Petroleum & Products

Introduction to Base Oil

Base oil is the name given to lubrication grade oils initially produced from refining crude oil (mineral base oil) or through chemical synthesis (synthetic base oil). Base oil is typically defined as oil with a boiling point range between 550 and 1050 F, consisting of hydrocarbons with 18 to 40 carbon atoms. This oil can be either paraffinic or napthenic in nature depending on the chemical structure of the molecules.

Base stocks are classified inot various grades including Neutral, Solvent Neutral, Bright Stocks, The most common names are for group I (SN: Solvent Neutral), for group II (N: Neutrals) and group III grade names refer to the viscosity

UNDERSTANDING BASE OIL

Base Oils

Lubricants have been around since ancient times. The Petroleum-based Lubricants business started in mid 1800s. The initial processing was limited to separation by boiling point. Most people know the key driver of the production for lubricants are Base Oils.

Mineral Base Oil

Modern mineral base oils are the result of a long and complex distillation and refining processes. The feedstock used is crude oil. This substance is not of uniform quality but consists of several thousands of hydrocarbon compounds in which the elements carbon and hydrogen are present in all molecules and, in part, are bound to other elements.
The hydrocarbons can be divided into three main groups: paraffinic, naphthenic and aromatic. Paraffinic hydrocarbons can be further divided into two subgroups: normal paraffinic and iso- paraffinic.
Paraffinic hydrocarbons are the best lubricants. The distillation process in the refinery separates the hydrocarbons contained in the crude into cuts based on the molecule size.
Furthermore, as many unwanted substances as possible are removed in the process, such as sulphur, aromatic hydrocarbons, paraffin wax, etc. In other words the mineral oil production process is physical cleaning and the end product is so-called paraffinic