When it comes to grease and lubrication, synthetic oil is the standard go-to for many applications, from engines to factory equipment to personal care products. And within this standard, polyalphaolefin oils (PAOs) are arguably the gold standard.
However, synthetic oils, PAOs included, were not so ubiquitous until just a few decades ago. Why is synthetic oil so popular in the modern world, and what can it do?
A Brief History of Synthetic Oil and PAOs
While scientists had been experimenting with synthetic oil since the 1800s, it took a series of twentieth century crude oil shortages to drive the development of modern, commercially and industrially viable synthetic oil.
An initial crude oil shortage in World War II led to the use of synthetic lubricant in military airplane engines. In the decades that followed, ethylene-derived synthetic lubricants, such as polyalphaolefin oils or PAOs, became more and more popular beyond the airforce. While PAOs may not be a household term, industries and consumers alike began to fall in love with PAOs, whether they knew them by name or not. PAOs caught on quickly due to their unique properties, such as their excellent viscosity even in extreme cold, their stability in high heat, and their general purity.
The 1970s mark the decade that industry made its love affair with polyalphaolefin oils official. In 1972, the American Petroleum Institute endorsed AMSOIL’s brand of synthetic PAO motor oil. From there, PAOs proliferated as a lubricant for motors and heavy machinery, and as a component of cosmetics and personal care creams.
How Polyalphaolefin-Based Synthetic Oil is Made
PAOs, like all synthetics, are chemically engineered, rather than distilled. How is this different? Well, distilled petroleum lubricants have certain impurities; for example, corrosive sulfurs and waxy hydrocarbons in distilled lube offset some of the benefits of lubrication. PAOs, on the other hand, are chemically constructed from pure, simple ethylene molecules, which are then built into more sophisticated molecular structures until the perfect, use-appropriate formula is created.
Because the precise molecular structure of PAOs is so negotiable, many different types of PAO are available from manufacturers and distributors.
The Advantages of PAOs
Obviously, purity and versatility are useful in any industrial chemical. In the case of PAOs, their purity and negotiable composition carry quite a few specific benefits.
Usefulness in lubricating engines and machinery
One of the biggest reasons PAOs make an excellent lubricant for engines and heavy machinery is their lack of the waxy hydrocarbons found in less pure distilled petroleum lube. When a lubricant is even minimally waxy, this adversely impacts the pour point – the lowest possible temperature at which a lubricant will remain freely viscous and pourable into engine systems. PAOs, with their engineered purity, continue to function well even in extreme cold.
Because they lack other heat-sensitive impurities, PAOs also perform quite well in high heat. For instance, PAOs are free of nitrogen, a common impurity in distilled petroleum lubricants. In high heat, nitrogen expands in a way that can stress engines. Heated nitrogen also causes oxidation, which can degrade lubricants. Without this kind of impurity, PAOs have better oxidative stability and better stability in general.
Protection of fiber-optic cables
The purity and stability of polyalphaolefin synthetic oil also protects fiber-optics. Now, one normally might not think of fiber-optics as needing lubrication. After all, they aren’t in constant, heavy motion. So it’s easy to forget that fiber-optic cables are indeed subject to forceful motion at key points in their life cycle: when they are installed, and when they’re removed. Fine, delicate fiber optic bundles should be lined with lubricant for “cable pulls,” the install or removal of the cables. And PAO, with its resilience and stability, is ideal for protecting such cables from harm.
A non-toxic agent in nutrition, health and beauty
PAOs also have another important feature: they are non-toxic. While this obviously isn’t crucial when it comes to motor vehicle performance, it’s a boon to industrial food production. PAO synthetic lubricants are excellent for the machinery that processes and produces food. And of course, this is the reason that PAOs make such excellent additives to cosmetics and personal moisturizer creams.
Polyalphaolefin-Based Products
- Use in engines and motors
-
-
- Turbine lubricants
- Motor oil for passenger and heavy duty vehicles
- Transmission fluids
- Compressor oils
- Hydraulic oils
- Gear oils
-
- Use in manufacturing and food production
-
-
- Fiber optic cable lubricants
- Food grade lubricants for industrial cookers and food processors
-
- Ingredients in health and beauty goods
-
- Cosmetics
- Hair relaxers
- Antiperspirant/deodorants
- Lotions and creams
- Sunscreens
- Moisturizers
Purchasing Polyalphaolefins from ChemCeed
As mentioned above, polyalphaolefins are engineered from ethylene at a molecular level, and are versatile and varied. ChemCeed carries quite a few different varieties of PAOs for different uses. You can see all of the currently available PAOs at the dedicated Polyalphaolefin synthetic oil (PAOs) section of the company catalog.
If you’re not sure which PAO is right for you, or if you don’t see what you’re looking for, contact ChemCeed. We can answer any questions you have, and supply you with other kinds of chemically fine-tuned PAOs, beyond the ones listed in our catalog.