That, according to one industry insider, is the situation facing European suppliers of metalworking fluids. In an October presentation here at the annual congress of the Independent Union of the European Lubricants Industry, Cimcools Christian Eyler discussed the decline of metalworking fluids in the region. He also described the burden of the myriad of regulations that weigh upon the industry, as well as ever-evolving customer demands that urge it forward.

He concluded that suppliers need to proactively monitor developments on all three fronts and strive to respond to them early.

A SHRINKING INDUSTRY

As for other categories of lubricants, demand for metalworking fluids was declining in Europe even before the recession. The region consumed approximately 330,000 metric tons of metalworking fluids in 2001 based on statistics compiled by Europalub, Eyler said, but only 300,000 tons in 2008. Then the market took a big hit during the economic downturn. Cimcool, a division of Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.-based metalworking fluid supplier Milacron, estimates that demand fell to less than 210,000 tons in 2009.

Reliable, publicly available data on metalworking fluids is difficult to find. The latest full-year statistics when Eyler gave his speech were the 2008 numbers compiled by Europalub, an independent Paris-based group that gathers European lubricant data. Eyler did offer more recent data from France as an indicator of trends for the rest of Europe. According to the Centre Professionals des Lubrifiants, the country consumed just over 60,000 tons of metalworking fluids in 2008, a drop of 18 percent from 2001. Demand then fell another 21 percent in 2009, to less than 50,000 tons.

The market rebounded somewhat in 2010. For the first seven months of the year French consumption of metalworking fluids was approximately 35,000 tons, an increase of 28 percent from the same period of 2009.

There are a couple reasons for falling demand, said Eyler, Cimcools general manager for France. One is the migration of metalworking industries to other regions. Another is increased efficiency in the use of metalworking fluids.

RIDDLED WITH REGULATIONS

Regulations are hampering the use of some materials that have been part of the industrys tool kit. Eyler cited the example of boric acids and borates, which have been flagged as a potential hazard under the CLP regulation, Europes effort to bring classification, packaging and labeling rules into compliance with the United Nations Global Harmonized System. Boric acid is a starting ingredient in the production of corrosion inhibitors that are widely used in metalworking fluids. In June of 2010, EU regulators found that boric acid, boric oxide and specific sodium borate salts are toxic to reproduction insofar that they may damage fertility in humans and may damage an unborn child.

Industry debated the finding, citing what it described as a century of safe use, but the regulatory decision landed the chemicals on a Candidate List of materials being considered for designation as Substances of Very High Concern. Chemicals designated SVHC are subject to restrictions on their usage.

So far this has not resulted in interdiction, Eyler emphasized. But it does create immediate legal obligations, including notification and communication with customers. More stringent requirements could be imposed in the future, depending on how the case resolves.

The new regime of regulations could come down harder on another group of chemicals – formaldehyde-releasing agents. Substances that release formaldehyde can be used in biocides – products that are critical to efforts to prevent and control the growth of noxious and potentially hazardous bacteria in metalworking fluids.

Though common in the natural environment, formaldehyde has been classified in France as carcinogenic based on findings that prolonged exposure to formaldehyde fumes can cause a type of cancer in rats. As a result, Eyler said, France since 2007 has required suppliers of products with formaldehyde-releasing agents to replace them wherever technically possible. Where not possible, users are required to take steps to minimize worker exposure. The list of protective measures includes encapsulating machines, frequently measuring ambient chemical levels, and regular health checks for those workers who are exposed.

EU regulators are now considering extending that treatment to the rest of the region. The outcome is not certain, Eyler said, because some disagreement remains about whether formaldehyde is carcinogenic. Medical studies continue even as the European Chemical Agency considers the evidence.

The whole procedure takes about two and a half years, Eyler said. A conclusion is expected by mid-2013.

Occasionally there is a bit of good news regarding regulations. Since 2006, the European Commission has prohibited the sale of biocides unless they have undergone extensive testing to determine if they are hazardous to humans or the environment. In 2009, the commission adopted a new Biocide Directive. As Eyler explained, it retained the same two-step approval process, but it also established new rules for data collection and the sharing of test results, making those processes easier for suppliers. The new directive decreed that in the future suppliers will be able to ask the EC for authorizations that cover the entire region. That could be substantially easier than the current system, which has each country granting its own approvals.

The collective impact of these mandates on metalworking fluids has been huge, Eyler said. By prohibiting the use of certain chemicals – and by discouraging the use of others that are subject to requirements such as testing and informing customers – regulations have reduced the variety of fluids on the market. Since some replacement substances are more expensive, costs for raw materials and finished products have also risen.

We also now have more labeling of products as dangerous, although compositions are unchanged, he said. With so many constraints, the industry has evolved to the point where most new product formulations focus on replacing problematic raw materials, as opposed to developing new products. Real innovation needs to be out of the box.

CALL FOR INNOVATION

Innovation is needed, he said, because users of metalworking fluids are demanding better performance. The auto industry wants fluids that will better protect work pieces and machine tools while at the same time allowing higher production rates. Original equipment manufacturers are also making greater use of exotic metals, such as palladium, gallium, magnesium and titanium. As a result, they want multi-phase fluids that can be used effectively with more than one metal.

The aerospace industry is also honing its products and processes in ways that affect metalworking fluids. Manufacturers of some components are adopting ultra-high-pressure fluid systems in order to increase productivity. Turbine casing producers are replacing carbide milling inserts with ceramic alternatives that can work at speeds 20 to 30 times faster. All of these changes require higher fluid performance.

Across various types of industries, manufacturers with cutting operations are running at higher speeds. Others are employing flow-forming and hydro-forming processes where fluids themselves – applied at extremely high pressures – shape the work piece. These changes also demand higher performance from fluids.

Efforts to meet these demands for new and better fluids will be complicated, Eyler said, by trends that tend to push down demand volumes. Automakers have increased their use of aluminum the past 15 years, as the average vehicle contained 157 kilograms of the metal in 2010, up from 73 kg in 1995. But the industry is now looking for ways to cut out metal, using plastics or ceramics where possible in order to reduce weight. Obviously, wherever metal is removed from a vehicle it eliminates the need for a metalworking process and a metalworking fluid.

Aerospace manufacturers are also replacing some metal parts with carbon fiber materials – to the same effect. Fabricators of fan and turbine structures for planes are turning to near net shape production, an approach that starts with a workpiece closer to the final product so that less metal needs to be removed – which also means less fluid used. Manufacturing in general is witnessing two other trends – dry machining and microlubrication – which greatly reduce fluid consumption wherever they are adopted.

Eyler said he does see innovation taking place in several areas. Historically, API Group I oils have been the dominant base stock choice for producers making oil based fluids. Group I capacities have been steadily declining, leading formulators to replace them with Group II and Group III stocks, or sometimes esters or other synthetics. This sometimes requires adjustments in additives, too, since the replacements may have less sulfur or lower levels of solubility.

The industry is also investigating new approaches for bacteria control. Some companies are trying bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria and then multiply to the point of bursting its cell wall, thereby killing the bacteria.

Eyler explained that bacteriophages were used for more than 60 years in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe as alternatives to antibiotics and have been accepted elsewhere as therapy against drug resistant strains of bacteria. In 2006 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of bacteriophages on cheese to kill a specific bacterium, and the same bacteriophages were approved for use on all foods a year later.

Is it possible that bacteriophages could be used in metalworking fluids as an alternative to biocides? Eyler asked.

Other researchers are exploring the possibility of using biocides based on novel nanomaterials, which could kill bacteria but then be removed from fluid without themselves deteriorating. In this way the nanomaterials could be recycled.

Eyler said its important for metalworking fluids suppliers to take active steps to stay abreast of regulations. He urged suppliers to become members of industry associations. He advised them to stay familiar with the requirements of REACH and other laws and to be proactive in ensuring that they and their customers are in compliance. In particular, he said they should follow lists of Substances of Very High Concern and decide how to react. He said fluid suppliers should have waste policies and should also know the policies of customers.

Likewise, he said, fluid suppliers need to stay on top of innovations within the industry. They need to tune into technological trends among end-user industries and try to have products ready when they are needed. He advised finding out about customers water quality and addressing any issues it creates for metalworking fluids. He said it is also important to stay aware of new fluid technologies. Given the growing concern with environmental impacts, he said it is prudent to focus on developing products that are bio-stable.