Update on boundary lubricity additives
Mar 31, 2021
Components used to help metalworking fluids (MWFs) fulfill their main function of reducing friction and wear are known as boundary lubricity additives. With such a wide variety currently available, multiple boundary lubricity additives are commonly used in a specific MWF to meet performance requirements. As companies move away from traditional boundary lubricity additives such as chlorinated paraffins, newer high-performing technologies are underway that can meet the industry’s growing regulatory requirements.
Ingevity’s Lubricants Global Technical Lead Scott Cheng was featured in a recent STLE article highlighting updates on the types of boundary lubricity additives that are available to deal with multiple challenges facing the MWF formulator. In this article, Scott offers a list of requirements that formulators must consider in selecting a boundary lubricity additive.
According to Scott, “Increasing sustainability requirements, wastewater treatment, bio-based and higher efficiency will drive the MWF market to use more specialized additives that operate at low treat rates. Other factors that need to be considered include global registrations and the greater use of aluminum alloys and high strength steels in growing technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs).”
With the industry’s ongoing shift toward sustainability, Scott also expressed concerns specifically about phosphorus-based boundary lubricity additives. Learn from Scott and other industry experts about the current challenges surrounding boundary lubricity additives and future trends that will help shape the development of new technologies in this STLE feature article.
Why should you care?
As the global industry continues to shift toward sustainable solutions, environmental, health and safety concerns will be a pivotal factor in prompting formulators to move away from traditional boundary lubricity additives to new alternatives.
