lubrication products for cleaning, lubrication and additives of the brands Arexons and Loctite. Lubrication products are suitable for unlocking oxidized or rusted parts and lubricating hinges and moving parts subject to friction. Cleaning products are suitable for cleaning, degreasing, cleansing the various components of the vehicle and ensuring hygiene. The most common additives are used for fuel treatment: anti-freeze and injection system cleaners.
Lubrication professionals often become very familiar with the base oil viscosity of their lubricants. After all, viscosity is the most important property of a base oil. Baselines for incoming oils are set and the health of the lubricant is monitored based on viscosity alone. However, there is more to lubricants than just viscosity. It’s crucial to understand the role of additives and their function(s) within the lubricant. Lubricant additives are organic or inorganic compounds dissolved or suspended as solids in oil. They typically range between 0.1 to 30 percent of the oil volume, depending on the machine. Additives have three basic roles: Enhance existing base oil properties with antioxidants, corrosion inhibitors, anti-foam agents and demulsifying agents. Suppress undesirable base oil properties with pour-point depressants and viscosity index (VI) improvers. Impart new properties to base oils with extreme pressure (EP) additives, detergents, metal deactivators and tackiness agents.
Oxidation is the general attack of the weakest components of the base oil by oxygen in the air. It occurs at all temperatures all of the time but is accelerated at higher temperatures and by the presence of water, wear metals and other contaminants. It ultimately causes acids (which produce corrosion) and sludge (which results in surface deposits and viscosity to increase) to form. Oxidation inhibitors, as they are also called, are used to extend the operating life of the oil. They are sacrificial additives that are consumed while performing their duty of delaying the onset of oxidation, thus protecting the base oil. They are present in almost every lubricating oil and grease.
Viscosity index improvers are very large polymer additives that partially prevent the oil from thinning out (losing viscosity) as the temperature increases. These additives are used extensively when blending multi-grade engine oils such as SAE 5W-30 or SAE 15W-40. They are also responsible for better oil flow at low temperatures, resulting in reduction in wear and improved fuel economy. In addition, VI improvers are used to achieve high-VI hydraulic and gear oils for improved start-up and lubrication at low temperatures. To visualize how a VI-improver additive functions, think of the VI improver as an octopus or coil spring that stays coiled up in a ball at low temperatures and has very little effect on the oil viscosity. Then, as the temperature rises, the additive (or octopus) expands or extends its arms (making it larger) and prevents the oil from thinning out too much at high temperatures. VI improvers do have a couple of negative features. The additives are large (high molecular weight) polymers, which makes them susceptible to being chopped or cut up into small pieces by machine components (shearing forces). Gears are notoriously hard on VI-improver additives. Permanent shearing of the VI-improver additive can cause significant viscosity losses, which can be detected with oil analysis. A second form of viscosity loss occurs due to high shearing forces in the load zone of frictional surfaces
