Lubricant formulation comprising friction modifier additive

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11111454-B2
Application number	US-201816761904-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2018
Priority date	Nov 9, 2017
Publication date	Sep 7, 2021
Grant date	Sep 7, 2021

Abstract

The invention provides a lubricant formulation comprising: (a) a base oil selected from API Group I to V oils and mixtures thereof; (b) 0.01 to 10 wt % on the basis of the total weight of the lubricant formulation of a friction modifier additive; and (c) other lubricant formulation additives. The friction modifier additive has a hydroxyl value in the range from 10 to 300 mg KOH/g and is the reaction product of reactants comprising: i) a dimer fatty acid; ii) a polyol; iii) optionally, a C2 to C12 dicarboxylic acid or diol; and iv) optionally, a C1 to C10 mono-carboxylic acid or mono-alcohol. The invention also provides a method of lubricating an internal combustion engine comprising a crankcase and a wet clutch and the use of a friction modifier additive.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A lubricant formulation comprising:
(a) a base oil selected from API Group I to V oils and mixtures thereof; and
(b) a friction modifier additive present in a range of from 0.01 to 10 wt % on the basis of the total weight of the lubricant formulation
wherein the friction modifier additive has a hydroxyl value in the range from 10 to 300 mg KOH/g when measured according to ASTM D1957-86 and the friction modifier additive is the reaction product of reactants comprising:
i) a dimer fatty acid;
ii) a polyol selected from ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol polypropylene glycol, butylene glycol, propanediol, butanediol, glycerol and mixtures thereof; and one or both of:
iii) a C2 to C12 aliphatic dicarboxylic acid or diol; and
iv) a C1 to C10 aliphatic mono-carboxylic acid or mono-alcohol.

2. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , wherein reactant ii) of the friction modifier additive is a polyol selected from ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol and mixtures thereof.

3. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , wherein the friction modifier additive comprises:
iii) the C2 to C12 aliphatic dicarboxylic acid.

4. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , wherein the friction modifier additive comprises:
iv) the C1 to C10 aliphatic mono-alcohol.

5. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , wherein the friction modifier is present in a range of from 0.1 to 6 wt %, relative to the total weight of the lubricant formulation.

6. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant formulation is a motorcycle oil further comprising other lubricant formulation additives as part of a motorcycle oil additive pack.

7. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant formulation comprises at most 0.01 wt % (100 ppm) of molybdenum atoms in total when all molybdenum containing additives in the lubricant formulation are considered.

8. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , which has an overall grade of MA, MA1 or MA2 as defined by JASO standard T903.

9. The lubricant formulation of claim 8 , which has an overall grade of MA2 as defined by JASO standard T903.

10. A method of lubricating an internal combustion engine comprising a crankcase and a wet clutch, the method comprising supplying a lubricant formulation of claim 1 to the crankcase and the wet clutch.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the lubricant formulation is formulated to provide beneficial frictional effects to both a gear in the crankcase and the wet clutch of the internal combustion engine, wherein the beneficial frictional effect comprises:
(a) reducing the dynamic coefficient of friction (DCF), when measured according to MTM Test 1 by at least 10% when measured according to MTM Test 1 at speeds of 0.005 ms −1 , 0.05 ms −1 , 0.5 ms −1 , and/or 3 ms −1 , and/or
(b) reducing the static friction index (SFI), as measured according to the JASO T903:2016 standard, by less than 35%,
when compared to an otherwise identical lubricant formulation that does not contain the friction modifier additive that is the reaction product of reactants comprising:
i) the dimer fatty acid;
ii) the polyol; and the one or both of:
iii) the C2 to C12 aliphatic dicarboxylic acid or diol; and
iv) the C1 to C10 aliphatic mono-carboxylic acid or mono-alcohol.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the lubricant formulation is further supplied to a gear.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the lubricant formulation is supplied from a single lubricant reservoir.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the internal combustion engine is a 4-stroke engine.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the internal combustion engine is a motorcycle engine.

16. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , wherein the friction modifier additive has a hydroxyl value in the range from 15 to 140 mg KOH/g when measured according to ASTM D1957-86.

17. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , wherein the friction modifier additive has an acid value in a range of from 0.01 to 2.5 mg KOH/g when measured according to ASTM D1980-87.

18. The lubricant formulation of claim 1 , formulated to provide beneficial frictional effects to both a gear and a wet clutch in an internal combustion engine comprising the wet clutch and a crankcase housing the gear, wherein the beneficial frictional effect comprises:
(a) reducing the dynamic coefficient of friction (DCF) by at least 10%, when measured according to MTM Test 1 at speeds of 0.005 ms −1 , 0.05 ms −1 , 0.5 ms −1 , and/or 3 ms −1 , and/or
(b) reducing the static friction index (SFI), as measured according to the JASO T903:2016 standard, by less than 35%,
when compared to an otherwise identical lubricant formulation that does not contain the friction modifier additive that is the reaction product of reactants comprising:
i) the dimer fatty acid;
ii) the polyol; and the one or both of:
iii) the C2 to C12 aliphatic dicarboxylic acid or diol; and
iv) the C1 to C10 aliphatic mono-carboxylic acid or mono-alcohol.

19. The lubricant formulation of claim 3 , wherein the dimer acid and the C2 to C12 aliphatic dicarboxylic acid are present in the friction modifier additive in a weight ratio of from 6:1 to 1:6.

20. The lubricant formulation of claim 3 , wherein the C2 to C12 aliphatic dicarboxylic acid is adipic acid.

21. The lubricant formulation of claim 4 , wherein the dimer acid and the C1 to C10 aliphatic mono-alcohol are present in the friction modifier additive in a weight ratio of from 2:1 to 1:2.

22. The lubricant formulation of claim 4 , wherein the C1 to C10 aliphatic mono-alcohol is ethyl hexanol.

23. A 4-stroke (piston) engine comprising the lubricant formulation of claim 1 .

24. The 4-stroke (piston) engine of claim 21 having a capacity up to a 3500 cm 3 displacement.

Assignees

• Croda Int Plc

Inventors

• Gillespie David Anthony James
• Eastwood John
• Moody Gareth
• Viadas Cienfuegos Aitziber

Classifications

• C10M145/22

  Polyesters · CPC title

• C10N2040/04

  Oil-bath; Gear-boxes; Automatic transmissions; Traction drives · CPC title

• C10M2209/102

  Polyesters · CPC title

• C10M169/04 Primary

  Mixtures of base-materials and additives · CPC title

• C10N2040/255

  Gasoline engines · CPC title