NanoLub Nanolubricant Oil Additive

Photos and text courtesy ApNano Materials, Inc.

Nanotechnology-Based Engine Oil Lubricant Claimed to Reduce Fuel Consumption by >5%

March 14, 2009 – We get a lot of press releases and most of them go directly to the bitslag bucket, but this one seems interesting, so take a look and let us know what you think.

UPDATE:  New Test: Nanotechnology-Based NanoLub Lubricant Significantly Reduces Gear Wear

New York, NY, April 23, 2009. ApNano Materials, Inc. a cleantech company and provider of nanotechnology-based products, today announced that new test conducted at the FZG Gear Research Centre of the Technical University of Munich, Germany, clearly shows that ApNano Material’s nanotechnology-based lubricant NanoLub significantly decreases damaging wear pits on gear teeth. The test was done on oil that was formulated with a NanoLub additive.

“The test proves that NanoLub significantly enhances automotive and industrial gear oils, improving pitting resistance,” said Dr. Menachem Genut, ApNano Materials’ President and CEO.

“Gear teeth are especially vulnerable to micro-pitting and reducing this damage can save high costs of replacement and repair, making the gears operational 24/7.  For Example, Anglo-American, one of the largest mining companies in the world has begun to use NanoLub in its heavy mining equipment in Chile.”

“The new test further enhances NanoLub’s position in the automotive and industrial markets, opening new horizons for our innovative lubricant as a necessary additive to gear oils,” said Aharon Feuerstein, ApNano Materials' Chairman and CFO.

“NanoLub is distributed worldwide in Europe, Asia and the Americas by local agents and distributors. Due to the large demand we have increased the capacity of our production plant.”

Oil blended with NanoLub was evaluated at the FZG Gear Research Centre according to a recognized international test procedure for investigating the influence of lubricating oil (especially the quality of additives in these oils) on the wear and damage of gears.

In such conditions, indications of damage appear as micro-pits or small holes on the surface of the gears. The test can differentiate between oils of varying quality and thus facilitates identifying a high quality lubricant additive that provides adequate resistance to pitting and wear.

The test at the FZG Gear Research Centre follows other tests done by Dr. Adrian Oila of Newcastle University, England, on gears with heavy duty gear oil that was blended with NanoLub powder.

No wear damage to the steel lubricated with the NanoLub oil could be observed with an optical microscope, while significant wear was observed for the reference oil.  The presence of a beneficial tribofilm was detected on the gears lubricated with the NanoLub formulation.  The tribofilm continues to lubricate the moving parts also in cases where the oil supply is interrupted.

Original Article: NanoLub Nanotechnology Lubricant

Nanotechnology based materials have potential promise for use as a lubricant additive, although there is some controversy over the long-term effects of nano-scale particles released into the environment. 

This product appears to be one of the first commercially available "nanolube" additives on the market.  We're not big fans of oil additives, preferring to go by the basic recommendations of the motorcycle manufacturer.  Remember that this is a press release and there's no way we can verify the test results.

ApNano Materials, Inc. (www.apnano.com), a "Cleantech" company and provider of nanotechnology-based products, today announced that vehicle tests show that NanoLub, the company’s proprietary nanotechnology-based lubricant, led to an enhancement in compression efficiency and a reduction of over 5%.

The tests were carried out by independent automotive test centers and car fleets, including field tests of cars and heavy trucks. 

The tests found that NanoLub caused also a reduction in engine temperature and noise.  Tests also showed that NanoLub did not harm the engine when it was added to engine oil.

“The findings strengthen the results of many other experiments conducted in the last 7 years since the foundation of ApNano Materials,” said Dr. Menachem Genut, ApNano Materials’ President and CEO.

“The experiments show that in addition to NanoLub’s benefits in friction and wear reduction, the revolutionary lubricant directly reduces fuel consumption."

"These days when the prices of fuels are very volatile, NanoLub is a real contribution to energy saving as well as to the reduction in the emission of green house gases.  NanoLub not only contributes to fuel economy but is also a real cleantech product.”

NanoLub is based on nanosized particles of tungsten disulfide (WS2) that have a structure of nested spheres, called inorganic fullerenes, whose lubrication mechanism includes the layers slipping off under loads to form an adherent film that reduces friction and wear .

When used as an additive to liquid oil or grease, NanoLub significantly enhances the lubricating properties of the oil or grease with respect to wear and friction by an order of magnitude versus the same lubricant without this additive.

In addition, NanoLub “wraps” the moving parts with a lubricating thin film - called a tribofilm - and continues to lubricate normally for a long time, as an ‘uninterruptable lubrication source’ during severe oil leakages.

[Editor's Note:  For more information related to this topic, see this Google book preview of "Superlubricity", a collection of papers on the topic, edited by A. Erdemir and J.-M. Martin.]

Companies currently distributing products formulated with NanoLub include:

• ORAPI - a key French grease manufacturer for industrial applications with worldwide distribution channels;

• Luval S.A. - a major Chile-based lubricant producer for heavy industry and mining whose improved greases treated with NanoLub are in use in several copper mines in Chile;

• Sonol - an Israeli fuel company.

• Multisol - marketing NanoLub in Europe, Shima Trading, a large Japanese trading company is marketing the product in Japan and Tempo is marketing it in Canada.

• OPET - a Turkish fuel oil distribution company owned by the Koc Group, with a network of over 1,300 service stations in Turkey is launching this Spring an add on product based on NanoLub.

“NanoLub has gained worldwide recognition for its successful performance and the great benefits for the end-user,” said Aharon Feuerstein, ApNano Materials' Chairman and CFO.  “Due to the growing demand, we have significantly increased our manufacturing capacity at our production plant.”

Numerous studies worldwide have shown the unique benefits of NanoLub.  For example: a study carried out at the University of Newcastle in England found that NanoLub reduces gear wear by 5 – 6 times.

Another example is a study carried out at the University of Stockholm where it was shown that the application of NanoLub on steel surfaces led to the formation of a protective film on the surface of the metal during work contact.

The superlubricity of the NanoLub particles was demonstrated by the group of Professor J. M. Martin of Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France.

Their experiments demonstrated that when NanoLub was used as an additive to oil, it caused a very low friction coefficient and low wear.  From the characterization performed after friction, several phenomena have been proposed to explain these friction reducing properties.

NanoLub’s fullerenes delamination, formation of a tribofilm made of WS2 sheets on the surfaces, superlubricity of the sheets and a rolling effect of the particle.  According to the conclusions of the work of the French group a combination of all these effects can explain the excellent tribological (friction and wear reduction) properties of NanoLub.

About ApNano Materials
ApNano Materials is a private nanotechnology company founded in 2002 by Dr. Menachem Genut, President and CEO and Mr. Aharon Feuerstein, Chairman and CFO.

ApNano Materials was incorporated in the U.S. and is headquartered in New York, USA.  Its fully-owned Israeli subsidiary - NanoMaterials, Ltd., is located in the high tech science park adjacent to the Weizmann Institute campus in Ness Ziona.

NanoLub, a green, environmentally friendly material, is a trademark of ApNano Materials, Inc.. NanoLub is European REACH compliant and has been pre-registered.

Source:  ApNano Materials, Inc

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