PLACESNFACES
Lubrizol Spends in Europe
Lubrizol is investing $20 million in its additive blending operations in Le Havre, France – its main production site in Europe – to satisfy demand for high-tier and low-SAPS engine oils. By expanding our capabilities and capacity in Le Havre, well be able to offer our customers five additional products, enhanced formulation and testing, and a point of differentiation in the competitive marketplace, said Frederick Henry, the companys EMEA manufacturing director.
Work at Le Havre will include the addition of component tanks, finished product tanks, automated manifolds and other upgrades to enhance safety and efficiency. The expansion will also provide greater flexibility of supply and better service to its customers, the company said, allowing it to manage new, more complex formulations.
ARG Sells Brad Penn
American Refining Group has agreed to sell its Brad Penn Lubricants brand to D-A Lubricant Co. of Lebanon, Ind., for an undisclosed amount. The deal is to close by Dec. 31.
ARG will continue to blend and package most Brad Penn products at its Bradford, Pa., facility, and D-A will supply the Brad Penn distributor network with its lubricant products. D-A has a 35-person sales force and will gain three more plus a technical manager from ARG, said Mike Protogere, CEO of D-A. The two companies have known each other for years, he added. We have a blending agreement because theyre more efficient at certain things than we are, and were a little more efficient at other things. So theyre still going to get a considerable amount of blending and packaging through their plant.
ARG President Jeannine Schoenecker concurred, adding, The blending and packaging agreement also contributes to our long-term strategic plan to internally blend a large majority of the base oils we produce in our refining process. ARGs Bradford refinery has capacity to make 2,400 barrels per day of API Group I and II base stocks.
CP Chem Mulls PAO Expansion
Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. is studying the idea of adding 10,000 metric tons a year of low-viscosity polyalphaolefin capacity to its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas, which currently has 48,000 t/y capacity. The needed environmental notifications are filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the company next will seek final project investment approval from its board of directors, in the second quarter of 2015. If it gets the nod, the project could be completed in 2016.
CP Chem, a 50/50 joint venture of Chevron and Phillips 66, is already enlarging Cedar Bayous normal alpha olefin capacity by 100,000 t/y, in a project due for completion in July. Since PAO molecules are built up from NAO, the feedstock for the PAO project will be in place.
Miles Oberton, CP Chems global PAO business manager, sees increasing demand for synthetic lubricants in automotive and industrial applications. In general, we see PAO demand increasing in all regions of the world, particularly the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific, he told Lube Report last month.
NLGI Seeks Papers
Technical papers are sought for presentation at the National Lubricating Grease Institutes 82nd annual meeting, June 6 to 9 in Coeur dAlene, Idaho. With the events theme of Digging into Grease Lubrication, topics related to mining equipment are encouraged, and papers covering any aspect of grease chemistry, formulation, testing and manufacturing are welcome. Authors also have the opportunity to have their papers peer-reviewed and published in the prestigious NLGI Spokesman.
NLGI also has set aside a limited number of exclusive time slots for commercial presentations. This popular marketing option carries a fee, and is allotted on a first-come first-serve basis.Find details at www.nlgi.org/call-for-papers.
Chemtura to Add Antioxidant Capacity
Citing forecasts that demand for lubricant antioxidants will grow around 5 percent annually through 2018, Chemtura is expanding antioxidant capacity at its plants in Canada, Europe and Asia. The Philadelphia-based chemical company produces alkylated diphenylamine liquid antioxidants for lubricants in Elmira, Canada, Latina, Italy, and Kaoshiung, Taiwan. Capacity at these locations will grow by 20 percent, 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively, all by 2015.
As the automotive industry sets more stringent regulations and requirements for fuel economy, there will be an unmet demand for antioxidants in the marketplace by 2017, said Kerim Wewer, of Chemtura Europes Industrial Performance Products division. We intend to ensure a continuous supply of antioxidants to the industry through these capacity additions along with future expansions.
Cost and size of the expansions were undisclosed, but company officials did note that the Elmira plant has the greatest capacity.
Wave Goodbye to ACEA 2010
ATIEL, the Technical Association of the European Lubricants Industry, reminds engine oil marketers that the ACEA 2010 Sequence officially expires on Dec. 22, 2014, for all products. All lubricant formulations marketed after that date must conform to the ACEA 2012 upgrade in order to claim they meet ACEA requirements. In turn, ACEA 2012 will expire two years after the adoption of the ACEA 2014 Sequence, which is not yet finalized. For information, see www.acea.be/industry-topics/tag/category/lubricants
KH Neochem Picks Sea-Land
Specialty chemical distributor Sea-Land Chemical Co. has entered into a non-exclusive distributor agreement with KH Neochem Americas, and now represents KH Neochems isononanoic acid business in the United States and Canada. Isononanoic acid is used as an additive component for making corrosion inhibitors which protect metal surfaces, particularly ferrous metals.
KH Neochem Americas, of Schaumburg, Ill., is part of Japans KH Neochem Co. Ltd., formerly known as Kyowa Hakko Chemical. Its product offerings include synthetic fatty acids, specialty diols, functional monomers and other high-performance chemicals based on proprietary synthesis technologies.
Swede Deal for Quaker
Quaker Chemical has bought Binol AB, a Swedish biolubricants producer and decade-long distributor of Quakers metalworking and industrial lubricants. The seller was vegetable and fats firm AAK, and the price was SEK 137 million (U.S. $18.9 million). Binol makes and markets vegetable based lubes under the Binol and BioSafe brands for metalworking and for forestry and construction. Its annual net sales are approximately SEK 100 million. With 19 employees, Binol kept its Karlshamn, Sweden, headquarters, production facility and research center. Since Nov. 3 it has operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Quaker, which is based in Conshohocken, Pa.
Additives Selects European Partner
Flint, Mich.-based Additives International, a business of Lockhart Chemical Co., has chosen Synovelle to be the exclusive distributor for its oxidates, sulfonates, rust prevention packages including gelled calcium sulfonates, and metal processing products for Europe, the former Soviet Union states, Russia and the Middle East. Synovelle is based in the United Kingdom.
Briefly Noted
Petro-Canada Lubricants has formed a second Chinese subsidiary, this time in Guangzhou, to expand its business in the southern part of the country. The company established operations in Shanghai last year.
Total has inked a three-year agreement to develop, produce and supply lubricants internationally for Sany Group, Chinas second-largest construction equipment manufacturer.
German automaker BMW has selected Shell as global supplier of aftermarket engine oils, supplying lubricant products to dealers and others for use in BMW, BMW i, BMW M, MINI and BMW Motorrad vehicles. Castrol had the contract previously.
In an Oct. 16 White House ceremony, Solazyme Inc. won the 2014 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for its sustainable oils. Made by microalgal fermentation, the oils are already found in some lubricants.
MB Wins Tech Prizes
Mercedes-Benz has scooped up a coveted Materialica Design and Technology Award for its use of fuel-saving steel pistons in aluminum-block passenger car diesel engines. As well, R&D Magazine chose the automakers Nanoslide friction-reducing cylinder coating as one of the 100 most important high-tech products launched in 2013. Both innovations were featured in an article in Septembers LubesnGreases.
Faces in the News
Warren Oil has named Carl Kernizan as chief chemist, responsible for developing new products and markets, quality upgrades and technical support for sales, especially for the lubricating greases that Warren Unilube began producing last year in West Memphis, Ark., where he now is based. Kernizan joined Warren from Axel Americas, and previously worked for Lubrizol.
Matt Mason has joined HollyFrontiers Lubricants & Specialty Products Division as product development and quality manager, working on base oil initiatives for a wide spectrum of automotive and industrial products. Masons 25 years in the lubricants industry includes extensive work on the Space Shuttle program, and he is active in SAE, STLE, NMMA and other groups.
Sea-Land Chemical has hired Ted McClure as team leader for technical resources, overseeing training for account managers and working with suppliers to provide insights into customer needs and long-term trends. McClure has long industry experience, most recently as president of the friction testing and consulting company TribSys LLC.
Thomas Norrby has joined Nynas as senior technical coordinator, naphthenics, in Nynashamn, Sweden, moving from Statoil Lubricants where he spent most of his 16 years in the lubricants industry. Also an affiliate professor at Swedens Royal Institute of Technology, Norrby will give expert support to Nynas customers using naphthenic base oils in both industrial lubes and metalworking fluids.
Jamie Day is now sales support manager for Petroleum Chemicals, and its Houston office manager. Joining the company after 11 years with a major fuel and lubricant distributor, Day will support sales with marketing research, preparation of reports and presentations, technical data, pricing updates and other activities.
Houghton International named Keller Arnold as chief financial officer, to provide strategic and operational direction to its financial, budgeting, treasury and tax departments. A graduate of the Univ. of Alabama, she previously served as CFO for Tyco Flow Control, GE Silicones and most recently Physiotherapy Associates.
Lane LeBert is the new vice president of Network Lubricants LLC, where he came aboard in 2009 as lubricant division manager/senior blending, lead chemist and technical supervisor. In this new role he will be working to expand Networks U.S. and overseas private-label business.
Elmer Cleves
Elmer Cleves, 88, founder and president of Interlube Corp. in Cincinnati, died Nov. 5. Industry peers eulogized Cleves as kind and gentle, diligent and determined, and a staunch supporter of the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association, especially its code of ethics and regulatory aims. ILMAs legal counsel Jeff Leiter recalled that Cleves provided the spark needed to enact favorable used oil legislation in 1986, convincing his congressman to release the bill after it stalled in committee. Barbara Bellanti of Battenfeld Grease & Oil Corp. said he served as the industrys conscience, always urging adherence to ethical practices and quality standards.
Following high school in 1944, Cleves was a minor league baseball player and team manager for a few years, and then pursued a career in chemical engineering. He founded Interlube, which makes industrial lubricants and cleaners, in 1969. He was preceded in death by Ruth, his wife of 55 years, and leaves a daughter, Cynthia Cleves, a son, Dr. G. Stephen Cleves, and several grandchildren.