• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.632-637
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• 2017

The vehicle lubricant occupies upto 35% in a total lubricant market and engine oil occupies upto 77% in the vehicle lubricant market in Korea. A suitable quality management of the circulating engine oil is necessary for driver and engine protection. But, KS and synthetic engine oil products (involved over 30% synthetic oil) are exempt to any quality management under Petroleum and Alternative Fuel Business Act. It is also known that synthetic oils such as PAO (poly alpha olefin) have excellent properties and performance like anti-wear, varnish control and oxidation stability than those of mineral oils. For this reason, PAO has been used for an engine oil, rotary screw and reciprocating compressor in addition to heavy duty and other extreme service applications. In this study, our research group analyzed the chromatogram pattern for the mineral oil, PAO and mineral oil involved a typical ratio of PAO using SIMDIST (simulated distillation). In the SIMDIST chromatogram, the mineral oil showed a broad peak, while PAO showed a sharp typical peak. Also the oil with a large viscosity grade exhibited a long retention time due to the heavy molecular weight and high boiling point. In particular, the blended mineral oil with 20% PAO sample showed a distinctly different pattern compared to that of using the conventional mineral oil. For monitoring PAO contents in distributing engine oils, we analyzed the SIMDIST for 27 kinds of engine oils which were popularly sold in Korea. The analytic results indicate that all kinds of engine oils showed that PAO contents were below 20% in engine oil products. Moreover, the PAO titled product was found to have a small amount of PAO. Thus, we conclude that the related laws for the proper quality management of synthetic oils are needed to be established.