The Evonik group worldwide has taken an important stand to provide resource efficiency in many of its leading technologies and products.

Whether you know the company as Evonik's Oil Additives business line, or Evonik RohMax Oil Additives before, it is the major player in viscometric technology market for the oils and fluids on which the equipment and vehicles of the world depend. Evonik Oil Additives is their new name, and it stands for more than 70 years of experience in applying the endless variety of benefits of polyalkylmethacrylate (PAMA) technology solving customer problems and improving performance of lubricants, fuels and petroleum refining.

In Evonik's  hydraulic fluid technologies, which are critical to virtually all construction equipment, Evonik Oil Additives' Viscoplex? line of viscosity index improvers (VIIs), are able to increase pump volumetric efficiency and reduce fuel consumption. This is creating great interest among both India-based and multinational equipment OEMs. At the cold end of the operating temperature spectrum, the Evonik Oil Additives portfolio also includes Viscoplex? pour point depressants (PPDs), which allow pumps to operate in low-temperature startup conditions, and a wide range of other complementary Evonik Oil Additives products.

Evonik has branded its fuel-efficient technology and performance standard for hydraulic fluids Dynavis?. About ten years ago, the business line decided to focus on efficiency, which was then identified by Evonik as a future megatrend. The concept of a 'maximum efficiency hydraulic fluid' was born with the idea that a multi-grade fluid operating in a much wider temperature window could also produce energy savings. To verify this, a group of scientists and technicians set about to construct a model to measure energy losses from a hydraulic system. Findings from the model were first verified in the laboratory and on pump test rigs and then, in 2008, field tests began with excavators and skid-steer loaders.

With the publication of successful field trial test results, many oil blenders adopted the concept of maximum efficiency hydraulic fluid and have launched hydraulic oils with high-viscosity index that conform to these exacting standards. This has contributed to the significant growth in volume that Evonik Oil Additives experienced worldwide.

Finding technological solutions to customer problems is the paradigm that guides Evonik Oil Additives in its application of technologies and products from its portfolio of over 400 high-quality, proven additives manufactured to stringent global standards. With its broad range of technologies and products, complemented by a global network of technology centres and manufacturing facilities, the company serves its customers by customising products either by developing new ones or using unique new blends of existing products.

The Evonik group worldwide has taken an important stand to provide resource efficiency in many of its technologies and products. Resource efficiency from Evonik Oil Additives can provide significant benefits to the equipment owner as well as to the environment, through the reduction of hydrocarbon emissions and reducing consumption of scarce resources such
as fuel.

India's ambitious array of infrastructure improvement projects, including an expanding and much-improved highway system (Golden Quadrilateral Project and interconnection of the A-class cities), has helped to fuel an accelerating demand for higher quality lubricants and hydraulic fluids for the excavation and construction equipment required for these projects. No longer will the cheapest oil do. The demand for fuel efficiency, high performance and productivity that higher quality oils can provide has grown over the past two years. The reasons include rising prices for fuel as well as fuel shortages in more distant locations, and the need for both longer drain intervals and extended equipment life, in conditions of punishing equipment use.

Impressive technology

Based in Mumbai and managing the Evonik Oil Additives business in India is Mukund Bhure. Since joining Evonik, he has met with a number of India-based equipment OEMs and has noticed increased interest in incorporating higher performing, fuel efficient hydraulic fluids in their equipment. "Most of them have heard about the increased fuel efficiency, higher performance and productivity that can be achieved," he notes. "And they are especially aware of the need to meet higher standards in their export markets in Europe and South Africa," he adds. "With Dynavis? fuel-efficient technology and our global network of technical service centres and manufacturing sites, Evonik Oil Additives can provide them with vital support worldwide with a reliable and resourceful supply chain."

Bhure is currently working with India-based equipment OEMs to conduct high-temperature field test trials, analyse data and calculate benefits. "We expect the fuel efficiency gains from Dynavis? to be at their maximum in conditions of heavy equipment use at elevated temperatures, which is characteristic for the India market," he says.

Dynavis? represents the impressive results of an integrated innovation and engineering approach. The approach combines established technology platforms from the fields of chemistry, fluid mechanics, rheology, tribology, thermodynamics and mechanical engineering in a novel way to increase energy efficiency. Dynavis? technology provides reduced fuel consumption, and has the potential to extend equipment life, adding up to significant and calculable benefits for the equipment owner.

The savings from reduced fuel consumption can be impressive. In a tracked-excavator field test conducted outside India, changing hydraulic fluid from an OEM-specified standard to a Dynavis? from Evonik standard fluid resulted in an 18 per cent improvement in efficiency. With cost advantages based on OEM-recommended drain intervals of 4,000 hours, and an excavator operating under a normal load, an annual savings of approximately 12,500 litre of diesel was estimated. At Rs 41 per litre for diesel, the savings would far outweigh the slight additional cost for the higher performing Dynavis? technology by a stunning ratio of more than 30:1. "The advantages of Dynavis? fuel-efficient hydraulic fluid technology increase at higher operating temperatures, so increased gains are likely under temperature conditions harsher than those in the field test," says Dr Oliver Eyrisch, Global Marketing Manager Dynavis? at Evonik Oil Additives.

Environmentally good

As demonstrated, Dynavis? technology and performance standards can significantly help reduce operating costs and raise productivity, while the fuel savings that result from using it can also significantly benefit the environment. From the perspective of Evonik Oil Additives Global Hydraulics Segment Manager Dr Ramesh Iyer, "We could soon be witnessing a meaningful global advance in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions."

"Dynavis? technology's Viscoplex? viscosity index improvers (VIIs) can increase the efficiency of hydraulic equipment by five to 18 per cent," Ramesh Iyer notes. "Considering the conservative case for excavators alone, for each incremental 10 per cent of all the world's excavators that adopt this technology, we would see an annual reduction in global CO2 emissions of one million metric tonne. Now that's significant," he concludes. Dr Iyer credits these developments to the company's strategic planning and to OEMs and lubricant manufacturers recognising the energy saving potential of this technology.

Evonik Oil Additives had been recognised for its strong commitment to innovation in the past. For its innovative development of the maximum efficiency hydraulic fluid technology now incorporated in Dynavis?, the company won the International Chemical Information Society's 2007 ICIS Environmental Innovation Award for the innovation with the best environmental benefit. The award described the technology as a `novel approach to energy saving through hydraulic fluid design.` In 2010, Evonik Oil Additives' fuel-efficient hydraulic fluid technology was recognised by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), receiving Honourable Mention in its `10X Energy Savings Challenge competition.

With a current focus on the hydraulic fluid needs of construction equipment in India, Evonik Oil Additives is already looking ahead to heightened activity within its other application areas (engine oils, driveline fluids, biodegradable fluids, de-waxing and de-oiling, and biodiesel), and the company is prepared. Dr R?diger Jelitte, Vice President and Global Director for Innovation, Evonik Oil Additives notes, "As we continue to synthesise tailor-made products which are specifically adapted to the various base oils which are commonly used in India, we have developed a clear understanding of the property spectrum of these oils. We believe it gives us an advantage as we strive to keep pace with the growing demand for higher-performance products in this rapidly-developing nation. Evonik Oil Additives is well-placed to maintain potentially strengthen its presence in India in the near future."

PRODUCTS

VISCOPLEX?

Viscosity Index Improvers: Keeps viscosity of a lubricant controlled over a wide operating temperature range.
Pour Point Depressants: Improves flow of lubricant by lowering its pour point.
Cold Flow Improvers: Keeps biofuels liquid by reducing solidification temperatures.
De-waxing Aids: Improves refinery productivity in Group I base oil manufacture.
Antifoam Series: Prevents foaming of lubricants.

VISCOBASE?

Synthetic Base Fluids: Synthetic base fluids for use in high durability applications.

DYNAVIS?

Fuel Efficiency Solutions: A combination of fuel efficient technology performance standard, and marketing tool box system for OEMs and lubricant manufacturers.

Quality Assurance Approval: ISO 9001/14001