In the world of European lubricants, the Technical Association of the European Lubricants Industry – ATIEL – is one of the major players, and one of the three supporting legs of the system known as the Triple A (so-called because each participants acronym begins with an A). These three players are:
ATIEL, the trade association for the continents lubricant manufacturers.
ACEA, which represents European automotive manufacturers.
ATC, the technical committee of petroleum additive manufacturers in Europe.
The Triple A share primary responsibility, along with the Coordinating European Council, for setting the continents automotive lubricant specifications. Each has a distinct role in ensuring that Europes 260 million vehicles get the engine oils and other lubricants they need.
Although its the leading body representing European lubricant manufacturers, there is no identical U.S. counterpart to ATIEL. Many of its functions are similar to the American Petroleum Institutes Lubricants Committee, such as establishing base oil groups, interchange and read-across guidelines for engine oil manufacturers, yet it has a far lower profile in engine oil than API.
ATIELs central technical focus is its Code of Practice, the latest edition of which was published just last month and can be found online at www.atiel.org. This 90-page document is one of the major guidances for developing and manufacturing products meeting Europes engine oil classifications, the ACEA Oil Sequences.
Despite all this, ATIEL may be the least-well-known of the Triple A brethren. Its leaders now are aiming to change that, by expanding communication with organizations within Europe and elsewhere.
Its new president, Claude Orsi, pointed out, Our association represents at least 95 percent of all lube production in Europe. We would hope that the European Commission would have an increased awareness of our role and the huge depth and breadth of technical knowledge our companies can bring to bear, especially linked to the supply chain.
We do recognize, however, that lubricant issues probably dont arise too often, he added wryly, and that we need to take an active role in promoting our associations skills and expertise.
In late September, Orsi and other ATIEL members met with LubesnGreases in Brussels, to describe its role in engine oil development. Lube manufacturers, base oil refiners, additive companies, and vehicle manufacturers naturally bring different needs and agendas to the table when engine oil upgrades are being hammered out. Yet, we work with our colleagues in the Triple A and have an equal voice with them, noted Orsi. Within our area in the Triple A and the CEC we are definitely heard, concurred Peter Brett of BP-Castrol, allowing, How much our voice is heard depends on the individual incident.
The key element which ATIEL brings to the table, said Bob Mainwaring of Shell, is data. If we produce reasonable technical data with respect to developing technical specifications and limits, we will get a fair hearing.
He gave an example of how data can influence the final outcome. Recently, ATC and ATIEL had a concern with the limits on a proposed end-of-life Total Base Number measurement for engine oils, a new requirement that auto companies wanted included in the 2008 ACEA Oil Sequences. ACEA proposed a solution, and then ATC, with some support from ATIEL, accrued substantial amounts of data to reshape the earlier proposal – and this led to a revision of the initial proposal that was more acceptable to all groups. It was accepted for inclusion in the ACEA 2008 Oil Sequences.
This was a good illustration of reasoned debate and consensus output, Mainwaring emphasized. Nevertheless, earlier discussion in which an issue – rather than the solution – is discussed would help keep us all on one side. That success also illustrates the amount of effort and energy required to develop a robust and meaningful test and performance limits. This was a relatively minor bench test and it took a lot of time and effort to produce the necessary data. Its difficult to mount that kind of effort for many issues.
At Core, the Code
As mentioned, the jewel in ATIELs crown is its Code of Practice, which Mainwaring calls an essential part of what ATIEL is about.
The 13-year-old Code of Practice is designed to guide lubricant manufacturers and-marketers when developing engine lubricants to meet the performance requirements of ACEA Oil Sequences. The Code provides a technical framework to be followed – whether independently or in collaboration with a petroleum additive supplier or other partner. And the Code puts full responsibility for the quality of the lubricant reaching the consumer, with the performance claims being made, solidly upon the oil marketer.
Here again, the core of the Code is data, much of it public, that demonstrates an oil has passed the tests required to claim it meets an ACEA Sequence. Laboratories that perform the tests must be accredited, and re-accredited periodically, against a number of ISO standards.
This framework supports the European Engine Lubricants Quality Management System (EELQMS), a continent-wide system which was established in 1996. EELQMS guarantees and maintains quality standards in the field of engine lubricants and also is built on ISO quality standards.
Although Europe has no formal engine oil quality monitoring program like APIs Aftermarket Auditing Program, quality assurance is covered in the ATIEL Code, and participating oil marketers sign on with a Letter of Conformance. Signatories agree to follow all ACEA testing requirements, to have all products manufactured in lube plants certified to ISO 9001 or an equivalent quality system, and to adhere to strict guidelines if they need to change base oils or viscosity modifiers.
All of ATIELs members have signed onto our Code of Practice, as have other European marketers who are not ATIEL members, Mainwaring pointed out. Adherence to the Code is assured by reference to international quality standards like ISO 9001 and independent auditing. So given these additional safeguards, you have the assurance that their oils meet specifications.
In North America and much of the world, API Service Categories and ILSAC GF-series specifications form the basis for most automakers lubricant recommendations, and usually are referenced in owners manuals.
By contrast, many European automakers use the ACEA Oil Sequences, and these quality specifications provide strong performance in their own right. Additionally, some OEMs such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz choose to expand and raise the performance of engine oils by using their own proprietary specs.
This means ACEA specifications are not uniformly referenced in the continents vehicle owners manuals. Individual OEMs may add to or tailor the ACEA specifications to meet the unique needs of their engines; lubricant manufacturers must meet the OEMs specification before they can display these proprietary oil specs or approvals on their product labels.
In addition, individual OEMs maintain their own approval systems of differing scope and depth. For example, Mercedes publishes lists of all approved service products and their marketers on the website, https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com. Every customer and dealer has easy online access here to the current approved products. Moreover, Mercedes has time-limited approvals, with a maximum of five years. On top of that, oil marketers have to confirm the actual product status to Mercedes by a yearly verification. Other OEMs also have their own programs for ensuring oil quality.
Working Together
Over the past decade, Shells Mainwaring said, he has seen a continuation of effective communication among the major associations in the lubricants industry. Especially, he noted, communications could be improved with earlier and more frequent dialogue.
Perhaps he said, an unfortunate impediment to continuing good communications recently is the impact of tougher economic times, which manifest themselves in reduced travel to meetings and less overall support for collectively developed specifications and policies.
BP-Castrols Brett added, There may also be a reduced willingness for companies to provide established and experienced people to Triple A activities.
The two pointed to another joint effort: several refresher sessions with ACEAs Fuels & Lubricant Working Group over the past few years. Weve found these sessions to be very helpful as they promote a shared understanding of EELQMS and the Code of Practice, particularly with the many new company representatives who have often been in these groups for two years or less, said Brett.
Looking westward, ATIEL has developed a strong relationship with API. The two groups share a major goal of minimizing testing costs, a goal that benefits from the groups coordination of base oil and viscosity grade read-across guidelines.
From Washington, D.C., APIs Dennis Bachelder confirmed the cross-Atlantic interest. He noted, API is interested in building a working relationship with ATIEL on the basis that both organizations have essentially the same system for BOI-VGRA. Close cooperation avoids confusion and provides a better technical foundation.
Chevrons John Rosenbaum, chairman of the API task force for Base Oil Interchange and Viscosity Grade Read-Across, says the two organizations have developed a strong working relationship. Since 2005 we have set a goal that at least one API BOI-VGRA Task Force member attend an ATIEL meeting annually to keep them apprised of API BOI-VGRA goings-on and to better understand what they are doing and how they do it, he explained. And in the past two years, ATIEL has reciprocated by sending representatives to at least one of our BOI-VGRA meetings each year.
This intercontinental cooperation is vital, as Rosenbaum points out, given the overlapping interests of lubricant companies on both sides of the Atlantic.
At a time when many lubricant companies have global businesses, having these two technical committees stay in touch with each other is important, he continued. When we develop definitions, processes and guidelines, we would prefer to be aligned with our sister committee in Europe. ATIELs opinions have been very helpful as we work to establish and update definitions underlying our interchange and read-across rules.
The API task forces vice chairman, Charles Baker of ExxonMobil, added, Both groups have independently developed similar key elements of their approach to BOI-VGRA such as similar definitions [for Base Stock Groups] as well as similar principles, such as data-supported rules. For example, he said, the interactions between the two groups have helped both organizations update PAO key read-across properties, and we look forward to ATIELs input and open dialogue as the base stock landscape continues to evolve.