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The Development of Synthesized Motor Oils
A Historical Review
by Ed Newman
Marketing & Advertising Manager, AMSOIL INC.
AS THE YEAR 2000 APPROACHES, it is both a time of looking forward, and of
looking back. No one a century ago could have foreseen the rapid transformations
that science and invention would bring to our world. From rocket ships to
microwaves, silicon chips to Dolly the cloned ewe -- it has been an astonishing
period of history. I mean, a hundred years ago we didn't even have gas stations.
Or highways. Or flat tires.
One of the transforming developments of our century has been the discovery of
the process of organic synthesis, the combining of the raw materials of
production into a nearly limitless array of plastics, films, fabrics and fluids.
By understanding the geometry of organic compounds, chemists could create
customized molecular designs to achieve preconceived objectives. Scientists
realized that they could actually improve the characteristics of items found in
nature.
One bi-product of this process has been the development of synthetic motor
oil. It is believed that the first synthesized hydrocarbons were created by
Friedel & Crafts in 1877 using Aluminum TriChrloride as the catalyst. Yet it
wasn't until 1929 that the commercial development of synthesized hydrocarbons
was undertaken by Standard Oil of Indiana. Not surprisingly there was a lack of
demand for the new product and this first marketplace introduction of synthetic
lubricants was commercially unsuccessful. (There is probably no relationship
between this event and collapse of stock market later that year.)
Eight years later the first PAO, a synthetic product using olefin
polymerization, was manufactured. 1937 was also year that the Zurich Aviation
Congress became interested in ester based lubricant technology. From 1938 to
1944 thousands of esters were evaluated in Germany with excellent results. In
our own country ester basestocks were also being developed by the United States
Naval Research Laboratory and introduced into military aviation applications
during the 1940's.
During this period scientists were well funded, and the new processes of
synthetic creation had some great success. But as is so often the case, the
existence of a "better mousetrap" does not always result in its commercial
survival.
It was the space age that helped create a greater appreciation for the
benefits of synthetic lubricants. Jet engines raised the bar on what was
required of a lubricant. The high speed, high heat and cold temperature
performance requirements of modern jets created a demand for a new kind of
lubricant.
Just after the war we saw the first use of diesters by the British in
turboprop engines for high temperature performance. And from the late forties to
the early seventies various synthetic fluids were developed to meet the demands
of new and more efficient high performance engines and machines.
Because of the self-evident cold weather benefits of synthetic jet engine
oil, it would not have been difficult to find a few maverick pilots
experimenting with this oil in their cars. The military paid thirty-five dollars
a quart for synthetic oil in those days and even the used jet engine oil seemed
clean enough for some pilots in Alaska and elsewhere to mix with their motor oil
to assist cold winter starts.
One such experimenter took a more systematic approach. In the mid-1960's, Lt.
Col. Albert J. Amatuzio, jet fighter squadron commander at a northern Minnesota
airbase, likewise had become familiar with these "extra ordinary" lubricants
that protected the engines of the jets he flew. He began a research project that
eventually became his life work and second career. At first, Amatuzio's efforts
were aimed at improving the performance of petroleum oil.
Eventually, Amatuzio realized the need to begin with a synthetic basetock and
build his ideal lubricant from the ground up. His search led him to Monsanto,
Drew Chemical Corporation and Hatco. It was Drew Chemical Corporation in
Boonton, New Jersey, where the first polyol esters had been developed and
patented in conjunction with Mobil Chemical in 1958. Mobil Oil's Jet Engine Oil
II was based on the fluids produced at Drew Chemical. The truth is, automobiles
put even more stress on a lubricant than jet engines because air aspirated car
engines must deal with dirt and the messy by-products of combustion. The problem
was how to bring the expanded temperature range performance, wear protection and
service life of a synthetic into an automotive setting. Amatuzio believed he had
found a way. According to Jack Arotta, a Duluth Minnesota businessman today, "I
was the first guy to put it (a specially formulated 100% synthetic motor oil) in
a brand new car, a 1966 Ford Station Wagon. Al was my squadron commander up at
the air base, so I always use the joke that since Al was my squadron commander,
how could I not put it in when he told me to?"
Actually, for more than a year Jack had been putting a variety of Al's
synthetic formulations in his previous cars, so he did not feel that he was
putting his vehicle at serious risk. After several more years of fine tuning his
formulation, AMZOIL (Amatuzio-oil) was created and became the first 100%
synthetic diester based engine oil to pass the API sequence tests and receive
API qualification in 1972.
The following year Mobil Oil began marketing the first PAO based engine oil
overseas and in 1975 they began test marketing a synthetic PAO based synthetic
in the U.S. called Mobil 1.
Over time a growing niche of consumers became aware of the performance
benefits synthetic offered. As additional products were developed, from
synthetic diesel oil to two cycle oils, synthetic transmission fluids and gear
lubes, so grew the interest. With growing market opportunity, more companies
made contributions in the development of basestock fluids and new technologies,
including the Gulf Oil Company (since acquired by Chevron), Chevron Corporation,
Amoco, Ethyl Corporation, Exxon, Henkel, Castrol, Uniroyal, Lubrizol, Neste
Chemical, and Texaco (additive technology and synfluids since acquired by
Ethyl).
By the mid-nineties nearly every oil company carried a high end synthetic
motor oil in its product line, though only a few companies seem truly dedicated
to promoting them. Nevertheless, synthetic lubricants are currently the fastest
growing segment of the oil industry and they are definitely here for the long
haul.
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