Brief History Of Lubricants

A lubricant The braking system has a few basic principles. The first part is stepping on the brake pedal, which pushes a plunger in the master cylinder. This will force brake fluid through a series of tubes and different hoses into the braking unit at each wheel. In the second part, the pressure from the brake fluid reaches the braking unit. On a diskbrake, the fluid from the master cylinder is forced into a caliper where it presses against a piston.The piston, in-turn, squeezes two brake pads against the disk (rotor), which is attached to the wheel, forcing it to slow down or stop. With drumbrakes, fluid is forced into the wheel cylinder, which pushes the brake shoes out so that the friction linings are pressed against the drum, which is attached to the wheel, causing the wheel to stop. This process is similar to a bicycle brake where two rubber pads rub against the wheel rim creating friction.

The recorded use of lubricants dates back to almost to the birth of civilization, with early historical developments being concerned with the use of fats/oils of animal or vegetable origin in transportation or machinery. Ancient inscriptions dating back to 1400 B.C. show early examples of systematic lubrication with animal fats (tallow) being applied to reduce friction on chariot wheel axels. From these very early roots, efforts to reduce friction were dependent on relatively abundant animal and vegetable-based oils.

Colonel William Drake struck oil on Aug.27,1859; marking the birth of the petroleum industry. He drilled first oil well at Titusville, Pa in America in 1859 and his well-publicized oil well created a new way to supply an arguably superior oil product, which accelerated the move toward the use of mineral oil and hastened the birth of the petroleum age. Petroleum-based oils were not widely accepted at first because they did not perform as well as many of the animal-based products. Raw crude did not make a good lubricant. But as the demand for automobiles grew, so did the demand for better lubricants. Lubricant manufacturers soon learned which crude made the best lubricants. In the 1920s, lubrication manufacturers started processing their base oils to improve their performance. By 1923, the Society of Automotive Engineers classified engine oils by viscosity: light, medium and heavy. Engine oils contained no additives and had to be replaced every 800 to 1,000 miles.

By approximately 1930, solvent processing emerged as a viable technology for improving base oil performance using a fairly safe, recyclable solvent. Additives began to be widely used in 1947 when the API began to categorize engine oils by severity of service: regular, premium and heavy-duty. Additives were used to extend the life only in premium and heavy-duty oils. In 1950, multigrade oils were first introduced which improved the hot and cold performance of the oil. For several decades, the lubricants industry continued to rely heavily on additive technology to improve the performance of finished oils. Lubricant quality improved significantly only when the additive chemistry improved.

Modern lubricants are formulated from a range of premium base fluids and advanced additive chemistry. The base fluids has several functions but primarily it is the lubricant providing a fluid layer separating moving surfaces or removing heat and wear particles while keeping friction at minimum. Many of the properties of the lubricant are enhanced or created by addition of special chemical additives to base fluids.

Today lubricants play a very vital role in the smooth & trouble free operation of any automobile or industrial equipment.