Fill 'er up: alternative fuel trends lean toward renewable and immediate

Automotive Industries,  May, 2003  by Andrea Wielgat

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Nye Lubricants designs synthetic lubricants for specific automotive components.

"In terms of research based trends, there really haven't been extensive studies done on trends in synthetic lubricants used in specific components, and that's what Nye is all about," Parr says.

The other lubricant issue deals with engine temperature. Petroleum lubricants are going to be good down to 40 and upto 100 degrees Celsius.

Automotive components now require lubricants that will get down to -40 and up to 120 degrees Celsius. There's no way a petroleum lubricant is going to get that.

"Engines run hotter, that whole compartment is hotter so it is not unusual for lubes under the hood to be speced at 150 to 175 degrees Celsius or has high as 200 degrees Celsius," he says. "So there you are talking some pretty sophisticated lubrication."

Lubricants are also being designed to do very specific types of jobs for very specific components.

For example, the multi-pin connectors that go under the hood have two lubricant issues. They have to have a lubricant that is going to survive high temperatures after several matings and they need a lubricant that is going to help make connectors join so that autoworkers and mechanics can push them together.

"We recently designed a lubricant that handles all of that. It handles high temperature, it reduces insertion force," Parr says. "The metal they are using in the connectors is still the same, it is a tin based connector, but the lubricant is bringing extra performance to that particular product."

Nye also recently developed an electrically conductive lubricant that is being used to make the bearings in alternators last longer. Arching is a serious problem that reduces the life of bearings and this synthetic grease acts like a conductor without using metals.

"The way the grease is formulated, the different additives act as a chemical pathway for an electric arch that goes right through the bearing instead of pitting the balls as it is going through," he says.

Nye also makes damping greases, which are gaining popularity among automakers. Damping greases help you control the feel and the sound that any particular component makes.

An OEM can extensively design a component and use several tight tolerances or they can use a damping grease.

With cost cutting still a major issue for Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, they can use a cheaper plastic and cut back on their engineering tolerances. Yet it still gives a part the feel of a more expensive component.

"The trend is," says Nye's Parr "as the demand for cutting cost and improving performance continues to increase--as warranties continue to expand--more and more design engineers are turning on to the fact that (lubricants) can help them reach those business and design objectives."

[GRAPH OMITTED]

COPYRIGHT 2003 Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning