of China (973 Program, Grant No. 2013CB632302).
SEPTEMBER 2016 • 55
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(15) Lee, S. L., Windover, D., Audino, M., Matson, D. W., and Mc-
Clanahan, E. D. (2002), “High-Rate Sputter Deposited Tantalum
Coating on Steel for Wear and Erosion Mitigation,” Surface and
Coating Technology, 149, pp 62–69.
(16) Shi, P. Z., Wang, J., Tian, C. X., Li, Z. G., Zhang, G. D., Fu, D.
J., and Yang, B. (2013), “Structure, Mechanical and Tribological
Properties of CrN Thick Coatings Deposited by Circular Com-
bined Tubular Arc Ion Plating,” Surface and Coating Technology,
228, pp 534–537.
56 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
(17) Sun, Z., Zhang, P., Zhai, L., Xu, X., Han, A., and Zhang, W.
(2000), “Multi-Layer Compound Coating on Cast Iron Piston
Ring by Multi-Arc and Magnetron Sputtering Ion Compound
Plating Technique,” Surface and Coating Technology, 131, pp
422–427.
(18) Tung, S. C. and Gao, H. (2003), “Tribological Characteristics
and Surface Interaction between Piston Ring Coatings and a
Blend of Energy-Conserving Oils and Ethanol Fuels,” Wear,
255, pp 1276–1285.
(19) Cho, D.-H. and Lee, Y.-Z. (2009), “Evaluation of Ring Surfaces
with Several Coatings for Friction, Wear and Scuffing Life,” Trans-
actions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, 19, pp 992–996.
(20) Cai, Z. H., Zhang, P., and Di, Y. L. (2011), “Nanolayered CrN/
TiAIN Coatings Synthesized by Ion Plating Technology for Tri-
bological Application on Piston Pings,” Advanced Materials Re-
search, 216, pp 430–434.
(21) Cai, Z. H., Di, Y. L., He, J. W., and Zhang, P. (2011), “Investiga-
tion of Microstructure and Tribological Properties of CrxTi1-xN
Composite Films on Piston Ring,” Advanced Materials Research,
287, pp 2136–2139.
(22) Liu, H.-N., Nomura, M., Ogi, K., and Sakamoto, M. (2001),
“Abrasion Resistance of High Cr Cast Irons at an Elevated Tem-
perature,” Wear, 250, pp 71–75.
(23) Wang, H., La, P., Liu, X., Wei, Y., and Shi, T. (2013), “Effect
of Annealing on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of
Large Dimensional Bulk Nanocrystalline Fe-Al-Cr Alloy Pre-
pared by Aluminothermic Reaction,” Materials Science and Engi-
neering A, 582, pp 1–7.
(24) Azimi, G. (2012), “Microstructure and Wear Properties of Fe-
Cr-C and Fe-Cr-Nb-C Clads on Carbon Steel by TIG Surfacing
Process,” International Journal of Surface Science and Engineer-
ing, 6, pp 15–23.
(25) Al Mahmud, K. A. H., Kalam, M. A., Masjuki, H. H., Mobarak,
H. M., and Zulkifli, N. W. M. (2015), “An Updated Overview of
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tions, 40, pp 90–118.
(26) Mistrya, K. K., Morina, A., Erdemir, A., and Neville, A. (2013),
“Extreme Pressure Lubricant Additives Interacting on the Sur-
face of Steel- and Tungsten Carbide–Doped Diamond-Like Car-
bon,” Tribology Transactions, 56, pp 623–629.
(27) Gangopadhyay, A., Sinha, K., Uy, D., Mcwatt, D. G., Zdrodows-
ki, R. J., and Simko, S. J. (2010), “Friction, Wear, and Surface
Film Formation Characteristics of Diamond-Like Carbon Thin
Coating in Valvetrain Application,” Tribology Transactions, 54,
pp 104–114.
(28) Vera, E. E., Vite, M., Lewis, R., Gallardo, E. A., and Laguna-
Camacho, J. R. (2011), “A Study of the Wear Performance of
TiN, CrN and WC/C Coatings on Different Steel Substrates,”
Wear, 271, pp 2116–2124.
(29) Eriksson, J. and Olsson, M. (2011), “Tribological Testing of
Commercial CrN, (Ti,Al)N and CrC/C PVD Coatings—Evalua-
tion of Galling and Wear Characteristics against Different High
Strength Steels,” Surface and Coating Technology, 205, pp 4045–
4051.
(30) Xiao, Y., Shin, W., Luo, J., and Liao, Y. (2014), “The Tribological
Performance of TiN, WC/C and DLC Coatings Measured by the
Four-Ball Test,” Ceramics International, 40, pp 6919–6925.
(31) ZuKöcker, G. M., Gross, T., and Santner, E. (1994), “Influence
of the Testing Parameters on the Tribological Behaviour of Self-
Mated PVD-Coatings,” Wear, 17, pp 95–10.
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Li, Y. (2011), “Comparison of Tribological Properties of CrN,
TiCN and TiAlN Coatings Sliding against SiC Balls in Water,”
Applied Surface Science, 257, pp 7813–7820.
W W W. ST L E .O RG
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NEWSMAKERS
TOP STORIES
CHEVRON ORONITE ANNOUNCES
NEW DISTRIBUTOR IN NIGERIA
Chevron Oronite, based in San Ramon,
Calif., has signed an agreement ap-
pointing ABD Energy Solutions Limited
as their distributor in Nigeria.
The agreement involves not only
the sale of OLOA® additives and
PARATONE® viscosity modifiers but
also provides technical and laboratory
support to customers. ABD Energy So-
lutions operates a strategically located
warehouse in Lagos that will allow
storage of some Oronite products for
greater availability and flexibility in
meeting customer needs.
“ABD Energy Solutions Limited’s
vast experience in the refining and
petrochemical business gives them
a good knowledge of the lubricant,
base oil and additives segments—and
makes them a welcome addition to
the Oronite distributor network,” says
Alain Robert, regional sales manager,
Europe-Middle East-Africa, Chevron
Oronite. “Moreover, they have a very
focused and strategic approach thanks
to their extensive knowledge of the Ni-
gerian market. This should help Oroni-
te further strengthen our presence in
the region and also enhance our level
of service.”
Oronite explains that the selection
of ABD Energy Solutions Limited is
aligned with its continuous desire to
be in close proximity to customers in
the region. “We strongly believe the
ABD Energy Solutions Limited team is
well positioned to help us deliver the
required solutions and services to cus-
tomers in Nigeria,” Robert concludes.
ANSI’S FRAN SCHROTTER
RECEIVES ASTM INTERNATIONAL
2016 CAVANAUGH AWARD
Fran Schrotter, senior vice president
and chief operating officer for Ameri-
can National Standards Institute (ANSI) in
New York, has received the prestigious
ASTM International 2016 William T.
Cavanaugh Memorial Award.
The Cavanaugh Memorial Award
honors W.T. Cavanaugh, CEO of ASTM
58 • SEPTEMBER 2016
from 1970-1985
who established
ASTM as the
world leader in
developing and
disseminating
voluntary consen-
sus standards.
Schrotter is
honored for her Fran Schrotter
sustained leader-
ship in the U.S. and global standards
community, exemplifying a commit-
ment to consensus, collaboration and
professionalism.
“Nearly everyone in the global stan-
dards community has been positively
affected by Fran’s contributions,” says
ASTM president James Thomas. “Clear-
ly her work has supported standards
that have improved the lives of millions
of people in both the U.S. and around
the world. She truly embodies the spirit
of the Cavanaugh Award.”
Schrotter has been with ANSI since
1976, working with a variety of domes-
tic and international committees and
organizations that develop standards
in dozens of industries. As senior vice
president, she is primarily responsible
for ANSI’s activities supporting U.S.
participation in domestic and interna-
tional standardization activities.
In addition, she has held numerous
leadership roles in other organizations.
With the Cavanaugh award, Schrotter
is named as an honorary member of
ASTM.
DES-CASE ACQUIRED BY
INDUSTRIAL GROWTH PARTNERS,
NAMED TENNESSEAN TOP
WORKPLACE
Industrial Growth Partners (IGP), a San
Francisco-based private equity firm, ac-
quired the parent company of Des-Case
Corp., based in Goodlettsville, Tenn.,
for an undisclosed sum.
IGP is a specialist private invest-
ment partnership with $2.2 billion in
capital raised since inception that pro-
vides equity capital to industrial manu-
facturing companies. IGP concentrates
on leading, niche manufacturers of
engineered products used in critical
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
applications and partners with those
management teams to pursue strategic
initiatives focused on achieving long-
term shareholder value.
“Des-Case brings a holistic perspec-
tive to the lubricant contamination
control market by not only providing
the education and training needed to
understand the benefits of contami-
nant-free lubricant but also providing
innovative solutions to protect the lu-
bricant at every critical point in its life-
cycle,” says a representative from IGP.
“As a market leader with a strong brand
name and long-standing customer re-
lationships with some of the world’s
largest manufacturers, we are confident
in Des-Case’s ability to continue to ex-
pand globally.”
Founded in 1983 when it brought
the first desiccant breather to market,
Des-Case now manufactures an array
of specialty filtration products that
improve process equipment reliability
and extend lubricant life for industrial
plants worldwide. The company’s so-
lutions result in lower operating costs,
environmental benefits, fewer repairs
and improved plant operations.
“I am honored and excited to be a
part of writing the next chapter in the
Des-Case growth story alongside our
valued customers, partners and inves-
tors,” says Brian Gleason, president and
CEO at Des-Case Corp. “IGP has over
two decades of experience investing
in the industrial sector with a proven
track record of building world-class
global businesses. We are looking for-
ward to the partnership.”
In more news for Des-Case Corp.,
the company was named a Tennessean
Top Workplace for the second year in
a row.
The annual nationwide selection
program, implemented by a group of
regional daily newspapers across the
country and WorkplaceDynamics, an
employee survey firm, named the most
desirable places to work in the U.S.
Des-Case was ranked 22nd in the Mid-
dle Tennessee small company category.
To be nominated, a company had
to have at least 35 employees in the
Middle Tennessee region and could
W W W. ST L E .O RG
be either public, private, nonprofit
or government. During the assess-
ment, employees were asked questions
about their job (their training, work/
life balance), their manager, their pay,
the direction in which the company is
heading, if the employee felt appreci-
ated and their work meaningful and
engagement factors.
70 YEARS OF SCHAEFFLER
Herzogenaurach, Germany-based, The
Schaeffler Group, one of the greatest
success stories in German industry after
1945, is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
Dr. Wilhelm Schaeffler and his
brother Dr.-Ing. E.h. Georg Schaeffler
laid the foundation for today’s company
when they founded Industrie GmbH in
Herzogenaurach in 1946. The compa-
ny’s rapid rise began in 1949 with the
invention of the INA needle roller cage.
Schaeffler was soon producing cage-
guided needle roller bearings in large
quantities, particularly for the German
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W W W. ST L E .O RG
automobile industry. Today, the Schaef-
fler Group is a globally active, integrated
automotive and industrial supplier with
around 84,000 employees worldwide.
“It is often said that family-owned com-
panies think in the long term, and this
is absolutely true of Schaeffler. For us,
our roots and values are every bit as im-
portant as financial success,” says Maria-
Elisabeth Schaeffler Thumann.
The Schaeffler Group’s history
began in the Upper Silesian town of
Katscher, where Dr. Wilhelm Schaef-
fler took over a textile company that
later also manufactured metal products.
They initially produced wooden items
for day-to-day use, including ladders,
children’s scooters, belt buckles and
buttons, while convertible hand carts—
which also became a best-seller—were
manufactured in Schwarzenhammer.
Metal products such as thread-cutting
dies, universal joint bearings and nee-
dle roller bearings for use as spare parts
were soon added.
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
The company’s internationalization
began in 1951 in the Saarland town of
Homburg, which at the time was still
part of France’s economic region. The
first overseas plant, located in Llanel-
li, Great Britain, began production in
1957. Today Schaeffler has approxi-
mately 170 locations in over 50 coun-
tries and a worldwide network that
currently comprises 74 manufacturing
locations, as well as research and devel-
opment centers and sales companies.
Since the death of Dr. Georg Schaef-
fler in 1996, his wife Maria-Elisabeth
Schaeffler-Thumann and son Georg
F.W. Schaeffler have been the company’s
sole shareholders and have successfully
continued to lead the company togeth-
er with the management.
See Schaeffler’s film titled 70 years
of Schaeffler—because yesterday we
were already thinking about tomorrow
at www.schaeffler.com/Because-yester-
day-we-were-already-thinking-about-
tomorrow.
SEPTEMBER 2016 • 59
 ILA employees gather for a group photo in front of their new R&D Center in Wixom, Mich. With over 13,000 square feet of lab space for
product formulation and testing, the new tech center will concentrate on product development for specific customer applications.

SEA-LAND CHEMICAL WINS
NORTHEAST OHIO AREA 2016
TOP WORKPLACES AWARD
Sea-Land Chemical Co., based in West-
lake, Ohio, has been awarded a 2016
Top Workplace honor by the Plain
Dealer.
The Top Workplaces lists are based
solely on the results of an employ-
ee feedback survey administered by
WorkplaceDynamics, LLC, a research
firm that specializes in organizational
health and workplace improvement.
Several aspects of workplace culture
were measured, including alignment,
execution and connection.
“The Top Workplaces Award is not a
popularity contest,” says Doug Claffey,
CEO of WorkplaceDynamics. “Often-
times, people assume it’s all about fancy
perks and benefits. However, to be a
Top Workplace, organizations must
meet our strict standards for organiza-
tional health. Who better to ask about
work life than the employees, who live
in the culture every day? Time and
time again, our research has proven
that what’s most important to them is a
strong belief in where the organization
is headed, how it’s going to get there
and the feeling that everyone is in it
together. Without this sense of con-
nection, an organization doesn’t have a
shot at being named a Top Workplace.”
This is the second year in a row that
Sea-Land Chemical Co. has won the
Top Workplaces award.
“This award is a testament to the
culture we have created at Sea-Land
Chemical Co.,” says STLE-member Joe
Clayton, president. “We have worked
for many years to create an environ-
ment that fosters collaboration, en-
courages responsibility and supports
the longevity of our employees.”
IDEMITSU LAUNCHES NEW NORTH
AMERICAN R&D FACILITY
Jeffersonville, Ind.-based, Idemitsu Lu-
bricants America (ILA) announces the
opening of a new facility that will focus
on providing custom lubricant solu-
tions to a variety of customers through-
out North, Central and South America.
Located in Wixom, Mich., this mod-
ern R&D Center features state-of-the-
art equipment that allows for cutting-
edge product development. With over
13,000 square feet of laboratory space
for product formulation and testing,
this new technology center will con-
centrate on product development for
specific customer applications. The

60 A meteor shower is usually the result of debris from a broken comet. They are the size of pebbles and no larger than a baseball.
Wixom facility is one of the company’s Following on the U.S. Environmen- tinue to proliferate, AMP has become
latest global centers dedicated to auto- tal Protection Agency’s (EPA) exemp- an even more powerful tool for envi-
motive lubricants and industrial fluids. tion of AMP in 2014, Environment ronmentally conscious customers to
“Our new Wixom facility proudly Canada finalized an order to remove formulate more sustainable products,”
brings Idemitsu’s industry-leading AMP from the List of Toxic Substances says Mark Henning, president and chief
technology even closer to customers in Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environ- executive officer of ANGUS Chemical
and partners throughout the Ameri- mental Protection Act, 1999, due to the Co. “AMP’s Canada VOC-exemption
cas,” says STLE member Ryo Yamada, compound’s negligible effect on the for- marks a huge win not only for our
vice president of research and devel- mation of ground-level ozone. customers in Canada, who now have
opment and director of R&D Center “As global VOC regulations con- broader formulating flexibility, but also
at ILA. R&D work in the new facility
will focus on developing innovative,
leading-edge products and custom
formulations to serve existing close
partnerships with automotive OEMs
in North, South and Central America,
as well as the needs of general custom-
ers. It also will offer technical services
to a full range of businesses, including
automotive companies and industrial
manufacturers.
“This is the only facility in North
America that combines such a unique
blend of Japanese and American techni-
cal knowledge and leadership, as well
as more than 100 years of insight, in-
novation and integrity,” adds Yamada.
“At Idemitsu, our focus is on creat-
ing groundbreaking, environmentally
friendly products. We strive to create
solutions for energy challenges that
support our global communities, re-
Monson is now part of Azelis Americas
duce emissions and increase both man- New company strengthens its commitment to specialty
ufacturing and vehicle performance.” JOLTPJHSZHUK[LJOUPJHSZLY]PJLVќLYPUNHIYVHKLYUL[^VYR
ILA employees gather for a group of support and value to its U.S. and Canadian partners.
photo in front of their new R&D Cen-
ter in Wixom, Mich. With over 13,000 Monson Companies is now part of Azelis AmericasHNSVIHS[LHTVMS\IYPJHU[Z
square feet of lab space for product HUKTL[HS^VYRPUNL_WLY[Z4VUZVU^PSSUV^ILHISL[VVќLYP[ZJ\Z[VTLYZHU
L]LUIYVHKLYSPULVMWYLTP\TWYVK\J[ZZHSLZZ\WWVY[HUKZLY]PJLZ[OYV\NO
formulation and testing, the new tech
P[ZL_WHUKLKWVY[MVSPVVMZ\WWSPLYZ6\Y3\IYPJHU[Z 4L[HS^VYRPUN;LJOUPJHS
center will concentrate on product de- Center will continue to support our sales team, customers and suppliers with
velopment for specific customer appli- \UTH[JOLKMVYT\SH[PVUHUK[LJOUPJHSHZZPZ[HUJL3L]LYHNL[OLM\SSYHUNLVM
cations. [LJOUPJHSYLZV\YJLZZHSLZZ[HќHUKX\HSP[`WYVK\J[ZVUS`4VUZVUKLSP]LYZI`
contacting customer sales and service at 1-800-235-0957, or via email to
ANGUS AMP™ MULTIFUNCTIONAL csr@monsonco.com for your local Monson sales representative.
ADDITIVE GRANTED VOC-EXEMPT
STATUS 4VUZVU*VTWHUPLZ࠮154 Pioneer Drive࠮Leominster, MA 01453 ࠮1-800-235-0957
Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based, ANGUS Chemi- w^^TVUZVUJVJVT࠮www.azelisamericas.com

cal Co. announces that AMP™, a mul-

tifunctional specialty chemical that
is widely used in paint formulations,
metalworking fluids and personal care
products, is no longer classified as a Creating value, growing together
LUBRICANTS & METAL
WORKING FLUIDS
volatile organic compound (VOC) by
Canada’s Department of the Environ-
ment (Environment Canada).

W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 61

for consumers who will benefit from
the desirable features AMP imparts in
low- and zero-VOC paints, metalwork-
ing fluids and personal care products.”
AMP (2-amino-2-methyl-1-propa-
nol) offers formulators comprehensive
benefits including low odor, effec-
tive pH control and a positive safety
and handling profile. The compound,
which is already being used as a key
ingredient in a majority of water-based
paints, now allows Canadian paint
companies to avoid reformulating
with less-favorable neutralizers, such
as caustic soda or ammonia.
“Environmental impact has become
a significant factor in the consumer
decision-making process,” says STLE-
member Mike Lewis, business vice
president, U.S. and Canada for ANGUS.
“It’s no longer enough for a product to
perform at a high level; it must provide
sustainability benefits as well. AMP’s
VOC-exemption satisfies the demand
of our increasingly eco-minded cus-
tomers in Canada without sacrificing
functionality.”
ASTM MEMBERS
REINSTATE TEST METHOD
West Conshohocken, Pa.-based, ASTM
International members reinstated a key
test method that helps determine how
much water is in various petroleum
products (D6304, Standard Test Meth-
od for Determination of Water in Petro-
leum Products, Lubricating Oils, and
Additives by Coulometric Karl Fischer
Titration).
Knowing the water content in
these products helps manufacturers
and buyers predict their quality and
performance characteristics while also
helping prevent premature corrosion
and wear.
The group that reinstated the stan-
dard met in Bellevue, Wash., as part
of the biannual Committee Week for
ASTM Committee D02 on Petroleum
Products, Liquid Fuels, and Lubricants.
Future revisions of the standard will be
undertaken by Subcommittee D02.06
on Analysis of Liquid Fuels and Lubri-
cants. Revisions could include clarify-
ing the amount of primary standard
62 • SEPTEMBER 2016
(i.e., water) needed, updating and
improving specifications in the water
evaporator procedure and harmonizing
the standard with other widely used
Karl Fischer standards that determine
water in crude oil.
The need for the reinstatement of
this specification was due to recent
withdrawal of the standard in accor-
dance with ASTM International’s Reg-
ulations Governing ASTM Technical
Committees (section 10.6.3), which
require that standards be updated no
later than the 8th year since the last
approval date.
TIMKEN ACQUIRES LOVEJOY, INC.
North Canton, Ohio-based, The Tim-
ken Co., the world leader in tapered
roller bearings, announces that it has
acquired Lovejoy, Inc., a manufacturer
of premium industrial couplings and
universal joints, for approximately
$66 million. For the 12 months end-
ing March 31, 2016, Lovejoy sales were
approximately $56 million.
“The acquisition of Lovejoy is a
great strategic fit, and we’re pleased to
add their strong brand to our growing
portfolio of industrial brands,” says
Richard G. Kyle, Timken president
and chief executive officer. “Lovejoy
features premium products used in
challenging applications across diverse
markets. While our two companies op-
erate in many of the same markets and
channels in North America, the acqui-
sition provides exciting growth oppor-
tunities.”
Based in Downers Grove, Ill., with
additional locations in the U.S., Can-
ada and Germany, Lovejoy is widely
recognized for its flexible coupling de-
sign and as the creator of the jaw-style
coupling. Lovejoy also manufactures a
line of universal joints, hydraulics and
vibration dampening products.
“We’re pleased to become a part of
such a well-respected industrial leader
as Timken,” says Mike Hennessy, chair-
man of the board of Lovejoy. “Under
Timken ownership, Lovejoy’s technical
leadership and commitment to custom-
ers will carry forward seamlessly. It’s
clearly a win-win for our customers
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
and our employees.”
The Hennessy family has owned
and operated Lovejoy for four genera-
tions and as part of the transaction,
Hennessy will be retiring.
VANTAGE ACQUIRES MALLET
Chicago-based Vantage Specialty Chemi-
cals, Inc., a leading provider of natural-
based specialty ingredients focused
on personal care, food, consumer and
industrial-end markets, has signed a
definitive agreement to acquire Mal-
let and Company, Inc. Vantage is cur-
rently owned by Vantage management
and a private equity fund managed by
The Jordan Company, L.P. Mallet is a
portfolio company of ICV Partners, a
private equity firm based in New York
and Atlanta.
Headquartered outside of Pitts-
burgh, Penn., Mallet is the market-lead-
ing North American provider of bak-
ing release agents, offering innovative
products and capabilities to the food
industry with a focus on R&D, techni-
cal service and custom formulation and
packaging capabilities. The company
provides high-quality, process-critical
ingredients that increase ingredient
quality and efficacy and lower costs by
reducing waste.
Richard McEvoy, Vantage’s chief ex-
ecutive officer, says, “Mallet has built a
compelling, unique business model by
providing not only release agents and
specialty ingredients but also equip-
ment solutions. Their customer focus,
innovation and technical support are
aligned with Vantage’s strategy. The
acquisition of Mallet provides an im-
mediate expansion of our existing food
ingredients business. The combined
business will provide additional oppor-
tunities to take what the Mallet team
has accomplished to date and acceler-
ate growth.”
PROMOTIONS & TRANSITIONS
EVONIK APPOINTS GLOBAL
INDUSTRIAL LUBRICANTS
MARKETING MANAGER
Evonik’s Oil Additives business line has
appointed Mukund Bhure to the role of
W W W. ST L E .O RG
global industrial
lubricants mar-
keting manager.
In this role, he
will be respon-
sible for leader-
ship of the wind
turbine and gen-
eral industrial
gear oils business Mukund Bhure
globally, and will
relocate from his current location in
Mumbai, India, to Evonik’s Horsham,
Pa., Technology Center in the U.S.
Bhure joined Evonik’s Oil Additives
business line in April 2010 from Chev-
ron Lubricants, where he was respon-
sible for the sale of industrial lubricants
and Chevron’s OEM business in India.
“Since joining Evonik,” notes Evonik’s
Oil Additives vice president for stra-
tegic marketing Michael Zink, “Mu-
kund has successfully led the growth
of Evonik’s oil additives business in
India, established a strong team and
developed an excellent reputation for specialty hydro-
himself and Evonik with our customers carbons, announc-
and OEMs.” es the promotion
Bhure’s recent focus has been on of Jon Giberson to
developing business opportunities in vice president and
India for both Oil Additives’ DYNAVIS® general manager –
and NUFLUX™ technology brands. Americas.
Recent successes have included the As vice presi-
signing of licensee contracts for DY- dent and general
NAVIS® technology with two of India’s manager-Ameri- Jon Giberson
largest companies in the lubricants in- cas, Giberson will
dustry. have full-organizational and financial
Bhure is a science graduate with responsibility for Sonneborn Americas
a post-graduate degree in marketing business including commercial, manu-
management from Pune University. He facturing and technology activities. In
brings to his new role more than 24 this expanded role, Giberson will con-
years of successful sales and market- tinue to report to Paul C. Raymond,
ing experience with lubricants as well president and CEO.
as specialty chemicals. “Jon has distinguished himself as a
strong executive leader at Sonneborn.
SONNEBORN PROMOTES I am excited to have Jon in this leader-
JON GIBERSON ship role as we continue to look for op-
Parsippany, N.J.-based, Sonneborn, LLC, portunities to better align our team to
a global leader in the manufacture and make us stronger and better positioned
supply of high-quality white oils and for growth,” says Raymond.

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W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 63

 Giberson joined Sonneborn in 2005 U.S. operations. veloping talented
as director of purchasing & logistics, Hudson’s hir- staff and promot-
and most recently held the position of ing comes amid ing from within,”
commercial VP, North America, leading several internal says Joe Clayton,
up to his current promotion. moves by the spe- president of Sea-
“I am proud to have this opportu- cialty chemical Land Chemical
nity in leading a growing, vibrant and supplier. Chris- Co. “This latest
forward-thinking organization,” says tine Wood was change in respon-
Giberson of his new role. promoted from sibilities is a great
Before joining Sonneborn, Giberson invoicing special- Christine Wood example of how Buck Evans
spent more than 20 years in specialty ist to accounts re- we encourage
hydrocarbons, industrial lubricants ceivable special- members of our team to grow and ad-
and plastics industries within Hon- ist, where she is vance within our company.”
eywell, Witco and Mobil Chemical. now responsible
He earned his bachelor’s of science in for tracking, col- NYCO HIRES LOWELL SMITH
chemical engineering with honors from lections and pay- Paris, France-based, NYCO America LLC
University of Rochester, and his mas- ments processing. is pleased to announce that Lowell Smith
ter’s of business administration from Scot Wahl has is joining its team in North America.
St. Bonaventure University. Additional been named a Lowell will participate in offering a
post-graduate work was done at Har- product market- broad range of NYCO brand synthetic
vard Business School and University of ing specialist. His Scot Wahl formulated lubri-
Chicago Booth School of Business. responsibilities cants, mil-spec
include researching and developing greases and hy-
SEA-LAND CHEMICAL CO. new markets for Sea-Land’s extensive draulic fluids for
CONTINUES TO GROW portfolio of products. Wahl joined Sea- aviation. NYCO
Westlake, Ohio- Land Chemical Co. in 2004 where he America’s busi-
based, Sea-Land served in an inside sales role for more ness is driven by
Chemical Co. has than a decade. NYCO propri-
hired Kellie Hud- Buck Evans has been named a cus- etary advanced
son as an invoic- tomer relations specialist. He now is technology, pro-
ing specialist. the primary contact for inside sales viding reliable Lowell Smith
In this new role, and technical support. Evans joined solutions and a
she is responsible Sea-Land in 2004 where he worked as focused long-term commitment to
for client billing an inside sales representative. high-performance lubrication around
within the firm’s Kellie Hudson “We are committed to hiring and de- the globe. ÎÎÎÎÎ

TLT T R I B O LO G Y &
LU B R I C AT I O N
T E C H N O LO G Y
Want to be recognized in TLT?
TLT is interested in hearing from our readers. Let us know what’s happening in
your company. If you have news about a new employee or if someone in your
company has been recognized with an award or any other interesting items, let
us know. Please send us your news releases and photos for publication in News-
makers to TLT Magazine, Attn: Rachel Fowler, 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL
60068, rfowler@stle.org.

64 The International Space Station has shielding to protect it from meteors up to an inch wide.
 AltaLUB™ 5300 is always the answer.

1
A
L
2
T
A
3
L
U
1
B
5
2
3
0
3
0

Across
1. performance lubricity additive
2. complex TOFA based ester
3. hydrolytically stable lubricant
Down
1. the best lubricant when precision is key
2. provides better lubrication for longer
3. excellent performance in semi-synthetic,
synthetic, soluble oil and neat oil formulations

AltaLUB 5300 offers the best high mixed-film

boundary lubrication. But don’t take our word for it,
put AltaLUB 5300 to the test and find out how you
can do more with less.

A sample is an email away.

shana.mccabe@ingevity.com, Global Business Manager
ÎÎÎ IN MEMORIAM
DON WOODS
With great sadness TLT reports that
Don Woods passed away suddenly in
July. He was 59.
Woods co-founded and served as
chairman and chief information of-
ficer of POLARIS Laboratories® since
1999. Under his constant leader-
ship, the com-
pany grew into
one of the larg-
est independent
global oil analy-
sis laboratories.
The Pendle-
ton native was a
Purdue Univer-
sity graduate,
Don Woods
where he held
a bachelor’s of science in computer
technology. That education helped
Woods become the pioneer of infor-
mation technology systems develop-
ment and integration specific to the
oil analysis industry. Woods broke
into the industry as information sys-
tems manager for Lubricon where he
worked for 18 years. In April 1999, he
co-founded POLARIS Laboratories®,
which he guided for more than 17
years. In addition, Woods was twice
nominated for the Ernst & Young En-
trepreneur of the Year Award.
“Don was an inspirational leader
who was truly valued and cherished
not just as a company leader but also
as a friend and mentor by each and
every employee who ever worked at
POLARIS Laboratories®,” says Bryan
Debshaw, POLARIS Laboratories®
chief executive officer. “He not only
helped set the industry standard for
developing cutting-edge technology
solutions but also for providing the
best service possible to our custom-
ers, and that’s what we will continue
to do in his memory.”
At the onset of his career in
1980, Woods expertise in designing
laboratory information management
systems (LIMS) soon produced the
66 • SEPTEMBER 2016
industry’s first software-based data
evaluation, flagging and reporting
system. The LIMS concept also has
provided the foundation for an ex-
tremely successful “one-laboratory,
multiple locations” business model
POLARIS Laboratories® has proven
to be extremely efficient. He also
oversaw the evolution of the compa-
ny’s technology efforts with the in-
dustry’s first full-service mobile app
for iPhone in 2015 and a comple-
mentary version for Android in 2016.
Woods is survived by his wife Jen-
nifer and his two daughters, Alexan-
dra and Samantha.
MYRON MCKENZIE
TLT is sad to report the passing of
Myron McKenzie, who passed away in
July at the age of 62.
McKenzie was the vice president
of engineering for American Roller
Bearing Co., located in Hickory, N.C.
He worked in the bearing industry
for more than 35 years. He was previ-
ously the chief engineer and would
manage engineers, designers and cad
operators. In that role he also would
analyze new potential products for
suitability and develop state-of-the-
art analytical tools.
Prior to joining American Roller
Bearing Co., McKenzie was a senior
analytical specialist for the Tor-
rington Co., which was eventually
bought by The
Timken Co. He
developed the
analysis portion
of a computer
program called
Big Bertha that
modeled a sys-
tem of bearings
to determine Myron McKenzie
the bearing
loads, stress, heat generation, oil film
thickness and life. He also was an ex-
pert in Weibull analysis.
At The Timken Co., McKenzie
was one of three people who devel-
oped algorithms that were incor-
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
porated into the bearing analysis
programs used by all product and
application engineers. He also was
one of three people that represented
the U.S. on an ISO committee that
developed the ISO 281 standard. This
standard shows how to calculate the
capacity and life of ball and roller
bearings. The top 20 bearing analysts
in the world were on this committee.
McKenzie previously served on
the Rolling Element Bearing and
Wind Energy Committees for STLE.
He received his bachelor’s of science
in mechanical engineering from
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technol-
ogy and his master’s of science in me-
chanical engineering from University
of Connecticut.
DONALD DONAHUE
Donald Donahue, of Rockford, Ill. (for-
merly of Belvidere, Ill.), passed away
in June. He was 77.
Donahue was born in 1938 in
Cullom, Ill. He graduated from Saint
Joseph’s Col-
lege in Rensse-
laer, Ind., with
a bachelor’s of
science in ac-
counting and
business man-
agement. He
worked in the
oil industry
Donald Donahue
since 1960,
holding many positions, most re-
cently the owner of DRD Additives.
Donahue made many international
connections, including Thailand and
France.
Donahue was proud of his Irish
heritage and traveled to Ireland sev-
eral times. He grew up on a farm, and
although he lived in the city he still
enjoyed tractors and gardening.
He is survived by his wife, sib-
lings, two children, three step-
children, six grandchildren, six
step-grandchildren, one great-grand-
daughter and six step-great-grand-
children.
W W W. ST L E .O RG
6XSSO\EHVWDGGLWLYHVIURP&KLQD

WKHEHVWFRXQWHUW\SHDGGLWLYHVPDGHLQ&KLQD

6XQJDWHOXEH7337
6XQJDWHOXEH3$1$6XQJDWH1R[/$QWLR[LGDQW
6XQJDWHFRU/7&$6&$$

=LQF1DSKWKHQDWH1DSKWKHQLFDFLG
NEW PRODUCTS

NYCOBASE® 30409 FG HX-1 CERTIFIED

MULTIPURPOSE SYNTHETIC ESTER
NYCO has gained NSF HX-1 registration for a new synthetic ester, Nycobase®
30409 FG, a multipurpose neopolyol ester. Nycobase® 30409 FG combines
high resistance to oxidation, low volatility, high viscosity index, low pour
point and inherent friction modification/antiwear properties while keeping
cost attractiveness. It is therefore recommended for use in any lubricating
application—and in the formulation of lubricants for the food industry in par-
ticular—where high performance is required. NYCOBASE® Food Grade series
includes nine ester-base fluids suitable for the formulation of H1 lubricants for
incidental food contact. These fluids are used in multiple applications includ-
ing hydraulic fluids, gear oils, compressor oils, greases and chains lubricants.
Products from NYCOBASE® FG series are Halal and Kosher certified, and possess
superior thermal stability as well as good low-temperature properties. Many
of them also show high biodegradability and renewability levels.

NYCO
Paris, France
+33 (0) 1 45 61 50 00
www.nyco.fr/en/

SILVER-METALLIC MOLYKOTE® BRAND ANTI-FRICTION COATING

Dow Corning Corp. launches a new silver-metallic color for a proven Molykote® brand anti-friction coating (AFC) to enhance design options for reducing
friction, noise and wear on various automotive components. New silver-colored Molykote® D-709 Anti-Friction Coating offers the same high-per-
formance dry-film lubrication advantages as glossy black Molykote® D-708 Anti-Friction Coating, which is proven effective in such applications as brake
pad clips, springs and pins. With an appealing silvery metallic finish, Molykote D-709 Anti-Friction Coating can add aesthetically pleasing lubrication
for more-visible design components such as door sliding or locking mechanisms and seating system parts. Both Molykote D-708 Anti-Friction Coating
and Molykote D-709 Anti-Friction Coating can provide a low coefficient of friction on metal parts to reduce noise and wear between metal-to-metal and
metal-to-plastic surfaces. They can contribute to lightweighting for added efficiency by eliminating the need for heavier greases and allowing the use
of more plastics. Each of these Molykote anti-friction coatings is formulated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) solid lubricants in a solvent carrier and
resin binder system. Properly applied to pretreated parts
with various coating methods, these AFCs provide a clean,
dry, slippery film as the lubricating solids fill in surface as-
perities and smooth roughness. Processing is cleaner with
less dust and potential contamination. Precise thicknesses
can be applied to meet application requirements. In typi-
cal automotive applications, Molykote D-708 Anti-Friction
Coating (glossy black) and Molykote D-709 Anti-Friction
Coating (silvery metallic) will not attract dust or dirt and
will remain effective when exposed to such contaminants.
They also will resist moisture and are not subject to water
washout. They can maintain durable, long-lasting lubricity
without aging, evaporation or oxidation. They can outper-
form conventional lubricants under various loads, at slow
speeds and over a much wider service-temperature range.

Dow Corning Corp.

Midland, Mich.
(989) 496-4400
www.dowcorning.com

68 Asteroids are small solar system bodies that orbit the sun. Made of rock and metal, they also can contain organic compounds.
 SPECTROIL 100 SERIES OF ELEMENTAL SPECTROMETERS
Engineered to expedite machine condition monitoring and quality control evaluations, Spec-
tro Scientific expands the SpectrOil 100 Series elemental spectrometers. They provide
quick, laboratory-precise measurement of elemental concentrations in a variety of fluid
types. The ease of operation makes them ideal for use in laboratories, on-site inspection and
maintenance environments, where rapid test results create value. The SpectrOil 100 Series
eliminates the delay and expense of off-site laboratory analyses and minimal training is
needed to operate the system. The analysis process involves no sample preparation or use
of solvents or gases, reducing cost per sample, and the spectrometers’ 30-second analysis
time provides immediate, simultaneous multi-element results. The spectrometers consist
of two basic models: the SpectrOil 110, which provides a basic engine wear package, and
the SpectrOil 120, which includes standard and extended range packages with the following
options: wear metals, coolants, fuels and custom application packages. SpectrOil 100 Series
spectrometers detect and quantify the presence of elements that indicate machine wear or
fluid contamination, while also monitoring depletion of additives that protect critical assets,
according to ASTM D6595 (oil).

Spectro Scientific
Chelmsford, Mass.
(978) 486-0123
www.spectrosci.com

Send us your new product news with color photos to: TLT Magazine, Attn: Rachel Fowler, 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068, rfowler@stle.org

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W W W. ST L E .O RG T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 69

SOUNDING BOARD

Other than cost, what are the biggest obstacles to using

new additives in finished lubricant formulations?

According to TLT readers, there are

quite a few, with global compliance,
compatibility, OEM requirements and
supply dependability topping the list.
Several respondents said cost regula-
tory issues were causing them to
purchase packages rather than devel-
oping their own from individual com-
ponents. For other readers the issues
are more subtle. “Finding something
new, novel and better than what we
already have is an issue,” said one,
“the majority of ‘innovative products’
that come through our door are
rehashed 30-plus-year-old technolo-
gies.” When asked to name which
additive technologies must develop

© Can Stock Photo Inc. / claudiodivizia

the most to meet the demands of
future lubrication challenges, the
top-cited products were antiwear and
EP, friction modifiers and antioxi-
dants and corrosion inhibitors.

Global approvals/EHSA issues.
(1.) Awareness about the additives.
(2.) Concern that the additives in oil
may negatively affect refrigerants.
(3.) Time and resources for testing.
(4.) The need and efforts to convince
a customer about the benefits of the
new additive.
Availability.
Environmental approvals.
Compatibility with the rest of the Getting them incorporated into our
formula. system—it takes a lot of time, effort
and red tape.
Reliability of supply.
Lack of adequate support data such
REACH and other worldwide as performance comparison with
registration compliance. other additives, base oil qualification
and compatibility data when two
Compatibility and performance. formulations are topped up into
each other.
Contamination.
Health and safety. Collecting good,
Approval from equipment OEM. reliable field data on new products.

70 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

 Demonstration of no harm.
Ego—product was not invented
here.
Changing spec sheets, SDS sheets,
computer blending formulas, QC
procedures, etc.
Customer approvals, legislative
approvals and governing body
approvals such as API, FM, etc.
Performance.
Able to communicate to the
customer so they understand the
need for change and the benefits
of the change.
Large additive packs.
The fear of change.
Culture change.
Testing new formulations.
Over the past decade, what are the two most significant changes that have impacted the
way lubricants are formulated?
Regulatory restrictions and
competition.
In refrigeration and air-conditioning
industries, it was new ozone-friendly
refrigerants; their development
started per Montreal Protocol in
1987.
Group II base oils.
Base oils and green formulations.
OEM trends and emissions.
The need for better environmental
performance and the need for energy
efficiency.
W W W. ST L E .O RG
Concerns about the unknown—
How satisfied are you
chemistry/interactions/change
w th the
with the additive
addit e choices
c oices
s
over time.
a aila e today
available to y forr
formulating
t finished
h
Unknown end-product improvement.
lub ant ?
lubricants?
Lubricant qualification and additive
90 00%
90-100% 20%
life. Qualifying lubricants for
70-89% 46% refrigeration applications takes
years. Some refrigeration systems
60-79% 2%
21% also need to last a decade or more
50-69% 6% without lubricant changes.
Less than 50% 3% Associated approvals and lack of full
data sets behind many of them is a
Other 4%
real issue. The second biggest would
Based on responses sent to 13,000 TLT readers. be regulatory concerns in the form
of country regulatory lists.
Modifying MIL standards or
accepting any changes in
OEM requirements, licensing and formulation to existing products is
testing. a very arduous and slow process.
Unknown effects on hardware. Sustaining an organized effort
through a team effort.
Established track record.
Environmental issues, new vehicle Environmental impact on finished
manufacturing technology. product formulation due to use of
low SAP formulations, OEM designs
Developing engine oil specifications and performance levels.
and the need to rationalize plant
inventory. Development of new specs. Use of
distributors for additives.
Energy losses.
Viscosities, environmental
They need to be lower in viscosity regulations.
for the requisite fuel efficiency needs
but robust at the same time to GHS! Types of metals being used.
ensure durability.
The government requiring better
Use of PAG fluids as lubricants and fuel mileage in all classes of vehicles
hydraulic fluids. and moving toward “lighter” SAE
grades for gasoline and diesel
Fuel economy, global usability. engines.
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY SEPTEMBER 2016 • 71
SOUNDING BOARD
Fully formulated packages. Product
information off the Internet.
Base oil availability and environ-
mental regulations.
Performance standards and regula-
tory clearances.
Higher temps, loads, other OEM
demands, global registration
requirements.
Cost and availability.
First for us formulations have gone
in the direction of buying packages
more than formulating from
individual additive components.
This is driven by the cost and
number of approval programs in the
industry today. Second would be the
base oil quality change to higher
quality base oils.
Lower viscosity lubricants, hybrid
electric vehicle lubricants.
Emission controls using better fuel
mileage as the catalyst. Micropitting
additives in EP gear oils.
GHS and the availability of
information on the Internet.
Wider selection of emulsifiers and
base fluids.
Synthetics.
Restricted use of proven chemistry.
(1.) Move to lower viscosities to
enhance fuel economy. (2.) Increase
of OEM specs based on expensive
proprietary tests that are not shared
with the industry. These stifle
innovation because the underlying
science requirements cannot be used
to form the basis for improved
additives design, resulting in
empirical approaches that are very
inefficient.
72 Some scientists suggest that asteroids could have brought the necessary chemicals to start life on Earth.
When developing
p g a finished llubricant, is it preferred to:
Use a fully formulated additive packagee
S
Start fr
from individual
i idual components
pon s
Top treat an existing additive package
Based on responses sent to 13,000 TLT readers.
Less component knowledge, higher
performance base oil pool.
Base oil quality.
Formularies are complex;
environmental regulations are
more restrictive.
Need for improved efficiency and
longer drain intervals from finished
oils.
Price.
Equipment-specific lubricants.
Increased performance expectations
and regulatory complexity.
Biocide restrictions. Because I can
only use the less-effective biocides,
I have to engineer products using
bio-hard and bio-resistant chemicals,
which are all more expensive.
Changes that improved the thermal
oxidative properties of lubricants.
Improvements in degradation and
hydrolysis.
Regulation and availability of green
raw materials.
Lack of resources internally. Cus-
tomers willing to try new products
without field-proven experience.
Environmental impact.
Application demand, equipment
design.
Engine efficiency, emissions.
51%
38%
11%
Technical advancements.
Improvements in base stocks and
antioxidation additives that allow
higher temperature operations.
SCR/DPF usage. Thinner oil films
(lower viscosity and higher
durability demands).
Efficiency and noise.
Synthetic base oil additivation for
special cases (EP, AW, oxidative
resistance, etc.).
(1.) People are going for cleaner
lubricants. (2.) The environmental
norms have become more stringent.
Synthetic formulations and molecu-
lar degradation.
Lower viscosity and emission.
Synthetics have increased operating
ranges and saved money. More
research has been done to the
application of lubricants and their
impact.
The two most significant changes
that have had an impact on formu-
lating a new product would be: (1.)
everyone being overly sensitive
about the NOACK volatility num-
bers. It was as if the only way for
one major company to beat another’s
product was to find anything that
was better. Volatility was what they
found so it became a big competi-
tion. (2.) The TBN numbers for
extended change intervals. Too
much can actually be too much. ÎÎÎÎÎ
 ÎÎÎÎÎ
SOUNDING BOARD

HVI base stocks and lower grades for engine oils.

Looking for the (1.) Difficulty in defining desirable behavior. (2.) Lower viscosity
Ideal Candidate? engine oil development and use.

CHOOSE SYNTHETIC ESTERS Chemistry development and major demand from customers for
the extension of useful life of the equipment.
SUPP
OR
ENVIRTS A CLEA Group III base oils and GTL base oil availability.
ONM N
ENT
As an additive supplier to the MWFs industry, I think the
availability of fewer registered biocides has had a significant
impact on raw material selection.

Demulsability packages, antioxidants.

Base oil availability and chemical regulations by region.

What additive group must improve the most to meet

the demands of future lubrication challenges?
the g

Antiwear and EP 35%

DLY
ESS
FRIEN Friction modifiers 29%
BUSIN Antioxidants and corrosion inhibitors 24%
Detergents and dispersants
ispers ts 2%
Based on responses
p sent to 13,000
, TLT readers.
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / Naypong

T H E S M A RT C H O I C E .

www.lexolube.com
+1 215 271 0800
Editor’s Note: Sounding Board is based on an email survey of 13,000 TLT readers. Views
expressed are those of the respondents and do not reflect the opinions of the Society of
Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. STLE does not vouch for the technical accuracy of
opinions expressed in Sounding Board, nor does inclusion of a comment represent an
endorsement of the technology by STLE.
APPROVED BY LEXO. PAID FOR BY INOLEX, INC.

74 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

 WE’RE NAVIGATING
THE TRENDS
SO YOU DON’T
HAVE TO.

The demand for antioxidants in the automotive industry is increasing

each year as more stringent fuel efficiency and emissions standards
drive the industry toward downsized turbo-charged engines.
Because of the higher operating temperatures and accelerated
oxidation in engine oil, antioxidants are needed more than ever.
At Chemtura, we’re committed to providing a continuous supply of
antioxidants to our customers by increasing capacity for Naugalube®
alkylated diphenylamine (ADPA) liquid antioxidants at three of our
sites worldwide. And that’s just the beginning of how we’ll help you
navigate this trend.
Chemtura Petroleum Additives
Phone: +1.973.887.7410 ext. 1104
Email: wayne.sawyer@chemtura.com
www.chemtura.com/petaddsad
 TLT ADVERTISERS INDEX
POWER SEPTEMBER 2016 • VOL. 72, NO. 9

BUYERS Company
Acme-Hardesty Co.
Additives International
Page
79
24
Afton Chemical Corp. IFC
BASF 41
Cannon Instrument Co. 33
Chemtura 75
Chevron Oronite Co., LLC 25
Daubert Chemical 44
Dover Chemical Corp. 39
Ergon, Inc. 57
Evonik Oil Additives 9
ExxonMobil Basestocks 3
F&L Asia Ltd. 85
Hangzhou Sungate 67
Huntsman Petrochemical Corp. 5
Ingevity 65
INOLEX, Inc. 74
J.A.M. Distributing Co. 19
King Industries, Inc. 7

80% Monson—An Azelis Americas Company

Münzing
61
31

TLT readers:
of Pelichem Associates
Petro-Lubricant Testing Laboratories
81
63
• Authorize purchases Pilot Chemical OBC
Polnox Corp. 18
• Evaluate products
Shanghai Starry Chemical Co. 73
• Recommend vendors. Soltex, Inc. 69
STLE 2017 Call for Papers 77
For information on how to customize
a multimedia marketing program that STLE 2016 Tribology Frontiers Conference 35
fits your budget, contact: The Dow Chemical Co. 51

National Sales Manager The Elco Corp. 59

Tracy Nicholas VanEe UL Information & Insights IBC
(630) 922-3459 United Color Manufacturing 53
tnicholas@stle.org
Vanderbilt Chemicals, LLC 15

76 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

 CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

72nd STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition

May 21-25, 2017
Hyatt Regency Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia (USA)

STLE’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition is the industry’s most respected venue
for technical information, professional development and international
networking opportunities. Each year STLE’s conference showcases some
500 technical presentations, application-based case studies, best practice
reports and discussion panels on technical or market trends.

Education courses support professional development and prepare qualified

individuals for STLE’s three certification programs: Certified Lubrication
Specialist™, Oil Monitoring Analyst™ (I&II) and Certified Metalworking Fluids
Specialist™. Our annual trade show and popular Commercial Marketing
Forum spotlight the latest products and services of interest to lubrication
professionals. STLE’s conference is a truly international event, with some
1,600 professionals from around the world attending.

2017 presentations are being sought in the following areas:

• Biotribology
• Condition Monitoring
• Engine & Drive Train
• Environmentally Friendly Fluids
• Fluid Film Bearings
• Gears
• Grease
• Lubrication Fundamentals
• Materials Tribology (includes
Ceramics and Composites)
• Metalworking Fluids
• Nanotribology
• Nonferrous Metals
• Power Generation
• Rolling Element Bearings
• Seals
• Surface Engineering
• Synthetic and Hydraulic Lubricants
• Tribotesting
• Wear
• Wind Turbine Tribology

Abstract Submission
If you are interested in presenting at STLE’s 2017 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, submit a 100-150-word abstract at
www.stle.org. Abstracts are due Oct. 1, 2016. Notification of acceptance will be sent in December 2016. While you do
not need to prepare a full manuscript to be included on the meeting technical program, you are invited and encouraged
to submit a manuscript for review and possible publication in STLE’s peer-reviewed journal, Tribology Transactions.

For more information, please contact:

Merle Hedland • mhedland@stle.org • 630-428-2133 Follow us on #STLE2017

Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068, info@stle.org, www.stle.org.
RESOURCES

TECHNICAL BOOKS
STLE LOCAL SECTION
STATISTICAL TESTING STRATEGIES IN THE HEALTH SCIENCES MEETING CALENDAR
Authors: Albert Vexler, Alan D. Hutson and Xiwei Chen Events listed here are local section
programs. For further details and a
Publisher: CRC Press
full listing of other upcoming section
Statistical Testing Strategies in the Health Sci- events in your area, visit www.stle.org.
ences provides a compendium of statistical ap- Meeting announcements can be sent to
proaches for decision making, ranging from TLT Magazine, Attn: Rachel Fowler,
graphical methods and classical procedures rfowler@stle.org.
through computationally intensive bootstrap
strategies to advanced empirical likelihood SEPTEMBER 2016
techniques. It bridges the gap between theo-
STLE Northern California Section:
retical statistical methods and practical proce-
Topic and Speaker TBD, Sept. 28.
dures applied to the planning and analysis of
Time and location TBD. Contact:
health-related experiments. The book is orga-
stle.norcal@gmail.com.
nized primarily based on the type of questions
to be answered by inference procedures or ac-
cording to the general type of mathematical derivation. It establishes the
theoretical framework for each method with a substantial amount of chap- STLE CERTIFICATION EXAMS
ter notes included for additional reference. It then focuses on the practical STLE is offering numerous certifica-
application for each concept, providing real-world examples that can be tion exams in September. Here is the
easily implemented using corresponding statistical software code in R and information on each exam:
SAS. The book also explains the basic elements and methods for construct- • Sept. 15 from 9 a.m.-noon at ALS
ing correct and powerful statistical decision-making processes to be adapt- Tribology, 935 Sunshine Rd., Kan-
ed for complex statistical applications. sas City, Kans.
With techniques spanning robust statistical methods to more compu-
tationally intensive approaches, this book shows how to apply correct and • Sept. 16 from 9 a.m.-noon at Wear-
efficient testing mechanisms to various problems encountered in medical Check Canada Inc., 1175 Appleby
and epidemiological studies, including clinical trials. Available at www. Line, Building C8, Burlington, On-
crcpress.com. List Price: $119.95 (USD). tario, Canada.
• Sept. 23 from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
at Homewood Suites by Hilton
Houston-Kingwood Parc-Airport
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN CHEMICAL SCIENCES: Area, 23320 US-59, Kingwood,
EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL APPROACH Texas.

Editors: Tanmoy Chakraborty and Lalita Ledwani For the online registration form,
Publisher: CRC Press go to www.stle.org; click on the pro-
fessional development tab at the top.
Research Methodology in Chemical Sciences Then go to certification, then registra-
provides an eclectic survey of contemporary tion. Online registration closes two
problems in experimental, theoretical and ap- weeks prior to the exam date. Onsite
plied chemistry. This book covers recent registration may be available on a first
trends in research with the different domain come, first serve basis. For more infor-
of the chemical sciences. The chapters, written mation and for other methods of reg-
by knowledgeable researchers, provide differ- istering, you may contact STLE head-
ent insights to the modern-day research in the quarters by emailing certification@stle.
domain of spectroscopy, plasma modification org or call (847) 825-5536.
and theoretical and computational analysis of
chemical problems. It covers descriptions of THE NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL
experimental techniques, discussions on theo- LUBRICANTS CONGRESS
retical modeling and much more. Available at ICIS and ELGI announce that the in-
www.crcpress.com. List Price: $179.95 (USD). augural North American Industrial Lubri-

78 Asteroids are similar to comets but do not have a visible coma. They also are known as planetoids or minor planets.
cants Congress will be taking place in
Chicago, Sept. 13-14, 2016. Covering
both technical and commercial topics,
the event will tackle some of the big-
gest challenges impacting the demand,
formulation and performance of the in-
dustrial lubricants sector today.
New topics for 2016 include:
• Base stock market drivers
• Defining the characteristics of the
additives marketplace
• Managing regulatory complexities
• Evaluating the use of biocides and
chlorine in metalworking fluids
• Performance optimization through
innovative formulation
• Challenges for water-based and
high-temperature operations.
For more information and to regis-
ter, visit www.elgi.org/joomla152/index.
php?option=com_content&view=article&i
d=179&Itemid=143.
What do Acme-Hardesty and Italy-based
Temix Oleo SRL have in common? It started
with a shared passion for environmental
responsibility – and led to us distributing
the company’s specialty esters and
oleochemicals for the first time in the
United States.
It’s only Bio.Logical. to contact us: (800) 223-7054 • acme-hardesty.com
W W W. ST L E .O RG
PAPERS INVITED FOR ASTM
SYMPOSIUM ON TRIBOMETRY
AND TRIBOCHEMISTRY
Papers are now able to be submitted
for the ASTM Symposium on the Tribom-
etry and Tribochemistry. The event is
June 28-29, 2017, at the Sheraton Bos-
ton Hotel in Boston.
The symposium is sponsored by
ASTM Committee D02 on Petroleum
Products, Liquid Fuels, and Lubri-
cants. Papers are invited on a variety
of topics, including but not limited to:
• Tribometry for tribochemistry
• Surface chemistry and mechanisms
in tribological systems
• Use and interpretation of surface
chemistry analysis
• Analysis of friction and its signal at
the molecular level
• Analysis of tribochemical processes
during industrial equipment use
• Friction-induced tribochemical pro-
WE’RE ADDING
TO OUR MIX
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
cess in metallic and non-metallic
systems
• Friction-induced phase transfor-
mations and their role in wear
• Wear-resistant material develop-
ment and testing
• Friction and wear-process modeling.
Interested authors must submit a
250-300 word preliminary abstract
online no later than Jan. 7, 2017. Visit
www.astm.org/D02CFP for abstract sub-
mittal, additional paper topics and any
further information.
Additional technical information
is available from the guest editor
STLE-member Dr. Mathias Woydt,
BAM Federal Institute for Materials
Research and Testing, Div. Tribol-
ogy and Wear Protection, Germany,
mathias.woydt@bam.de, and STLE Life
Member Dr. George E. Totten, FASM
Department of Mechanical and Ma-
terials Engineering, Portland, GETot-
ten@gmail.com.
This partnership allows us to offer sustainably
sourced products – and even tailor-made
options – to the lubricant and personal care
markets under the Temest and Acitem
brands. The agreement not only expands
options for our customers, but it also further
supports the sustainable production and
sourcing of high-quality products around
the world.
SEPTEMBER 2016 • 79
BOOK REVIEW
Dr. Robert M. Gresham / Contributing Editor
Tribosystem Analysis:
A Practical Approach to the
Diagnosis of Wear Problems
Peter J. Blau
Published by CRC Press, May 2016, 192 pages
List Price: $129.95 (USD)
DR. PETER BLAU HAS DONE IT AGAIN WITH
ANOTHER IMPORTANT BOOK for those of
us who work in the broad world of tri-
bology, lubrication engineering and lu-
brication maintenance. His new book,
Tribosystem Analysis: A Practical Ap-
proach to the Diagnosis of Wear Prob-
lems, is a short methodical description
of the process for properly diagnosing
wear problems, just as the title implies.
It is appropriate for literally everyone
in our field from senior undergradu-
ates, graduate students, researchers
and practitioners from the lubricant
producers through to end-users re-
sponsible for plant operations. With
this well-written book Peter takes the
sometimes seemly, hopelessly complex
world of wear and sorts it into a very
logical pattern that can—at least con-
ceptually—be readily understood by
almost anyone.
There is a huge gap between the re-
searchers/academicians working on the
nanoscale and engineers working in
the real world, just as there is a prob-
lem bridging the nano/macro scale gap.
Nano-scale testing and modeling has
not been translated effectively to the
macro scale. Tribologists tend to study
simple systems such as a single additive
in a solvent, but the actual systems are
much more complex—such as engine
oils with 15-20 components—which
can all interact chemically and physi-
cally and change over time and under
a wide range of operating conditions.
For researchers to bridge this gap, they
need to understand the macro world
well enough to add context and texture
to their nano-scale research. This book
will help.
80 Asteroids vary greatly in size; some feature diameters as small as 10 m (33 feet) while others stretch out over hundreds of kilometers.
For Peter’s target audience, those of
us who work in the day-to-day prac-
tical world, this book provides direct
guidance in how to logically get the
needed answers to the day’s
vexing problem. This is a
rather short book, under 200
pages, which makes it espe-
cially useful as a practical
reference as it is easy to find
needed information. It also is
well indexed.
The book begins with a
short chapter titled What
is a Tribosystem, which serves to get
the reader thinking about and using
common language to describe our me-
chanical world, our tribosystem. The
second chapter, How Wear Problems
Reveal Themselves, begins with a de-
scription of both direct and indirect
indications of wear and a compilation
of wear-detection methods from the
simple visual to more sophisticated
analytical tools. This leads to identify-
ing the dominant types of wear acting
on the specific system.
The next chapter provides a hier-
archical system of wear categories de-
scribing the different kinds of surface
damage and wear. It also provides a
common language for identifying or
characterizing these different wear
modes. This is, as you might guess,
the longest chapter in the book but an
important one. The tools for imaging
and characterizing worn surfaces are
covered in the following chapter, again
from simple visual techniques to the
more sophisticated.
Dr. Blau then pulls together the in-
formation gained through identifica-
tion and characterization of observed
wear patterns covered in all the previ-
ous chapters by introducing a tribosys-
tem analysis (TSA) form, which is akin
to root cause analysis by systematically
defining the characteristics of specific
wear and friction problems in a sys-
tem, which, in turn, can facilitate their
diagnosis and suggest potential solu-
tions. As you might expect, the final
chapter deals with the steps needed in
wear problem solving. Beginning with
a long list of options for addressing
wear problems—starting with doing
nothing—the author leads us to think
about the specific purpose for
which we might prescribe a
given tribotest and the kind of
information we might expect
to get as it would pertain to
a specific problem. This helps
to eliminate the all-too-nat-
ural human tendency to run
every test you can and hope
something good comes from
it. Combining the information from
the TSA—which reveals what we know
as well as what we don’t know about
our specific wear problem with what
we know or can learn from various lu-
bricant tests, materials tests and non-
tribology tests—we can begin to see
which of our laboratory tests begin to
reveal information consistent with our
real-world problem. From this now-
relevant information, we can begin to
formulate solutions to our problem.
Finally, Peter finishes with a couple of
case histories to show how the process
might work in a specific example.
This book belongs on your book-
shelf and in STLE’s still-developing
Body of Knowledge, which lists key
references, education courses, Webi-
nars, etc.
Give it some consideration if you are
at all concerned about friction and wear.
Bob Gresham is STLE’s director
of professional development.
You can reach him at
rgresham@stle.org.
 LUBRICANT INDUSTRY
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Pelichem has 39 years of recruitment experience, and is dedicated to serving clients globally in lubricant and additive
industries. The U.S. economy continues its steady growth while averaging 230,000 private sector job gains monthly in 2015
and 172,000 private sector job gains monthly for the first six months of 2016. Listed below are some current career
opportunities with client companies.
*DIRECTOR RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT*
(Mid-Atlantic Region)
Large international additive supplier is searching for a proven
technical leader with strong business acumen, strategic
thinking skills, and international project management
experience to direct a team of managers and professionals in
development of new products and capabilities to meet needs
of customers and OEM's. Will lead efforts to define and
implement R&D strategy for the lubricant and fuel additives
business. Will work closely with global business managers
and regional marketing managers to define a strategic
technology plan that supports and achieves business goals.
*SPECIALTY PRODUCTS SALES ENGINEER*
(Midwest Region)
Global distributor of fuels, lubricants, and base oils with a
solid industry reputation for over 75 years needs a sales
professional to manage a large region from the Midwest down
to Atlanta. This home-based position will cover IL/IN/MI/OH/
WI/MN/MO/TN/KY/GA. Will be responsible for business
development and profitability growth by utilizing a consultative
approach to selling high-performance synthetic base stocks to
lubricant blenders and compounders. Successful track record
is required in sales of base oils, lubricants, additives, or
related specialty chemicals.
*MARKET MANAGER - WIRE-DRAWING*
(Location Flexible)
International supplier of specialty metalworking lubricants is
searching for a marketing professional to support a staff of 10
sales engineers for its ferrous wire-drawing product line. Will
analyze sales data, develop sales strategies, make product
recommendations, and conduct training for sales reps,
distributors, and end users.
*REGIONAL SALES MANAGER*
(MO/KS/TN/OK Region)
International manufacturer needs a proven sales leader to
manage 2-3 territory representatives in sales of lubricants for
specialty metalworking and maintenance applications. Will
analyze regional sales data, track activity toward sales goals,
develop strategies to increase sales, and develop / manage
customer database.
*FIELD REPRESENTATIVE / TERRITORY
MANAGER* (Canada)
Small agricultural / industrial lubricants division of a global
energy company is looking to hire a relationship builder with
account management experience to manage a vast dealer
network throughout Canada. Will be responsible for OEM
lubricant training for service technicians, parts managers,
and sales personnel. French language skills are preferred.
This company is the sole OEM approved lubricant supplier
for first fill and service fill for heavy equipment with a long-
established worldwide customer. This is not a sales role.
*SENIOR GREASE CHEMIST*
(Midwest Region)
Mid-sized private label grease manufacturer that has
quadrupled in size over the past 10 years needs a grease
chemist to lead development and commercialization of new
technology, products and processes. Will develop the
formulary, manufacturing instructions, and quality control
specifications, as well as make product recommendations
and troubleshoot product applications. This company offers
a line of calcium sulfonate grease precursors as well as
finished greases.
*TERRITORY SALES & ACCOUNT MANAGERS*
(Midwest & Southeast Regions)
Many high priority opportunities exist for sales professionals
to sell products such as cutting / grinding fluids, metal
forming lubricants, wire-drawing compounds, rust
preventives, hydraulic fluids, gear oils, metal cleaners, metal
pre-paint treatments, and paint spray booth chemicals.
Please call or send resume at your earliest convenience if
you are considering a new position. Your response will be
handled promptly and with the utmost confidentiality.
Ken Pelczarski
Pelichem Associates
928 Warren Avenue
Downers Grove, IL 60515
630-960-1940 (office)
630-207-5676 (cell)
630-960-1942 (fax)
pelichem@aol.com
www.pelichemsearch.com
CAREER COACH
Ken Pelczarski

Should you
accept
that job offer?

© Can Stock Photo Inc. / AndreyPopov

Review these HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO ACCEPT A JOB OFFER for an
outstanding opportunity when you are happy with your current em-
ployer? What about when you are unemployed, under-employed or
13 questions unhappy with your employer? Should you accept a job offer that is
not ideal but is better than your current job? What about a job offer
when deciding that puts you back to work, but you wonder if better job offers will
come along?

on a job Being presented a job offer places you at a pivotal point in your
career. Your decision can have profound ramifications. If a new op-
portunity is carefully evaluated and determined to be a good step for
proposal. your career, it can put you on the right path for advancement. On
the other hand, you may be eager to find a new position, accept a job
offer without careful evaluation and find yourself wishing you had
stayed in your previous job situation. Although decisions on job of-
fers can be difficult, asking the following 13 questions will increase
your chances of following the best career path.

82 • SEPTEMBER 2016 T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG

1
What is the level of responsibility
and challenge? How does the lev-
el of responsibility compare with
your current job? If one of your main
goals is to take on more responsibility,
determine if you will have more au-
thority, independence, new challenges
and higher level projects in the new
job. If you are unemployed, do not au-
tomatically lower your sights. You still
want to be sure (1.) you are utilizing
your skill set, (2.) you are holding sig-
nificant responsibility, (3.) the position
will benefit your career and (4.) you
foresee a good chance of staying with
the company for at least a few years.
2
Will you experience personal and
professional growth? Does the
new employer offer better
prospects for growth than your current
employer as it relates to your career
goals? It would be great if the plan is to
groom you for a promotion in the first
one to two years. This is not usually the
case, however, and you will need to play
the percentages for future growth based
on several factors. Closely evaluate (1.)
internal promotion policy, (2.) where
individuals have moved from this type
of role, (3.) feasibility of the growth
path the employer is describing and (4.)
how fast the company is growing—as it
grows, you likely will grow. Regarding
personal growth, does the employer en-
courage and support new learning, in-
cluding participation in STLE education
programs and activities?
3 5
Will you have a high level of daily
job satisfaction? This can be
difficult to predict, but there
are questions to ask and observations
to make that will help determine your
probable level of satisfaction. When
you interviewed, did you observe high
morale, teamwork, open communica-
tions, friendly and positive interactions
and an environment conducive to your
work style that would result in maxi-
mum productivity? Does this position
have the purpose and meaning you are
searching for at this point in your ca-
reer? Speak to as many employees as
possible, including non-management,
It is believed by many scientists and researchers that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago.
both during the interview process and
through your own connections to de-
termine what a typical day is like. Ulti-
mately ask yourself if this is the kind of
position for which you would truly
enjoy getting up in the morning.
4 6
Is the company competitive in its
field and moving in a positive di-
rection? How is the company
situated in the marketplace? How is it
ranked among competition? Look at
the company’s history of growth and
profitability over the past 5-10 years.
Learn what strengths give the company
its competitive edge. What is the busi-
ness plan for the next 3-5 years and
beyond that will ensure its continued
Does the new employer
offer better prospects for
growth than your current
employer as it relates to
your career goals?
growth? Work through your connec-
tions to gain a consensus of opinion on
the employer’s reputation since its im-
age in the industry is a big factor in
determining stability and growth for
the coming years.
What is the level of job security
with this employer? No position
is 100% secure, although you
will certainly want to evaluate the level
of employee turnover to help deter-
mine relative security. If turnover rate
is greater than industry average, try to
uncover the reasons. The position may
be with (1.) a new venture, (2.) a start-
up, (3.) a turnaround situation or (4.)
another scenario of elevated risk. You
may still want to consider this oppor-
tunity if there are potentially high re-
wards to go along with greater risk,
especially if you have not made many
job changes in recent years, and you
can afford to have a short-term job on
your resume. If the company has a low
turnover rate and is known to treat em-
ployees well, your job security will lie
mainly in your ability to perform your
duties successfully.
What is the corporate culture?
This point should not be over-
looked even if your skill set is
an excellent fit for the job. Many tal-
ented individuals have parted ways with
employers during the first year of em-
ployment strictly because of lack of cul-
tural fit. Increasing the odds of long-
term employment begins with an honest
exchange in the interview process re-
garding (1.) your management style,
(2.) the kind of work environment in
which you thrive, (3.) the company’s top
management style, (4.) your potential
superior’s management style and (5.) the
employer’s work environment. Will
managers be encouraging and nurturing
or will they be pressuring and intimidat-
ing? Look closely at the company’s level
of integrity, micromanagement, bottom-
line emphasis, customer focus and
transparency/open communications.
7
Is there a good chance you will
stay with this employer for at
least 3-5 years? It is an obvious
goal to not have too many jobs of 1-2
years duration on your resume. Picture
yourself in the new job a couple of years
from now and evaluate if you would still
be challenged and satisfied if you remain
in the same role as when you joined the
company. If you tell yourself you would
be anxious to leave the company under
these circumstances, it may be better to
reject this job offer.
8
If you leave this employer within
a few years, will this position
have benefited your overall ca-
reer? When accepting a new position,
your main goal is usually to have a
long-term future with that employer.
However, it is a good idea to have a fall-
back plan. Evaluate how this job will
benefit your career in case you leave
this employer in the short term after
not accomplishing your goals or mov-
83
ing up as expected. Perhaps this job
will provide you with leadership expe-
rience, round out your background
with new products or markets or give
you the chance to succeed in a difficult
situation. Anyway, the question to ask
is if you have put yourself in a better
position to achieve your primary career
goals if you accept this job offer and
then decide to leave this employer 2-3
years from now.
9
Is the new position as good an
opportunity as you would expect
to find? Whether or not to ac-
cept a job offer is often a difficult deci-
sion because the opportunity may only
be marginally better than your current
situation. If you are happily employed,
you can afford to wait for something
more attractive. However, it may be a
tough decision if you are unemployed,
dissatisfied with your current employer
or if you are offered the first position
for which you interview while wonder-
ing if this is the best opportunity you
will find. The question to ask yourself
is if you are likely to find a significant-
ly better opportunity in the short term.
The key to answering this question is
to examine the job market closely
through social media, job boards and
trusted colleagues to determine the
types of opportunities typically avail-
able for your background.
10
Is the employer offering a
fair and competitive salary?
Most professionals focus
on working for a company that will
treat them fairly on compensation from
the job offer stage through years of em-
ployment. The concept of fairness is
often as important as the exact salary
figure being offered. You will need to
determine if you are being offered com-
petitive market value for the position
and for your skills. If you are currently
earning in the 90th percentile among
peers, you may want to consider a job
offer in the range of what you are cur-
rently earning as long as you believe
the company is attempting to be fair
and the opportunity is exactly what
you are looking for. Alternatively, you
84 • SEPTEMBER 2016
may want to turn down a job offer of a
10% salary increase if you are currently
underpaid in the 10th percentile among
peers, and the offer will not bring you
near the 50th percentile. Realistic bo-
nus potential also should be figured
into the equation.
11
What are the company benefits
and perks? Although some
benefits can be negotiated,
critical items such as health insurance
and 401K plans are typically written in
stone. Conduct a straightforward eval-
uation to determine if you are losing
anything significant in benefits or pay-
ing out more for these benefits when
compared to your current job. If ben-
efits are comparable, they are not a big
Keep your focus on
the big picture and
look at what is most
important to you.
factor in the decision to accept a job
offer. If benefits fall short, be specific
with the employer about your evalua-
tion and they will often attempt to
compensate for the difference in some
form. Perks frequently are little extras
that are not a big factor, although a car
or stock options are valued perks that
can make a difference in your view of a
job offer. A car can easily provide value
of $10,000 a year or more.
12
What is the position location?
Unfortunately many great
opportunities require a
long commute or involve relocation,
including to undesirable or high cost-
of-living areas. You and your family
need to decide how attractive an op-
portunity has to be in order to consider
relocation. Evaluate how the employer
will be supporting your relocation fi-
nancially as well with contacts and ser-
vices necessary for a smooth transition.
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY
In order to accept a job offer requiring
relocation, the opportunity usually
needs to be one of the very best you can
find in the industry, especially if you
are selling a home and moving a family.
13
What is your gut feeling? Af-
ter acquiring extensive in-
formation and completing
due diligence on the job offer, it still
might not be a clear-cut decision. There
is nothing wrong with relying on a gut
feeling since your feelings are based on
a lot of information. You may want to
play it safe, turn down the job offer, stay
with your current job and wait for some-
thing better to come along. On the oth-
er hand, you may want to accept the job
offer and look at the position as a fresh
new challenge and opportunity, espe-
cially if you have been job searching for
a while and if the opportunity satisfies
one or more of your primary goals.
There is no scientific formula for
evaluating a job offer. Although seem-
ingly small details need to be covered
in the decision-making process, keep
your focus on the big picture and look
at what is most important to you for
your future career path and goals for
advancement.
The previous list of questions
should provide you with a handy refer-
ence guide to use when reviewing a job
offer. If you are currently employed,
these questions will help you deter-
mine if there is a significant reason to
make a job change and if you would be
accomplishing your main goals by ac-
cepting the job offer. If you are unem-
ployed or underemployed, this guide
will help you determine if the opportu-
nity is about as good as you will be able
to find in the marketplace.
Ken Pelczarski is owner and
founder of Pelichem Associates,
a Chicago-based search firm
established in 1985 and
specializing in the lubricants
industry. You can reach Ken at
(630) 960-1940 or at
pelichem@aol.com.
W W W. ST L E .O RG
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ON CONDITION MONITORING
Jack Poley
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Mining for dollars
Part IV—making it easier
on the intelligent agent.
IF YOU’VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE THREE PREVIOUS COLUMNS, here
are some takeaways:
Swallow the database pill.
• If you are beginning an ISFA program for the first time (at
your current company), this is your first and best chance
to get the database properly sanitized and prepped to make
your program the best it can be. If you’re going to use an
intelligent agent (IA) in the process, it’s essential.
• Corollary: If you’ve been into your program for a number
of months or years, you can still improve things going
forward.
Be a part of the solution—participate in all respects.
• As I’ve admonished before, ISFA programs do not run
themselves. Neither is it your “tester’s responsibility” to
make it run for you. The tester (lab) is responsible for fur-
nishing accurate data and, if also supplying commentary, a
highly competent, appropriate advisory. Nevertheless the
86 There have been many ideas suggested as ways to avoid the unlikely but potentially devastating impact of an asteroid collision with
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / Wingedbull
tester is leading you to the water. You have to decide to
drink it.
• You are likely—despite good intentions—not supplying
useful, accurate feedback to the evaluator, so that he or she
can reinforce what’s right and fix what’s wrong with the
commentary supplied in specific instances. This is gold,
otherwise known as money on the table. Pick it up. Com-
municate with the evaluator. Again, if an IA is in use, this
is where the added benefits begin.
• Read the previous two bullets regularly. Apply them for best
results.
Let’s say you have good intentions and understand the
necessity of cleaning up your database to set the table for
maximum uptime (ROI). Then let’s discuss the solution aspect
more thoroughly. It really is the last rivet in maximizing ROI
from your program.
I’ve been at oil analysis for more than 50 years. Everyone
seems to know what oil analysis is all about, once mentioned,
but I wonder if it’s really understood, in terms of priorities.
 Many first-time ISFA users are attracted to the notion of
safely extended lube and filter changes. Good idea, but that
would be reason No. 2 to investigate the lube. In recent times,
more ISFA users have come to understand that it is the ma-
chine, not the lube, which needs to be protected. Accordingly
the major metals—Fe, Al, Cu, Pb + Si (dirt indicator)—are the
most important indicators of wear and frequent cause (e.g.,
dirt). When liquid-cooled reciprocating engines, some recip-
rocating compressors and automatic transmissions are being
monitored, coolant becomes another factor that frequently
causes major wear problems, and there are telltale metals,
particularly potassium (K)* from many coolant additive pack-
ages, that indicate coolant seepage at sensitive levels well in
time to avert a catastrophe. Further with diesels, fuel dilution
is yet another contaminant, indicative of pump, fuel line or
injector issues. All these types of problems leave clues in the
lube that are much more important as signals (root cause)
for machinery maintenance, as opposed to simply triggering
changing the lube to remove the contaminants. They’ll con-
tinue to return until the root cause is removed. If the cycle is
not broken, short-term failure is a likely result.
Revisiting an earlier anecdote, I was interviewed and mis-
quoted in Popular Science magazine in the 1960s as indicating
that oil analysis was like blood testing, when in fact it was the
interviewer’s own analogy gleaned from our conversation. My
contribution, not printed, was to state that, on the surface,
medicinal blood analysis represented a parallel but also that
the state of oil analysis wasn’t nearly sophisticated enough to
warrant direct comparison. It still isn’t, but it can exist in the
same conversation these days, perhaps.
The only reason I want to include oil analysis in the same
conversation as a medical blood test is to point out the major
difference between the two sciences. In the medical setting,
the doctor is the focal point of the diagnosis. His opinion is
essential. In the oil analysis setting the report is the focal point
and the commentary (diagnosis) is thrown in, inclusive with
the test. To my knowledge, an ISFA laboratory—supplying a
comment inclusive with test data—has never charged a fee
for that opinion. While the fee is built-in, the tests determine
the service price. Often report recipients have no idea who
evaluated the test data and provided an opinion. When one
thinks about it, that’s rather amazing, because the evaluation
is the ultimate deliverable of ISFA, isn’t it? The test data and
any available information about the machine’s operating con-
ditions are stepping stones to reaching a conclusion.
Secondly, irrespective of the quality or accuracy of main-
tenance advisories, it is often the case that no feedback is
offered from the maintenance team as to the efficacy of the
advisories rendered. This is partly due to inherent devalua-
tion of the commentary, based on the culture in which ISFA
has been steeped, in that most evaluation is not paid activity
from the user’s viewpoint. As a result, valuable information
never makes it to the computerized maintenance management
system so that it can be used to vet both the comment and
the maintenance effort. As such, the ISFA program’s value is
Earth. They include using nuclear explosions to break the asteroid into smaller pieces or other weapons to deflect it off course.
never called into question because it’s never been questioned.
Prior to computerization of the ISFA process—sample
log-in, testing, evaluation and reporting—there was no easy
means to track feedback. Now there’s no excuse not to, yet
feedback remains an elusive piece of vital information. Actually,
it’s neglected. Companies willing to track this information have
significantly larger savings and uptime. They’ll know where
soft spots (opportunity fixes) reside in their operations.
In 1981 I used a simple spreadsheet technique to establish
and verify that a large trucking company had high instanc-
es of fuel leaks in the case of one diesel engine MFR/model
and seemingly excessive coolant leaks with a different MFR/
model. I based this strictly on what the test data seemed to
indicate—sample by sample, engine model by engine model.
My lab had an IA that I had designed, and we were able to sift
through and cull out problem types based on the IA’s evalu-
ations, as there was no feedback with which to correlate. It
was found that about half of the reports with these two types
of trauma were acted upon and the correlation was virtu-
ally 100%. What is sad is that half of the problems weren’t
investigated, and numbers of failures did, in fact, occur upon
further investigation, likely from inattention to the indicated
problem (fuel or coolant).
In the case of the frequent fuel leaks, the MFR was spurred
into some R&D and was able to pinpoint the problem and
correct it for that model going forward. Both MFR and the
user benefited. Seeing oil analysis exact change in a manu-
facturing process is one of the most exciting technical events
I’d ever experienced in my career.
The very best improvement an IA can bring to the ISFA
party is a vetting process that’s thorough and doesn’t let problem
test results get through the cracks. But it still requires that the
user (1.) acts on advisories in timely fashion then (2.) reports
findings with sufficient accuracy so that the IA can validate
and correct itself, with judicious domain expertise in the mix
for final vetting. Then the advisory will take its proper place
as the deliverable it should always be.
Ultimately, given accurate feedback, IAs will be able to
make diagnostic and prognostic statements with a confidence
level stated in percentages. When this routinely happens we
can talk about blood testing and machinery fluids analysis in
the same paragraph.
*K is particularly dependable for detecting coolant leaks at onset because, un-
like sodium (Na) and boron (B), e.g., K rarely has an alternate chemistry that
might possibly be in play. Na and B are frequently found in various lube additive
chemistries. That is, they’re not confined at all to coolants. It’s not always a slam-
dunk to bang on these metals in the name of coolant.
Jack Poley is managing partner of Condition Monitoring
International (CMI), Miami, consultants in fluid analysis.
You can reach him at jpoley@conditionmonitoringintl.com.
For more information about CMI, visit
www.conditionmonitoringintl.com.
87
WORLDWIDE
R. David Whitby
Testing for biodegradability
Measurements show different aspects and vary
depending on the time of year.
BIODEGRADATION IS THE DECOM-
POSITION OF MATERIALS BY BIO-
LOGICAL SYSTEMS, usually bacteria
and fungi. Primary biodegradation is
conversion into new products that
(usually) do not have the same chem-
ical properties as the material. Ulti-
mate biodegradation is complete
conversion into carbon dioxide, water,
inorganic compounds and new bio-
mass. Without biodegradation, the
world’s landmasses would be covered
hundreds of meters deep in dead
animals and plants.
Aerobic biodegradation occurs
in the presence of oxygen (e.g., the
decay of dead trees). Anaerobic biodegrada-
tion occurs in the absence of oxygen (e.g., in
the sludge at the bottom of a pond).
Readily and inherently biodegradable prod-
ucts are classified according to the percentage
loss of organic carbon, the amount of carbon
dioxide produced and/or the oxygen required
to achieve biodegradation. Most materials are
inherently biodegradable, in that they will de-
cay over some period of time. Dead trees can
take years to decay. Readily biodegradable
materials will decay quite quickly, over days or
weeks. (Some materials are very hard to de-
grade and tend to bioaccumulate; this is much
worse for the environment.)
The Organization for Economic Coopera-
tion and Development (OECD) Guidelines for
the Testing of Chemicals list seven different
tests for determining the readily biodegrad-
ability of chemical compounds:
• OECD 301 A: DOC (Dissolved Organic
Carbon) Die-Away (AFNOR Test)
• OECD 301 B: CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)
Evolution (Modified Sturm Test)
• OECD 301 C: Modified MITI
• OECD 301 D: Closed Bottle
88 • SEPTEMBER 2016
Agency published guidelines on
which tests should be used in spe-
cific circumstances and for specific
types of substances. (See http://
echa.europa.eu/practical-guides.)
Unfortunately all the tests tend
to give variable results, depending
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / PinkBadger
on the time of the year and the type
and condition of the sewage sludge
or soil used to inoculate the test
sample. This is because the concen-
tration and health of the bacteria
Most materials are inherently biodegradable, in that they and fungi in the inoculum varies
will decay over some period of time. depending on whether the season is
wet or dry, how the sewage treat-
ment works is being operated or
• OECD 301 E: Modified OECD Screening where the soil samples were taken from. The
• OECD 301 F: Manometric Respirometry inoculum also need to be kept alive using cul-
ture media. These have a tendency to favor
• OECD 310: CO 2 in Sealed Vessels some species of bacteria and fungi over oth-
(Headspace Test). ers. The variation in results from the same
Another test, widely used in the oil indus- test method done in different laboratories or
try is the CEC-L-33-A-93 test, which was origi- at different times of the year in the same
nally developed to assess the biodegradabil- laboratory can be as much as ±10%.
ity of two-stroke oils accidentally spilled on Laboratories could try to use a standard
lakes but is now used to assess any oils ac- inoculum, specific to each test method, but
cidentally spilled, whether on water or on soil. this would still need to be cultured even if it
These tests are intended to simulate bio- was freeze dried. Also many thousands of
degradation in a specific environment using packets of freeze-dried standard inocula
indigenous biomass such as soil, sediment, would need to be prepared in a central labora-
activated sewage sludge or sludge water and tory to be shipped to test laboratories around
a typical temperature that represents the the world. This monumental and expensive
particular environment. A low concentration task would need to be repeated and recerti-
of test substance is used. Temperatures are fied every few years, with few obvious bene-
usually 20 C (68 F) or 25 C (77 F) and samples fits for the biodegradability tests.
are shaken, stirred or air blown for either 14, I think we will have to learn to live with
21 or 28 days. Measurements are made of ei- the range and variability of biodegradability
ther CO2 produced, O2 consumed or the Total tests.
Organic Carbon that remains.
The different tests are used to measure dif- David Whitby is chief executive
ferent aspects of biodegradability. Some are of Pathmaster Marketing Ltd. in
suitable for water-soluble materials, others for Surrey, England. You can contact
water-insoluble materials and others for vola- him at pathmaster.marketing@
tile compounds. The European Chemicals yahoo.co.uk.
T R I B O LO GY & LU B R I CAT I O N T EC H N O LO GY W W W. ST L E .O RG
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