DESIGN A LUBE OIL BLENDING PLANT FOR BASE

LUBRICATING OIL PRODUCTION

Name Roll Number

Debottam Biswas 002010301097
Debarghya Chakrabarti 002010301098
Rohan Agarwal 002010301100
Dip Biswas 002010301101
Aditya Agarwal 002010301103
Kaushik Sana 302110301001
SK Mhafujur Rahaman 302110301002
Jharna Saha 302110301003
Koushik Maji 302110301004
Masum Reza 302110301005
Sohom Chakraborty 302110301011
Sujata Mahato 302110301015

Problem Statement:
DESIGN A LUBE OIL BLENDING PLANT FOR BASE LUBRICATING OIL
PRODUCTION .
(All relevant data and assumptions should be clearly justified on a
contemporary basis)
Introduction:
Lubricating oils are designed to perform several jobs in engines and
other industrial machines. These are primarily used in lubrication of
moving parts, cooling, cleaning and corrosion control. Lube base
stocks produced by refineries and petrochemical manufacturers
(synthetic lube base stocks) are used to produce a large number of
products such as the following:
 Gasoline and diesel engine oils
 Agricultural engine oils
 Marine engine oils
 Aviation and turbine oils
 Hydraulic and transmission oils
 Gear oils  Automotive and industrial greases
 Metal working oils
 Electrical insulating oils
 White mineral oils
 Process oils
Automotive engine oils, transmission oils, and gear lubricants
constitute roughly two thirds of the total lube oils produced. Most of
these products are prepared by blending an appropriate percentage
of additives with lube base stocks. For every application, the base
stock and additive package has to be carefully selected to meet the
compatibility and requirements of the intended application.

CLASSIFICATION OF LUBRICATING OILS :

Lubricating oils and greases can be classified in many ways, by their
end use, by viscosity grades, by their additives package, or by their
producer’s brand names. The most popular classification of lubes is
according to their usage:
• Engine oils (petrol and diesel engines, aircraft, marine engines)
• Turbine oils • Gear oils • Compressor (refrigeration, air) oils
• Quench oils used in metalworking
• Cutting oils (in metal cutting)
• Insulating oils used in transformer and circuit breakers
• Wire rope lubricants
• Chain lubricants
• Hydraulic oils
The type of base oil (naphthenic, paraffinic, or synthetic) and
additives may vary to provide the qualities required for a given
application.

LUBRICANT MANUFACTURING :
Mixing base oil and additives produces lubricants. A convectional
high performance lubricant contains typically additive components
with high concentration of metal organic components based on the
establish rules “more calcium, zinc, magnesium and also of course
phosphorous and sulphur better the lubricants”. Modern Lubricants
will continue to be a global push to reduce CO2 emission targets for
e.g. in the EU the heterogeneous fleet emission targets will be down
from 160 g/km in 2006 to 95 g/km in 2020-21. The new stringent
emission standards lead to new lubricants with lower ash forming
and less sulphur and phosphor contents. Also the new requirements
of the car industry on longer oil change cycles, less frictions and
optimal wear protection leads to new developments of additive
packages.
These low SAPS motor oil (sulphated ash, phosphorus, sulphur)
became a construction element for the machineries to cool, clean,
prevent corrosion, reduce oxidation and prevent wax crystals forming
when the weather is very cold. A mixture for this type of lubricants
could contain, beside base oil, up to 20% additives. The penetration
of e.g. low SAPS motor oils will impact lubricant production
equipment and creates also range of opportunities for the lubricants
producer.

Schematic Diagram of Lube Production:

Market Research:
The production of lubricants is distributed 46% on automotive
lubricants and 54% on industrial lubricants, like hydraulic fluids,
turbines, insulation oil, grease as well as pharmaceuticals. Both
segments have different characteristics and strategies.
The lubricants have to undergo strict quality tests before they are
accepted by the automobile industry. The test procedures are
defined by API (American Petroleum Institute), ASTM (American
Society for Testing and Materials), SEE (socity of Automotive
Engineers) and by personalized approvals from the machines
manufactories called OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer).
The automotive lubricants are more or less consumer products,
while industrial lubricants are sold like industrial goods.
In the past, the market participants have concentrated mainly on the
distribution of mass-products. This trend has changed totally. Today,
the marketing and the development of lubricant brands have become
more important.
The Indian lubricant market is expected to register a CAGR of 4.64%,
during the forecast period, 2019-2024. The major factors driving the
growth of the market are the increasing vehicular production along
with the increasing construction and infrastructure activities in the
country.
 Increasing drain intervals in the automotive and industrial sectors
and the modest impact of electric vehicles in the future are likely to
hinder the market growth.
 By product type, engine oil dominated the market in 2018.
 Automotive and other transport dominated the market in 2018,
owing to the increasing production of automobiles in the country.
Increasing Demand from the Automotive Industry 
India is the second largest lubricant consumer in the region, and third
in the world, after the United States and China. The country is the
fourth and sixth largest producer of commercial vehicles and
passenger cars, respectively.
 The country’s automotive industry accounts for around 7.1% of the
country’s GDP, in which the two-wheeler segment accounts for a
share of around 81% share, owing to the growing young and
middleclass population. Additionally, the government’s initiatives,
such as the Make in India campaign, are helping the local and state-
owned manufacturers to provide their products to consumers and
offer stiff competition to the international players.
 Moreover, with the consistent economic development and rising
incomes, the automotive industry has been witnessing a continued
shift in vehicle preferences, from two- to four-wheelers, which helps
to augment the demand for passenger car motor oils (PCMO).
 Furthermore, as the companies are interested in entering the rural
markets, with their improvement, the automotive industry is
expected to witness further growth. A share of passenger vehicle
sales originates from rural areas, especially utility vehicles and SUVs,
which are used for both transporting goods and passengers.
 In India, with the increasing demand for vehicles, several
automakers have started investing heavily in various segments of the
industry. Furthermore, the Indian government has been rolling out
initiatives to attract FDI in the automotive industry, allowing 100%
FDI under the automatic route. The government has also planned to
introduce a new Green Urban Transport Scheme with central
assistance of about INR 250 billion, to boost the growth of urban
transport, along the lowcarbon path, with an aim to reduce air
pollution substantially.
  The aforementioned growth in the automotive industry is expected
to boost the demand for lubricants in the country.

Growing Usage of Transmission and Hydraulic Fluid

 Hydraulic oils and transmission fluids transmit power in hydraulic
equipment and are used in power transmission applications. They are
incompressible fluids that are used as the power transmitting media
in hydraulic systems.
 Hydraulic power systems involve a series of tubes or elastomeric
hoses for transmitting pressurized fluid, a pump (as a power source),
and some type of control (typically a series of valves, actuators, or
cylinders) as the power transmission media, hydraulic fluids are
indispensable in these systems.
 Transmission oils are essential to clean and protect the surface,
condition gaskets, rise temperature range, increase rotational speed,
and improve cooling function, and reduce high temperatures. They
are used to lubricate, transfer energy, ensure smooth transmission in
motor vehicles, agriculture equipment, construction, and mining
equipment.
 There are both automatic and manual transmission fluids for
automatic and manual transmission vehicles respectively, although
automatic fluids are gaining increasing popularity. Most automatic
transmission systems use automatic transmission fluid (ATF) as a
hydraulic fluid and a gear lubricant. Automatic transmission fluids
could be pressurized by a pump and regulated by valves, similar to
other hydraulic systems.
 Hydraulic fluids are used as a medium for transferring power and
energy in hydraulic systems. Additionally, they are used for heat
transfer, sealing, contaminant removal, and lubrication.
 The majority of the hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oils. The
applications of these fluids include excavators, hydraulic brakes, lifts,
flight control systems, power steering systems, excavator booms,
dippers, hydraulic brakes, power steering systems, mechanical
transmission systems, lifts, and general industrial machinery.
 The increasing automotive industry and industrial growth in the
country are expected to boost the demand for transmission and
hydraulic fluids, during the forecast period.

Automobile Lubricant production in India has experienced a strong

growth of 14 percent from 2007-2018. Like most Asian countries,
India has a large percentage of two-wheelers, accounting for more
than threefourths of the total automobile production in 2012-2013.
India is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of two-wheelers and
exported 12 percent of them in 2012-2013. Consequently,
motorcycle oil is the largest product category in the consumer
automotive lubricants segment, with about 60 percent of the
consumer automotive lubricants. Overall, consumer automotive
lubricants account for 13 percent of the total market.
The market for commercial automotive lubricants declined in 2013
due to the retarded economic growth, as well as its impact on such
sectors as logistics, construction, mining and agriculture. In India,
more than half of the commercial automotive lubricant market is
controlled by nationalized oil companies.
Industrial lubricants is the largest market segment in India, with
more than 54 percent of the total market. Power generation,
chemicals, automotive and other manufacturing, railways, marine,
and metals are the leading end-user industries, accounting for nearly
80 percent of industrial lubricant consumption.
India is a huge market for process oils as well, with 53 percent of the
overall industrial lubricant demand. Rapid expansion of the power
generation and distribution infrastructure has also created a strong
demand for transformer oils in India. Industrial engine oils (including
marine and railroad), metalworking fluids and hydraulic fluids are
other important product categories.
The per capita lubricant consumption in India is quite low compared
to developed countries. However, a comparison with other
developing countries like China and Indonesia reveals significant
potential in India for growth in lubricant consumption.
Lube Oil Blending Plant (LOBP) One aspect of the plant design is the
optimization of capital expansions (CAPEX), operation expansion’s
(OPEX) as well as maintenance costs and on the other hands to the
integration in the supply and logistic of the customer to react fast
and cost effective.
If we have a look into the cost structure of a typical lube oil blending,
filling and packaging plant around 75% are related to raw material
like base oils and additives, 15% for production and 10% for logistic
and working capital. Reducing operation expenses is the energy
driving and must work on the improvement of chain security for raw
material > lower tank farm capacity, cost volume – formulations >
blending & filling equipment and production cost per liter lubricants
> automation.