Alkylated naphthalene - its not a synthetic base oil

http://www.lubrizol.com/referencelibrary/lubtheory/prop.htm
http://www.lubrizol.com/referencelibrary/readyreference/5-lubeadditives.htm
http://www.melakatoday.com.my/eshop/additive.htm

Its a pour point depressant. Its an additive that lowers the temp at which the wax ( paraffin ) starts to seperate out of the base oil and become a solid.

So now I'm confused. Mobil tried to describe it as a base oil, and one that was included to help reduce deposits. I can't find any information to support that statement!

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My Project GTD and diesel page
http://kozmik.guelph.on.ca/gtdproject

http://www.lubrizol.com/referencelibrary/lubtheory/base.htm#syn

Did some more digging. Check out this link.

Alkylated Aromatics are listed as a type of synthetic base oil. Perhaps this is what mobil meant to say? Going to email jay and see what he says.

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My Project GTD and diesel page
http://kozmik.guelph.on.ca/gtdproject

Hmmm. Well, it's either a "new" type of base stock oil or it's an additive. I wouldn't try to read too much into what Mobil's tech desk people say. They might not necessarily have a thorough understanding of the subject. Let's face it: 99.9% of the questions they get are of the "can I use this in my lawn mower?" variety.

SkyPup: You're up! What's "alkylated naphthalene?" I know that the active ingredients in DieselMotive fuel additive are Naphtha and Stoddard Solvent. That's not much to go on, but it kind of sounds to me like Alkylated Naphthalene is a crankcase and oil system cleaner of some kind, not a base oil.

-mickey

The price of the tri-synthetic is only twenty five cents a quart higher than the oil Mobil 1. Whatever this compound is they obiviously haven't added very much of it to the formulation. It makes sense that it adds solvency properties if they claim it reduces engine deposits ....

Ted

I should have checked here first.

My book says it is a synthetic lube, and in the other thread I added a bunch of info fomr the book. It certainly has properties of a syn lube -

If anyone wants I can go through anything you want to know about it, my book has a whole chapter on these types of lubes and a section on this specific one. Lots of info, how to make it, ingredients and catalysts and well ask away.

-G

So does this prove that Mobil uses 100% synthetics?

This oil issue has really taxed some off my friendships. Sort of like showing all of the slides, and baby pictures.

Excellent information!

If synthetics are superior to limiting deposits why would Mobil alter it's formulation, have to recertify, and add a solvent?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by valois:
If synthetics are superior to limiting deposits why would Mobil alter it's formulation, have to recertify, and add a solvent?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My guess is primarily cost, Zerol a synthetic AlkylBenzene refrigerant oil is less than polyolester refrigerant oil... Mobil probably found a way to drop costs slightly. And... the are are two other reasons I can think of.

One reason might be deposit control issues, and there are some deposits that PAO /Ester blends do not excel at controlling, when compared to mineral oil.

Another reason is Mobil does have a patent, or patent application, for alylated napthalene
http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/details?pn=US05008460__


>>>Synthetic lubricating oils having a predetermined alkylaromatic structure are prepared from a mixture of mono- or dialkenyl benzene with an aliphatic olefin by free-radical reaction in the presence of ditertiary-butyl peroxide, for example. Equivalent napthalene derivatives may be substituted for the dialkenyl benzene. The oils that are formed exhibit a high Viscosity Index, and a low pour point. The viscosity of the synthetic lube stock produced may be controlled by changing the amount of peroxide used. <<<

One of my friends at Mobil told me, a while back, that the new Mobil 1 was cheaper to make. That Mobil was worried that Castrol could cut their synthetic oil prices tremendously.

richard


[This message has been edited by fields (edited May 01, 2000).]

I think that Fields has hit the nail on the head ...since Castrol started using the less expensive hydroisomerized basestock,they are in a position to offer "sales" on Syntec and drop the price by fifty cents to a dollar a quart. Most people also buy synthetics based on low price, not quality, and this would affect sales of Mobil 1.

From a performance standpoint, I haven't seen any data (like spec sheets) that would suggest that the Tri-synthetic offers any tangible advantages over their older formulation, except for reducing the phosphorus content to extend catalyst life.

TooSlick