NEW APPROACHES TO FORMULATE INDUSTRIAL GEAR OILS

摘要

More than 900 kT of industrial gear oils are sold each year. The volume-wise growth of the industrial gear oils market is moderate, but demand for high performance and energy efficient lubrication systems allows synthetic formulations to grow faster at a rate of more than 5% annually. The benefits of such synthetic formulations include (a) better protection of industrial equipment from wear that may arise from phenomena like pitting, micropitting and bearing failures, and (b) extended oil drain intervals because of a decelerated oil aging process. An extended oil drain interval is especially attractive to end-users, such as wind turbine operators and the mining industry, who otherwise must more frequently go through strenuous and expensive oil changes. An additional benefit of using synthetic gear oil is improved gearbox efficiency. This paper introduces a novel alternative approach to formulate synthetic industrial gear oils that may find application in a broad range of industrial sectors like wind turbines, mining, steel and concrete.