Lubricant Additives

238 Lubricant Additives: Chemistry and Applications

There has been some consolidation in the additive business, but the market has not changed
much as a result. Following are the major changes by year.

1992 Ethyl acquired Amoco Petroleum Additives (U.S.) and Nippon Cooper (Japan)

1996 Ethyl acquired Texaco Additives Company

1997 Lubrizol bought Gateway Additives (Spartanburg, South Carolina)

1999 Infi neum, the new petroleum additives enterprise, a joint venture between

Exxon Chemical, Shell International Chemicals Ltd., and Shell Chemical

Company, unveiled its new corporate identity and became fully operational

on January 1, 1999 (the largest merge of additive companies in history)

1999 Crompton completed a merger with Witco

2001 Texaco Oil merged into Chevron Oil whereas Chevron Chemical Oronite

Division was kept intact

2003 Dover Chemical acquired the Keil Chemical petroleum additives business from

Ferro Corporation

2004 Ethyl Corporation transformed into NewMarket Corporation, the parent

company of Afton Chemical Corporation and Ethyl Corporation to maximize

the potential of its operating divisions—petroleum additives and tetraethyl

lead fuel additive business

2005 Chemtura was formed by the merger of Crompton and Great Lakes Chemical

Corporation

2007 Chemtura bulked up its specialty lubricants business with the assets of

Kaufman Holdings Corporation, parent company of Anderol and Hatco

Since most lubricant additives are produced through batch processes, consolidation can lead to
improved operations and reduced costs (e.g., reducing plant idle time with better chemical manu-
facturing management systems). There are still many manufacturing facilities using equipment and
procedures that are 30–40 years old. Hence, any investments in automation and continuous process-
ing for a plant will be a competitive advantage. However, the business is so cost-competitive that
most suppliers have diffi culties in justifying major capital expenditures.

8.4 EVALUATION EQUIPMENT/SPECIFICATION

8.4.1 LUBRICANT SPECIFICATIONS

Lubricant components and formulated products are manufactured as per the rigid specifi cations
in petroleum refi neries and lubricant blending plants, and must also meet detailed commercial,
industrial, and military specifi cations. As an example, the U.S. Military has rigid specifi cations
for automotive lubricants, although the automotive manufacturers have similarly rigid but not
necessarily the same specifi cations to assure quality and consistency of lubricant manufacture.
In addition, there are performance specifi cations that must be met from such original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) as farm machinery and other off-highway automotive equipment. These
specifi cations are designed to enable the user to select appropriate lubricants and to be assured of
adequate performance over a specifi ed service life.
The industry is, for the most part, adequately self-regulating with minimal government input con-
cerning performance specifi cations. The most elaborate system for developing and upgrading lubricant
and fuel specifi cations is for automotive lubricants. The American Society of Testing and Materials
(ASTM), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and the American Petroleum Institute (API)
all have defi ned roles in determining specifi cations for products such as passenger car motor oils and
heavy-duty motor oils. These three organizations, working together in the United States, are known
as the Tripartite. Extending internationally, the International Lubricant Standardization and Approval
Committee (ILSAC) is also active in all phases of engine lubricant category development.