Base oils are used to manufacture products
including lubricating greases, motor oil and
metal processing fluids. Different products
require different compositions and properties in
the oil. One of the most important factors is
the liquid’s viscosity at various temperatures.
Whether or not a crude oil is suitable to be
made into a base oil is determined by the
concentration of base oil molecules as well as
how easily these can be extracted.
Base oil is produced by means of refining crude
oil. This means that crude oil is heated in
order that various distillates can be separated
from one another. During the heating process,
light and heavy hydrocarbons are separated – the
light ones can be refined to make petrol and
other fuels, while the heavier ones are suitable
for bitumen and base oils.
There are large numbers of crude oils all around
the world that are used to produce base oils.
The most common one is a type of paraffinic
crude oil, although there are also naphthenic
crude oils that create products with better
solubility and very good properties at low
temperatures. By using hydrogenation technology,
in which sulfur and aromatics are removed using
hydrogen under high pressure, extremely pure
base oils can be obtained, which are suitable
when quality requirements are particularly
stringent.
Chemical substances – additives – are added to
the base oil in order to meet the quality
requirements for the end products in terms of,
for example, friction and cleaning properties.
Certain types of motor oils contain more than
twenty percent additives.