Base oils are used to
manufacture products including lubricating
greases, motor oil and metal processing fluids.
Different products require different
compositions and properties in the oil. One of
the most important factors is the liquid’s
viscosity at various temperatures. Whether or
not a crude oil is suitable to be made into a
base oil is determined by the concentration of
base oil molecules as well as how easily these
can be extracted.
Base oil is produced by means of refining crude
oil. This means that crude oil is heated in
order that various distillates can be separated
from one another. During the heating process,
light and heavy hydrocarbons are separated – the
light ones can be refined to make petrol and
other fuels, while the heavier ones are suitable
for bitumen and base oils.
There are large numbers of crude oils all around
the world that are used to produce base oils.
The most common one is a type of paraffinic
crude oil, although there are also naphthenic
crude oils that create products with better
solubility and very good properties at low
temperatures. By using hydrogenation technology,
in which sulfur and aromatics are removed using
hydrogen under high pressure, extremely pure
base oils can be obtained, which are suitable
when quality requirements are particularly
stringent.
Chemical substances – additives – are added to
the base oil in order to meet the quality
requirements for the end products in terms of,
for example, friction and cleaning properties.
Certain types of motor oils contain more than
twenty percent additives.
Specification of base OIL N 70 / N100 / N 150 /
N300
Base Oil N70- Group 3
Group III base oils are subjected to the highest
level of mineral oil refining of the base oil
groups. Although they are not chemically
engineered, they offer good performance in a
wide range of attributes as well as good
molecular uniformity and stability. They are
commonly mixed with additives and marketed as
synthetic or semi-synthetic products. Group III
base oils have become more common in America in
the last decade.
Base Oil N150
Grades – 60N , 70N 100N 150N and 250N
named according to their viscosity(cSt) at 100
These products are very high VI base oils
produced under all-hydro processing route (hydro
cracking, wax hydro isomerization and hydro
finishing). The isomerization process and severe
hydro cracking and hydro finishing process
almost completely removes impurities and
saturates aromatics to only a traceable level.
These base oils are also claimable as
“synthetic” according to the ruling by the
National Advertising Division (NAD) of the
Council of Better Business Bureaus and have the
following characteristics, which closely match
conventional synthetics like PAOs.
Base Oil N60
Hydro processing and Refining Group II base oils
are common in mineral based motor oils currently
available on the market. They have fair to good
performance in lubricating properties such as
volatility, oxidative stability and flashfire
points. They have only fair performance in areas
such as pour point, cold crank viscosity and
extreme pressure wear. Grades – 60N, 100N
, 150N , 500N 600N and 150BS Manufactured by
using hydro treating and Texaco’s MEK
(Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone) de-waxing process. These
oils are widely accepted in the industrial,
marine and mechanic oils as well as in
automotive engine oils.