Description
Climate change is one of the main environmental problems of today, and personal transport is one of the primary issues that need to be addressed in this context. For several years now the EU has been committed to the fight against climate change with regulations that restrict emissions of vehicles (Euro standards). Through this project, REPSOL aims to develop a new innovative range of motor and transmission lubricants for all kinds of light vehicles with increased fuel efficiency and improved features in terms of durability and mechanical loss. The new oils will incorporate high added value additives that will maximize oil lifetime, reducing the need of replacement and ultimately the carbon footprint. The product will present differences that will revitalize the automobile market. The aim is to reduce fuel consumption by 2.5% for engine oils and by 2.5% in transmission compared to the savings obtained from the fuels named “fuel economy”. Furthermore, the project seeks to lengthen both the engine and transmission´s life and the oil´s life by 25 %. Ultimately, the high-efficiency lubricants should enable the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 5%
Summary of project results
Climate change, caused by the release of greenhouse gases, is one of the main environmental problems today and personal transport is one of the main emission sectors. Through this project, REPSOL has developed a new innovative range of motor and transmission lubricants for light and heavy vehicles with increased fuel efficiency and improved features in terms of durability and mechanical loss. The novel oils incorporate high added value additives that will maximize oil lifetime, reducing the need of replacement and ultimately the carbon footprint. The project has developed products that will improve the efficiency and durability of motor lubricating oils and transmissions and reduce their mechanical losses. The most appropriate methods for the evaluation and optimum selection of bases, polymers and additives have been identified and defined. The company has acquired knowledge about the mechanisms of action of additives in lubricated tribological contacts, necessary for the correct formulation of lubricants, their testing and interpretation of results.The design of experiments and the theoretical tests and flow curves have been completed, as well as the tests identifying the tribological behavior of the samples tested. As a consequence, the objective of reducing friction in the limiting regime by 10% as measured in laboratory tests for motor oils has been met. Likewise, a reduction of the elastohydrodynamic coefficient of friction of the tested formulas of more than 20% has been obtained. Tests have been carried out on a fleet of 39 buses of different technology and class of emissions and have registered statistically significant fuel savings of up to 3.7%.
Summary of bilateral results