MODERN LUBRICATION

Evening Star, Issue 22988, 20 June 1938, Page 15

MODERN LUBRICATION

Developing a perfect motor oil is a problem which has engaged scientists since the introduction of the motor car. An oil has been sought with free flow at all temperatures to facilitate starting and give instant distribution to moving parts, with minimum carbonforming tendency, with_ stability under heat to prevent formation of sludge or gummy residue, with a high degree of lubricating power and economy of consumption, and with a tough film that retains its strength at high working temperatures. After 20 years’ pioneering research and experience. Shell scientists have produced ii solvent-refining process, claimed to revolutionise preconceived ideas of oil refining. This organisation has built a new refinery at Shell Haven, in Essex, England, where an exclusive solvent-refining process is carried out.

Mineral petroleum is recognised as the best base for deriving modern lubricants. Treatment is necessary to remove all undesirable bodies that tend to form impurities such as carbon and sludge. Solvent-refining achieves this separation. When the solvent is mixed in this new process with the unrefined lubricating oil—a series of 14 complicated_ stages—it dissolves out all those constituents in the oil which break

down when heated and form carbon and sludge The solvent is recovered from bath the oil and the imparities. A further stage is the addition of a pure petroleum oiliness concentrate which is an entirely new development. By adding this oilincss extract to the highly-refined oils obtained by the solvent process, their inherent oiliness is greatly increased, enabling the film of oil to withstand unusually severe pressures and preventing it from draining or being washed off metal surfaces, even when hot.