These days, very little mineral oil untreated with additives is sold as a lubricant. Almost all of the commercial lubricants contain additives to enhance their performance in amounts ranging from less than 1% to 25% or more. The function of lubricant additives can be summarized as follows:

To protect the metal surfaces
Extending the range of lubricant applicability
Extending the lubricant's life

There is an increasingly close relationship between additive companies and premium oil companies like PETROMIN OILS as the technology involved in developing new ranges of high performance lubricants becomes more complex. Taking a global perspective is now very important in the development of many types of lubricants, e.g. engine oils for passenger cars and heavy duty trucks, having to encompass US, European and Japanese equipment manufacturers' performance requirements to be acceptable throughout the world. Consequently, the development of the new technology incorporated into PETROMIN OILS's modern range of high performance lubricants is a joint activity shared with the additive companies.

Research and development (R&D) is an essential investment that oil and additive companies need to make to keep at the forefront of the technological changes that have transformed the industry. Typical R&D activities involved in the development of new oils may be summarized as:

New additive chemistry development
Incorporation into new formulations
Bench, laboratory and engine testing of new formulations
Field testing to provide proof of performance

Once targets have been defined, new chemistries are identified and basic formulations are created. At this stage, matrix testing can help with the screening of much diverse chemistry to optimize the cost/performance of the finished lubricant. The process moves on to the actual testing of the candidate lubricants. Generally it makes sense to start with smaller and less expensive tests, such as viscometric tests to screen different formulations before moving on to field trials and live engine tests which are expensive but represent real life conditions.

If new engine oil is required; engine tests will need to be performed. Candidate oils are used in actual engines running under controlled and prescribed conditions for periods varying from less than 25 hours to 500 hours and sometimes longer. This can represent many thousands of kilometers of road service. Prior to testing; the engine is stripped, rated and pre-measured and then reassembled. After the running period, during which operating conditions are carefully controlled within defined limits, the engine is then stripped down and the constituent parts of the engine carefully measured and rated for cleanliness, wear and compared with industry standards.

Laboratory engine tests have been used to evaluate the performance properties of engine oils for more than 4 decades and have been progressively modified to meet new challenges. The challenges are demanded by equipment builders, fuel and emission controls and extended service intervals. Engine tests are an important step but when using new or novel additive chemistry, laboratory engine testing may not provide an adequate indicator of field performance and field tests must be conducted. For many equipment builders, e.g. marine engines, proof of performance from field-testing is mandatory before an approval or endorsement can be obtained.

The additive chemistries used in "PETROMIN OILS" have undergone extensive bench, engine and finally field testing to ensure complete reliability and high performance.