Currently, Bio -lubricants are still regarded as niche products. Within the global lubricant market, however, the ar-ea of environmentally acceptable fluids represents one of the fast growing markets with an estimated annual growth of more than 6% per year. This growth is supported by various market drivers such as legal regulations, public subsidies and the im-plementation of national or international labeling schemes.With the implementation of the European Ecolabel for lubricants in 2005, a common standard specifying ecological and performance requirements for Bio - lubricants was defined. Applying for the EU Ecolabel requires a comprehensive assess-ment, not only of the final formulation, but also of the additives used. Additives are required to meet specifications for oxi-dation and thermal stability, as well as to impart metal protection (of both steel and yellow metals), thus improving corro-sion protection and wear performance of the formulation. Therefore, it is challenging in terms of formulation technology to develop the right formulation that meets the technical specifications as well as the stringent requirements of the EU - Ecola-bel.The paper describes how, by using ester base fluids and additives currently available in the market, lubricants can be developed to meet the technical and eco - toxicological requirements of the EU - Ecolabel, approaching the performance lev-els of lubricants formulated with traditional base fluids.
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