Lubricants

Renewable soybeans are a natural choice for product developers interested in promoting green chemistry. However, researchers who use soy are finding added advantages of soy derivatives:

• Soybean oil provides a high viscosity index, enhanced lubricity, low volatility and low flammability.
• Lifecycle assessment studies show using soybean oil as a raw material can help lower CO₂ emissions and energy costs during product production
• Soybean oil has good solubilizing power for contaminants, polar deposits and additive molecules compared with mineral-based fluids, reducing the need for detergent additives in formulated soybean oil-based lubricants.

New varieties of high oleic soybean oil (HOSO) are naturally more stable than traditional soybean oil, reducing the need for antioxidants and other expensive additives. High oleic soybean oil is also more economically modified into synthetic lubricant base stocks, which compete directly with polyalphaolefins and synthetic esters in lubricants.

Reducing polyunsaturation through chemical or genetic modifications of soybeans results in improved oxidation stability. Chemical modification of soybean oil at the double-bond sites of the component fatty acids may also improve cold-flow properties.

Chemical modification of soybean oil at the double-bond sites of the component fatty acids may also improve cold-flow properties.

BioSynthetic Technologies received ILSAC GF-5 certification on SAE 5W-20 and 5W-30 grade passenger-car motor-oil formulations using soy-based biosynthetic base oil. The formulations have also been certified by the American Petroleum Institute to exceed requirements of API SN Resource Conserving designation