Lubricants blending

Blending is a control problem

Combining base fluids with an additive package sounds simple and is not. Additive systems are sensitive to sequence, temperature and shear; a batch blended out of order or too warm can meet its headline viscosity specification while under-delivering on the properties that actually matter in service.

Consequently the discipline is less about the recipe than about the control around it: what went in, in what order, at what temperature, from which drum, verified by which test, retained against which batch.

What we hold at batch level

• Component traceability. Base fluid and additive lots recorded against the finished batch.
• Process conditions. Sequence, temperature and mixing time captured as they happen.
• Verification. Testing against specification, with results retained rather than summarised.
• Retention samples. Kept so a question raised months later can be answered from evidence.

Why manufacture rather than buy

Blending in-house is what makes it possible to formulate against duty instead of selecting from a catalogue. It also means a problem found in service can be traced to a batch and a component lot, rather than to a supplier who is not obliged to explain.

The same argument the group makes about systems of record applies on a blending line: the evidence has to be attached to the thing at the moment it is produced, or it will not exist when it is needed.

Where the output goes

Blended product supplies the Montow engine oil range, the marine and offshore grades used by the group’s own operations, and the distribution business that carries them alongside filtration and equipment.