TLT: What is the biggest chemistry change you have witnessed from an additive application standpoint in your more than 13 years in technical additive sales?
Gartner: During my tenure, there have been several impactful shifts, both in performance expectations and regulatory concerns for a wide number of chemistries. Reliable products used for several years became defunct or limited in use due to regulatory changes. This is coupled with new findings. There have been situations where a formulator will be working with a class of chemistry only to find that two years into their blending and testing, a new test result will qualify the product for a negative label. Customers are looking to use and work with additives that result in minimal to no safety data sheet (SDS) hazard labels. These changes also have contributed to new opportunities and, again, new challenges with the demand for continuous lubricant performance coupled with the regulatory challenges.
On the performance side, customers are either focusing on developing longer lasting formulations using more refined mineral oils and synthetic fluids (Group II, Group III and PAO), or they are developing more environmentally friendly lubricants. In some cases, marketing departments will target both as goals for new products under development with the desire to hit as many targets as possible within the performance goals. Both cases require a different combination of additives that our team has learned to understand through rigorous performance testing and experience with our extensive lubricant testing facilities. I strongly believe these changes are being driven by both end-user expectations and governmental bodies becoming increasingly concerned about our environment. This concern is based on safe working and natural environments with the goal to generate less waste over the lifetime use of a piece of lubricated equipment.
TLT: Has your chemistry background or your experience as a plant operator/manager helped you in your technical sales roll today?
Gartner: Absolutely. Working with a wide range of experienced professionals, from technicians, engineers, formulators and experimental doctorate chemists, has been extremely humbling. My experience, on the plant manufacturing floor, in the laboratory and working with several various sized customers, has given me a broad view of the challenges presented when developing and introducing a new product. All aspects of the value-added formulation chain contribute to a finished product. My experience in recommending products or even selecting products to ease or accelerate production is much appreciated. Formulators, engineers and technicians always appreciate an additive benefit outside of the intended purpose. Great extra features include cold blending to exclude heating rooms from the manufacturing process, to multifunctional products that will impart multiple performance benefits, to only having to tap one drum of additives instead of two to blend a product. These extra considerations were learned through my own personal experience working in blending and reaction operations.
My goal is to always put myself in the shoes of those who are going to use the additives and to provide the best options. Working with any customer formulating a product makes it vital to understand chemistry because you are dealing with experienced chemists, some who have a doctorate or decades of experience. Working with customers where the distance between the formulator and production is much more limited, I believe experience as a plant operator and manager is much more impactful because the individual in product development typically is wearing several hats and also may be much more hands on in manufacturing finished products. The ability to relate how certain additives can save customers time in processing and effort, such as using a less viscous, easier to handle additive compared to a competitive product that will require a larger pump or more heating prior to use, can make some lights go off regarding production and operations benefits.
TLT: What industrial additive challenges do you see coming in the next five to 10 years?
Gartner: The lubricant industry, from power transmitting fluids to rust preventive fluids, continues driving toward higher efficiency with less hazardous product without performance loss. Traditionally, reliable chemistry is no longer being accepted with SDS issues associated with marine hazards, skin sensitizers or even carcinogens. This is really both a push from environmental and end-user safety. Though this is going to be a challenge, I have seen this as an opportunity for additive manufacturers and finished product formulators to develop products that meet these demands. We are finding now that products that would not have been classified as viable even 20 years ago are becoming a standard with requirements for equipment running hotter, faster and longer. From compressor fluids that need to exceed 5,000+ hours of operation on a single interval, to metalworking operations looking to protect parts for over a month using a few nanometers thick, zero volatile organic compound (VOC) rust preventive, these are becoming the standard requests for new products being developed. The technology today exists to meet these rising trends. There has been an increased demand in environmentally acceptable lubricant (EAL) and Ecolabel friendly packages and additives to meet the demands of the market. These current trends will likely increase over the next five to 10 years with developed and emerging markets striving to rise to what is to be a new standard.
TLT: What is your best contributed improvement on the advancement of a new chemistry in the industrial lubrication industry?
Gartner: In my career, I have worked in the chemical industry scaling up manufacturing of specialty performance lubricant additives to introducing chemical synergies to formulating customers. These actions have all contributed advancements in improving energy savings and waste reduction. The resulting chemical additives have all contributed to improving efficiency in industrial machines. This work is an area I am most proud of in my contribution to lubricant additive chemistry. Looking back on how we would lubricate our cars, 3,000 or 5,000 miles was considered the standard before changing the oil. Now, the new standard is trending toward 10,000 miles or more before an oil change. For industrial lubricants, it is the same situation. I have worked with customers looking for a compressor life of 15,000 hours and extremely long life for sealed-for-life gear oils. It is amazing to work with customers and our technical service team to develop solutions to exceed what is considered industry standards. I look forward to continuing to work with our existing and new additives in various refined base stocks to improve lubricants in all types of industrial applications.
You can reach Willi Gartner at wgartner@kingindustries.com.