Re: History of Mobil 1

Posted by docmirror on January 31, 2017 at 13:55:21 from (144.49.197.22):

In Reply to: History of Mobil 1 posted by Geo-TH,In on January 31, 2017 at 05:47:44:

So, I read their marketing brochure. It's really very interesting. I have to apologize in advance for what comes next. Being that I'm an engineer(not chemical, electrical), and I like to really know things, it pays to dig a bit deeper.

The article begins with a discussion of PAOs at the start, and then goes on to talk about Mobil 1 down near the end. Natch - this would lead the consumer to believe that Mobil 1 is a PAO type synthetic lubricant. After all, the bottle actually says 'full synthetic' on it, so that has to mean it's a PAO - right?

Wrong. in point of fact, under a few specific cases, dead wrong.

Mobil 1 is a hydrocracked base petroleum product. The stuff in the bottle came out of a hole in the ground somewhere around the world, and was processed to a high degree, BUT it did NOT come from a process of synthesis of molecules which is the generally accepted definition of 'synthesize'.

Here is the best guess from the MSDS for Mobil 1 0W-30 'full synthetic'.

1-DECENE, HOMOPOLYMER HYDROGENATED 68037-01-4 20 - < 30% H304

SEVERELY HYDROTREATED HEAVY PARAFFINIC DISTILLATE 64742-54-7 30 - < 40% H304

SOLVENT DEWAXED HEAVY PARAFFINIC DISTILLATE 64742-65-0 1 - < 5% H304



A distilled product called 'decene' is also considered a product of hydrocracking petroleum waxes. The other entries are just another way of saying 'processed organic petroleum'.

In commercial lubricating terms, there are 5 classes of lubes. Class 1, 2, and 3 are various filtered and hydrocracked petroleum products with trade names like 'decene'. Class IV (or 4) are actual laboratory made synthetics which really are 'full synthetics'. Class V lubes are very complex non-organics used in places like brake fluid for space shuttle, and special industrial lubes where organic reactance can be fatal, or detrimental.

Now on to the 'dead wrong' portion of our examination. Much like the vaunted roll out of the retail Mobil 1 synthetic way back, there was a much vaunted roll out of Mobil 1 piston aviation synthetic lubricant. It hit the market like gang-busters. Aircraft owners as a rule are not skin-flints when it comes to spending money on the plane, and Mobil 1 was double or triple the price of competing lubes for piston engines already in the market. No one cared! Spend it, put it in, and watch the savings! Less drag, more RPM, longer service intervals! It was the miracle fluid - finally.

Except, a couple planes came out of the sky, and the failure analysis was traced to lubrication failure. Then, a Piper twin with 5 people in it came down hard. Multiple fatal. Failure traced to seized engine. Then another one, and another one. Mobil 1 was the common factor in all the failures. Mobil 1 aviation oil was suspended from the market, and eventually Mobil oil quietly paid out some big, big money to settle lawsuits and rebuild aircraft engines. Mobil oil came back and said essentially 'Mobil 1 is "too good" for these old air cooled loose engines. The engine was at fault, the oil worked perfectly'. Yeah - sure. All the time - their main competitor P66 continued to provide quality, safe, inexpensive(comparatively) aviation lubes and fuels.

ExxonMobil hypes their products with catchy brochures. Almost no one uses them for industrial lubes, P66 and Shell have pretty much cornered the market where tribology and lubrication are critical.

Bottom line - Mobil 1 lies.

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