Synthetic Base Stocks Research Articles

Basic trends in foreign development of synthetic lubricating oils for aviation gas-turbine engines (patent review)

1. Synthetic lubricating oils that were once used widely, formulated from dibasic acid ester base stocks (diester oils), have been displaced in favor of mixed or complex esters, and also compounded esters and diesters. 2. The most widely used base stocks for synthetic oils are prepared from complex esters of neopentyl polyols such as neopentyl glycol, trimethylolpropane (TMP), pentaerythritol (PE), and dipentaerythritol (di-PE). These materials are used primarily because of their higher level of thermal-oxidative stability. 3. Research and development are continuing on synthetic oil base stocks prepared from polypropylene glycol ethers, diphenyl thioethers, polymethylphenylsiloxanes, tetraalkylsilanes, etc. These last compounds, despite their poor low-temperature properties, are attracting attention because of their stability at high temperatures. 4. Considerable attention is being allotted to the development of synthetic oils based on esters of diorthosilicic acid and isobutenylsuccinic acid. 5. Research to develop thermally stable petroleum oils on the basis of superrefined hydrocarbons has been curtailed, evidently because of the lack of promise in this work.