Synthetic Base Oils

Another source of lubricant base fluids is the synthetic route. Traditionally, synthetics was defined as “A product prepared by chemical reaction of lower molecular weight materials to produce a fluid of higher molecular weight designed to provide certain predictable properties.” Currently, there are two types of synthetic base oils commercially available.(PAO and hydrocracked base oil) Until mid 1990, Polyalphaolefins(PAO) were the most widely used conventional synthetic lube base fluid in the US and Europe. They are made by combining two or more decent molecules into an oligomer, or short chain length polymer. Because PAOs are all-hydrocarbon structures and wax-free, they have low pour points, usually below -40°C, very high viscosity indexes and good thermal stability. But because of limited availability of raw material, PAO production was limited to very specific application...