In 2015, Russian demand for industrial oils stood at 750,000 tons and metalworking fluids comprised 20 percent of that, according to Kline & Co., which also predicts modest growth of the countrys industrial oil demand of not larger than 1 percent over the next five years.

Russia Challenges and Solutions

The two key drivers comprise demand from the original equipment manufacturers, like Daimler or VAG, which have firm standards and requirements, and the demand from producers [i.e., consumers of fluids] with no severe internal standards such as aged plants or startups, Artem Chaltsev, project manager for development of specialty products in LLK International, told RPIs International Lubricants Conference held in Moscow last fall. While European markets are pushed forward by the former driver, the Russian market is boosted by the latter, he added. Russian oil major Lukoils lubricants division, LLK International, is the largest lubricant marketer in Russia.

These restraints show that different factors stand behind the development of metalworking fluid formulations in certain economies, Chaltsev said. LLK International found that systemcurbes associated with GOST (the leftover Soviet-era quality standard now adopted across the Commonwealth of Independent States) comprise at least 50 percent of the countrys total industry, particularly in the metalworking sector. And it is also used in sectors such as heavy machine and shipbuilding, metallurgy and even aerospace.

The company said that the different economic and industry backgrounds in Europe and Russia mean different approaches to the metalworking fluids formulations. In Russia, LLK accommodates to the unique conditions of the countrys industry and is developing products used only there, Chaltsev continued.

LLK says that the logistics costs for imported products and additives to make metalworking fluids are expensive and are affected by problems with intermediate dealers and players. They increase chances for risks, and it is hard to manage, Chaltsev said.

On the other hand, LLK says that European environmental legislation is more stringent than Russian regulations. The Russian industry started to produce many substances that are hardly available in European markets. These products have country-specific features, Chaltsev said. Many products would not pass REACH regulations.

REACH, or Registration, Evaluation, Authorization of Chemicals, is a European Union-wide register of chemicals that aims to improve human health and environmental safety through the identification of harmful chemical substances. Russian lubricant makers are not following REACH if they are not planning to export in the EU, Thomas Norrby, senior technical advisor for lubricants at Nynas, told LubesnGreases. For example, they are not constrained by the limitations of boric acid, which is a very cost effective and cheap additive that does multiple positive things such as corrosion protection, [modifies] friction and wear and is a biocide. Boric acid is a biostatic corrosion inhibitor and pH stabilizer used in MWFs that was claimed in some studies to be harmful to reproductive health.

When it comes to the restraints in Russia, MWFs development can be curbed by a vulnerability to bio-contamination, which affects the lifetime of the product. In addition, the environmental regulations, as is the case with REACH, restrict the use of many additives and substances, according to LLK.

However, Russians are not constrained by the use of formaldehyde release agents, which also are restricted by the European regulation, he added. There are number of different solutions and options in different markets as the regulations in these markets are not the same. Formaldehyde-releasing agents, such as condensate biocides, are used in MWFs tanks to inhibit bacterial and fungal growth.

New Era

Chaltsev claims that LLKs new generation of products uses core local chemistry delicately modified by imported additives. This chemistry is based on sulfonates and their derivatives, amide emulsifiers, ethoxylated fatty alcohols, alkanolamines, fatty acids and related substances, he said, adding that LLK also uses synthetic and natural esters, glycols and organic phosphates and synthetic technologies in all lower viscosities.

Norrby acknowledged that Russians have a number of solutions for low-end soluble oils or regular milky emulsions provided by companies such as Rosneft or Lukoil. The high-end applications used for example in the Russian defense sector, where precision is essential, are somewhat reliant on imported metalworking fluids, he said. There is a workaround for emulation of the imported quality stuff, thus this drives change and appetites for semi-synthetics.

LLK found that synthetic solutions have perfect colloidal stability, do not make deposits of sedimentations or oily film, are extremely stable against bacteria and can be used in water of various hardness. However, when synthetics are used, in some cases it is hard to combine cleaning with no foaming properties. Also, it is challenging to create proper lubricity and fluids that are stable against fungi, and to choose glycol components that do not leave slimy deposits, Chaltsev said.

LLK offers a large metalworking fluids portfolio that has become broader in the past few years. We can agree that the quality of these products now [when compared with the 1990s and early 2000s] is much better, but that comes with higher premium costs, he said.

European MWFs at Crossroads

Several challenges confront suppliers of metal working fluids. Modern metals allow for the machining of highly durable parts and this raises issues of how to machine them into a final shape at a reasonable cost per part. Different types of material need different metalworking fluid solutions to machining challenges. We have fully hardened steels that are tougher and gummier, and tend to work-harden very rapidly, Norbby said. He also pointed to the difficulty of machining heat-resistant super alloys such as inconel (a range of alloys containing nickel and chromium that can be used in extreme pressure and heat environments), waspaloy (also nickel based and used in high heat applications) and titanium 6-14V, a widely used low-density corrosion resistant alloy. In addition, bimetals have hard materials in select wear areas that are surrounded by or mixed with softer alloys.

The future growth of the sector may also be hampered by metalworking shops switching to minimum-quantity lubrication as a step toward fluid-free operation altogether. Nynas estimates that in Europe, MWF volumes are expected to decrease by 30 to 50 percent by 2025, and the primary reason for this will be dry machining and minimum-quantity lubrication.

In minimum-quantity lubrication processes, very small quantities of high-lubricity oil mixed with air are applied at the precise point of contact between the tool and the workpiece and can provide micro-lubrication for near-dry machining. It also reduces or eliminates problems associated with thermal shocking of the machine piece and reduces workplace mist and spray, providing more acceptability when used on unenclosed machines. Minimum-quantity lubrication cutting fluids can be classed as low-emission lubricants, Norrby added.

A further challenge to the MWF lubrication business is 3D printing technology, whereby material is not removed to shape the piece but is built up in layers to form an object. In additive manufacturing, material is added not removed, so thats why no removal fluids are necessary, Norrby explained. In metalworking circles, this is called additive manufacturing (not related with lubricant additives).

In what has traditionally been metalworking territory, 3D printing is now commercially viable for replacing very complex cast products. It is also extensively used for prototyping, the design of models and short, one-off series. To say the least, this led to establishing of new aspect in manufacturing, he said.

Metalworking industries in both Russia and Europe have their own peculiar characteristics and require different approaches in the formulation of fluids for tool and machine building. While sophisticated Western technologies have arrived in the Russian market, they have still not been fully adopted by the industry. Regarding the high-end aerospace and rocketry applications, Norrby is confident: Clearly, Russian lube marketers have an ambition to develop their in-house original formulations for these advanced materials, which is in line with their import substitution policy.