[SS-Traveller]

Perhaps the first time I came across the logo of the Union Oil Company of California, was in the movie, The Lost World, where an orange sphere with 76 emblazoned on it goes rolling down the road, knocked down by the angry T. rex.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUWkBCNQlXI

Union Oil Company of California, doing business as Unocal /ˈjuːnoʊkæl/ is a company that was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headquartered in El Segundo, California, United States.

Unocal was involved in domestic and global energy projects. Unocal was one of the key players in the CentGas consortium, which attempted to build the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline to run from the Caspian area, through Afghanistan, to the Indian Ocean, at a time after the recent Taliban siege of Kabul in 1996.

On August 10, 2005, Unocal merged its entire upstream petroleum business with Chevron Corporation and became a wholly owned subsidiary. Unocal has now ceased operations as an independent company, but continues to conduct many operations as Union Oil Company of California, a Chevron company.

Since 1990, Unocal continues to have strong presence in the downstream petroleum business with their technical collaborators M/s Raaj Unocal Lubricants Ltd for manufacture and marketing of their lubricating products in Asia. Raaj Unocal Lubricants Ltd continues the legacy of Unocal 76 in the downstream petroleum business and has Intellectual property rights of the brand since 1994.

Source

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFuuGDCI_ew

Then, the first time I came across Unocal 76 as a brand in India was at the Auto Expo 2016, in February this year.

[SS-Traveller]

BHPian AJ-got-BHP was the person who introduced me to Unocal 76 and the company's CEO, Mr. Madhav Rajgarhia (on the left, with AJ-got-BHP in the centre), at the Auto Expo in February 2016.

I met Mr. Ashis Ghatak (on the left), the General Manager - Operations & Quality Control Head of Unocal 76, at the stall in February, and we struck up an instant technical discussion there. It would be noteworthy to state here that Mr. Ghatak is one of the most knowledgeable persons in the Indian lubricants industry that I have had the fortune of meeting - and he is a great teacher too!

A Masters in Chemistry by qualification and with over 25 years of work experience in the lubricant industry with some of the world’s biggest brands such as Castrol, Mr Ghatak went on to join the company to take his professional career to an all new level. A qualified professional Internal Auditor, R&D Expert, he has turned around the Quality and development of new products at RULL.

In just 2 years of his being associated with the company [note: it is now over 3 years that Mr. Ghatak is with Raaj Unocal], Mr Ghatak has to his credit of successfully launching more than a dozen new products ranging from Gel greases, Synthetics, customised solutions to the Rally Sport industry. It is with his dedication and strict adherence to quality and procurement standards that RULL has to its credit of manufacturing certain key products which have never before been manufactured on Indian Soil.

Source

Unfortunately, I could not take up an invitation by the CEO, Mr. Madhav Rajgarhia, to visit their factory at Ballabhgarh in Faridabad then, but on Mr. Ghatak's recommendation, had switched my Scorpio's engine oil to Unocal 76 Emera 15W-40, a CH4 grade diesel engine oil compatible with my engine. Those who follow my practices in car maintenance would have noted earlier that I usually perform an engine oil change at around 7,500 km instead of the recommended 15,000 km, based on the apprehension that the oil does not actually last 15,000 km of use despite what the OEM might say to the contrary.

Mr. Ghatak had promised me in February that the Oil Analysis Laboratory at the Unocal factory would be happy to perform an Used Oil Analysis (UOA) for me, and find out whether my apprehensions are correct. After about 7 months and 7,165 km of using the Emera CH4 oil, I thought it would be a good idea to check the condition of the oil, as well as take a look around the factory itself. So, with a jam jar full of oil (about 400 ml) that I had (partially) drained from the car (and topped up with a CH4 grade equivalent oil of another brand), I set off last Saturday to visit Mr. Ghatak at the factory.

[SS-Traveller]

Located on the right of the highway as one heads towards Mathura along the old NH2, adjacent to Tata Motors' Global Highway Motors workshop and almost opposite the Studds helmet factory, the factory sits on almost 10 acres of industrial land. I am wondering whether I am too late in arriving - it's almost 2 PM.

But Mr. Ghatak, cordial as ever, is there, and a cup of tea later, we take a look around the plant.

My engine oil sample, meanwhile, is sent to the QC Department, which is essentially the Oil Analysis Laboratory. We'll come back here in a while and take a look around, as well as study the results of the UOA of my car's engine oil.

Outside, there are these gigantic storage tanks used to store the base oils that are used to formulate the final products. One big tank that can take 10,000 kilolitres, a couple of tanks with 250 KL capacity, and another two tanks with 150 KL capacity that can work as storage as well as blending tanks.

So I ask Mr. Ghatak: Base oils? So there are different types of base oils? What are they, where do they come from, and what are they used for?

Mr. Ashis Ghatak explained:
There are essentially 5 groups of base oils. These are:

Group-I : a certain fraction of the crude oil processed in the refineries. It is a virgin oil, yellowish in colour. Among the different base oils usd in lubricant manufacture, this is the cheapest, and is used for manufacturing most common mineral-oil-based lubricants.

Group-II: This is a Group-I oil that undergoes further refining at the refinery through a process of hydrocracking, which reduces its sulphur content and leaves it with a clear colour. Since Group-II base oil is more resistant to oxidation, this is the preferred oil for long-drain mineral-oil-based lubricants.

Group-III: Further refining at higher pressure and heat produces Group-III base oils. This has a higher viscosity index than Group-I and Group-II. Some of the better lubricants are formulated from this.

Group-IV and Group-V: These are formulated in the laboratory and have not in a refinery from crude oils. They have better anti-oxidant properties as well as better temperature range, which makes them great for use in extreme cold and hot conditions. These are imported into India (no one formulates Group-IV and Group-V base oils in India) and the cost is over 5x that of the best quality base oils of Group-I & II coming from refineries in India.

SS-T: What are semi-synthetic oils made out of?
AG: These are made by adding 10-15% of Group-IV or Group-V base oils to mineral oils which are Group-I / Group-II.

SS-T: And then how are the oils made?
AG: Additives are blended into the base oil to achieve the required properties.

SS-T: And where do you source these additives? Are they made in India, or imported?
AG: Some of the additives are made in India, by a company called Lubrizol, for example. But many of the additives are imported, since no one in India makes them.

[SS-Traveller]

We now take a look at the process of blending the base oil with the additives, which add the unique properties of each grade and type of lubricant.

The base oils have to be at ~70 degrees C while the additives are blended in. For this, the oil first goes through the boiler room, where it is heated to about 120 degrees C - it cools down to the required temperature as it passes through the pipelines on the way to the blending tanks, and the blending temperature is monitored.

There are 5 blending tanks inside the plant, of different sizes, varying from 5 kiloliters to 44 kiloliters.

This is the small tank where new lubricant formulations are blended for testing purposes first. It uses an electric motor to stir the brew and evenly mix the base oil and additives together.

Notice the yellow pipelines under the blending tanks? These are compressed air pipes. Unocal uses the latest air purging technology to blend its oils. Mr. Ghatak tells me that the only other lubricants company using the air purging technology to blend their lubricants in India is Castrol, and that too only at their Silvassa plant.

The final products are stored in these overhead tanks, for filling into containers of various sizes.

[SS-Traveller]

SS-T: Where is Raaj Unocal positioned in the Indian lubricants market vis-à-vis the other lubricant manufacturers?
AG (smiles): If you look at a pie chart defining the market shares of the different companies selling lubricants in India, Unocal would not show up as a visible slice. At the moment we are that small.

Mr. Ghatak goes on to tell me that Raaj Unocal has been blending lubricants for the major lubricant sellers in India, including Indian Oil Corporation's Servo brand, Total and ExxonMobil. Raaj Unocal Lubricants Limited (RULL) has only recently decided to promote their own brand, Unocal 76, and are gradually trying to make inroads into the lubricants business, where brand recognition matters more than quality.

SS-T: Do you mean to say that a given grade of oil, let's say CH4 which I use, will not be the same for Company A, Company B or the OEM Genuine Oil manufactured by Company C?
AG: Each grade and type of oil has a certain range of parameters relating to its properties and performance. To draw an analogy, let us say, someone who gets 100% in an examination passes - but someone who gets 60% in the exam also passes. So quality of a certain grade of oil can vary within a defined range, depending on who is manufacturing / blending the oil. As long as it meets the minimum required values for a certain grade, it can be labelled as that grade. So your CH4 grade oil will vary in performance and drain interval based on which company makes it, and only an Used Oil Analysis will be able to tell how well the oil is working in the engine after a given number of kilometers.

SS-T: And what about the branded oils sold by various car companies such as VW, Maruti, Mahindra etc.?
AG: Car manufacturers ask lubricant manufacturers like us to blend and formulate the oils according to the design and manufacturing tolerances of their engines. They test our products on their engines, and then, once satisfied, ask us to supply the oil under their brand. However, the price they are willing to pay is much lower than what similar grades of oils retail for in the marketplace. In fact, they pay lubricant companies prices that are even lower than the manufacturing cost of the best quality oil of that particular grade. But, suppose they take the oil from us at Rs.200/litre, they are at liberty to sell the same oil under their brand name at Rs.800/litre. Now, obviously, it is easy to find out in a laboratory whether the oil complies with the grade agreed on - so we cannot cut corners and supply an inferior grade of oil. But to make some money out of the deal, the oil is formulated to comply with the bottom of the range - something like the 60% marks instead of 100%.

SS-T: But some of these car manufacturers' co-branded oil containers are not even marked with the grade of oil they contain. Is that an usual industry practice? Aren't customers confused by this?
AG: The API classifies the service rating of all automotive oils. But the API cannot force publication of the grade etc. that an oil complies with. So it is a common practice among car manufacturers not to publish the API classification. We find out in the laboratory what grade a given oil sample conforms with, and then produce oils that are of better quality than the automobile manufacturer's branded oil.

[SS-Traveller]

We are by now taking a look at the section where the packaging of the oils is done, as we chat.

Unocal uses load cell based filling lines, which are capable of accurately and automatically filling containers as large as 210-litre barrels, 50-litre drums, 6-litre-to-20-litre buckets, and plastic cans from 250ml to 5 litres.

Tamper-proof caps, one with an internal foil which is induction-sealed on to the container.

The machine used for labelling each pack

Individual packs are placed in cartons, sealed and ready for delivery

Cartons ready for dispatch to distributors

[SS-Traveller]

SS-T: Now that Euro-6 / Bharat Stage VI is to be introduced in a few years' time, what would be the changes in the lubricants scenario?
AG: Euro-6 means synthetic (Group-IV or Group-V) base oils only, so the cost of maintenance to the car owner will go up sharply. Also, the additives used will be different from that which are being used for Euro-4 or Euro-3 emission norms.

SS-T: What happens to the used oil that we throw away every time?
AG: Legally, the used oil should be collected and deposited with recyclers registered with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), who would be levying a charge for disposing/reprocessing the used oil in an environment-friendly manner. The list of such recyclers is there on the MoEF website. But the number of such recyclers is inadequate in comparison to the waste oil being generated. In any case, since one has to transport the oil to the recycler as well as pay for it to be recycled, most garages that generate used oil sell it to unregistered recyclers, who buy the used oil at Rs.2-3 per litre.

These oils are cleaned up using some crude processes and chemicals, a red colour is added, and then these oils are packaged in spurious containers of any company you want, and sold in the market. They contain no additive, and their lubricating properties are very poor. If you see a red-coloured engine oil, you can be almost sure it is spurious.

(For readers' reference, SS-T looked up the MoEF website, and here's the link.)

[SS-Traveller]

And finally, we head to the QC Department where Ms. Meenakshi Sapru, the QC Incharge, has already analysed the oil sample I had handed over earlier.

The first test (and a very simple one at that) that I am introduced to, is the Blotting Paper Test. A drop of oil is placed on a Whatman filter paper which is suspended over a beaker, and allowed to be absorbed over about 2 hours. The blot that forms is studied for size, the black deposits in the middle, and the ring(s) that form around it.

The oil blot is held up against light and studied

The interpretation is as follows:

- A colourless or slight yellow spot: new or very slightly used oil.
- Evenly dispersed black deposits (as seen here): used oil that still has good life left in it
- A dense, dark zone in the centre where the black deposits clump together: The oil has reached the end of its useful life
- A dark center with brownish outer ring: Severely oxidized oil
- A dark center with surrounding rings: Fuel in oil

As the oil gets oxidised and starts to lose its lubricant properties, it also becomes more and more viscous. So, for a given time for which the oil has been placed on the paper, the size of the blot reduces with use of the oil (i.e. new oil will leave a bigger spot than used oil, progressively getting smaller over usage).

SS-T: Is it any use to take a drop of oil on your fingertip and rub it between your fingers, like every mechanic does while checking the oil?
AG: Yes, checking oil like that has its usefulness, except that the mechanic does not really know what he is looking for. The things we look for when rubbing the oil between fingers, sniffing the oil, and touching it to the tongue are:
- whether there is any gritty feeling (metal particles?);
- whether there is any burnt smell (oxidized oil);
- whether there is a sour taste/smell (high total acid number or TAN);
- whether the oil is too viscous.
It takes a lot of experience to judge the oil like this, and even then it is not very accurate.

We then start looking at the specialized equipment used for testing oil samples in the lab. First off, the viscosity baths, which test the kinematic viscosity of oil samples at 40 degrees C and 100 degrees C.

This is the device to check viscosity index of a sample.

The readings of my engine oil sample are: Kinematic viscosity of 14.26 cSt (centistoke) at 100 degrees C and 114.5 cSt at 40 degrees C, with viscosity index of 126. This compares well with the Unocal 76 datasheet for Emera, where new oil has a kinematic viscosity of 14.5 cSt at 100 degrees C and viscosity index of 130 (minimum).

The next piece of equipment we look at is the foaming bath, which tests the resistance of an oil to foaming during use.

The muffle furnace

Open cup flash point testing equipment and the TBN (total base number) test setup

Standard operating procedure for testing the TBN

The TBN reading of my oil sample shows 9.65 mg KOH/gm, while the Emera new oil has a specification of 10.0 mg KOH/gm. This is one of the more important indicators for oil degradation, since oil turns acidic as it degrades, with a progressive drop in the TBN. Mr. Ghatak tells me that while the acceptable TBN for safe use can be as low as 5 mg KOH/gm, it is safer to change oil by the time TBN reaches a value of 6 mg KOH/gm, or approximately 30% of the useful life of the engine oil - from this point on there is a very rapid drop in TBN levels and rise in TAN, which may go undetected, causing damage to engine. For the time being, my oil is good, and since I have topped up with fresh oil, the actual TBN number would be higher than what was tested.

The closed cup flash point testing equipment and the SOP for using it

Flash point testing reveals whether there has been fuel contamination into the engine oil, most likely due to failure of pistons and rings to seal off combustion products from blowing by. My sample reads 220 degrees C, while the specifications sheet says 220 degrees C as well - hence concluded, my engine is perfectly healthy.

Other equipment in the lab include the distillation unit...

the carbon residue tester...

...and the pour point testing apparatus.

[SS-Traveller]

The UOA report of my car's engine oil.
- Vehicle: Mahindra Scorpio MHawk 2.2L diesel, 2009
- 145,718 km on the odometer at the time of drawing the oil sample
- Oil used: Unocal 76 Emera CH4 15W-40. No top-ups after initial fill. New filter. No flushing done prior to filling new oil.
- Duration of oil use: 7,165 km, over a period of 5 months approximately
- Conclusions: The oil is good for use for another 3,000-3,500 km of usage, based on the findings. It (and other oils of similar grade) will not last the 15,000 km that the manufacturer recommends as the ideal oil drain interval for this vehicle.

The Unocal 76 Emera datasheet for comparison with new oil is given below

(Disclaimer: I have no commercial or monetary association with Raaj Unocal Lubricants Limited, and the visit to the factory was on my own cost and time. The oil used in my engine was paid for by me, although no payment was made for the UOA. I express my grateful thanks to Mr. Ashis Ghatak, Mr. Madhav Rajgarhia and Mr. Arav Jalan for the opportunity to visit the factory and the learning experience about engine oils in general and Unocal products in particular. The contents of the interview with Mr. Ghatak are not reproduced verbatim since no audio/video recording was made, but are based on handwritten notes I took at that time - any errors in the reproduction are regretted. Based on my personal experience, I am satisfied with the product I have used.)

[.anshuman]

Note from Moderator: Thread moved here from Assembly line section. Thanks for sharing

[Eddy]

Fantastic report, SS-T da. It was fun reading it, and good to know that your UOA wish finally materialized.

My wish now - you go to one of the more established brands and do another report. Would love to see the difference

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

The UOA report of my car's engine oil.
- Vehicle: Mahindra Scorpio MHawk 2.2L diesel, 2009

Thank you SS-T for the UOA on your car's oil.

How I wish I could send the oil from my car after 10K kms to check how much life is left in it and what is its condition after reaching the said interval period.

I would love to send the following brand oils to them for a UOA:

• Shell 5W40;
• Mobil MGDO 5W40 and
• Castrol 5W40

Originally Posted by Eddy

My wish now - you go to one of the more established brands and do another report. Would love to see the difference

+100!

[Sutripta]

Would have expected higher levels of cleanliness in the blending plant.

At one time TBN kits were available. Don't see them now.

What about trace metal analysis?

How much oil is necessary for checking density?

At one time, used to (centrifuge) filter the used lube, mix it with diesel, and burn it in industrial engines. Don't have the courage to do it on modern diesels (even if not CRDIs), so used oil disposal is becoming a major problem.

Regards
Sutripta

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Fantastic report, SS-T da. It was fun reading it, and good to know that your UOA wish finally materialized.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Thank you SS-T for the UOA on your car's oil.

Thanks, Eddy & Anurag.

Originally Posted by Eddy

My wish now - you go to one of the more established brands and do another report. Would love to see the difference

Originally Posted by a4anurag

+100!

For that I guess I need Team-BHP's cooperation. I don't have access to higher-ups in the oil marketing co.s or biggie private players like Castrol or Shell. If the Team-BHP moderator team helps me on this, I would be happy to do a comparo. There was a time when I was aware that Shell had an UOA lab in the Tata Motors premises at Jamshedpur, but I could not manage to find someone who would let me in there, never mind writing a report.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

I would love to send the following brand oils to them for a UOA:

• Shell 5W40;
• Mobil MGDO 5W40 and
• Castrol 5W40

How would you get all these oils in used condition under similar usage conditions? Or do you mean new oils? New oil specifications are always published by each company online, even if not printed on the container - you'll just need to search. In any case, I don't expect Unocal to test anything but their own products.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Would have expected higher levels of cleanliness in the blending plant.

Not brightly lit, not well-organised, but seemed clean and dust-free. I suppose the haphazard state of things was due to it being a Saturday, with skeleton staff present.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

What about trace metal analysis?

Did ask Mr. Ghatak about it. Needs a spectrophotometer, worth a lot of money. They are in the process of procuring one.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

How much oil is necessary for checking density?

500 ml. My sample was a little less than 400 ml.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

...used oil disposal is becoming a major problem.

There was a discussion I started a long time ago, but then, it died without any conclusions. We can do some quick maths here.

- If the government approved used oil recycler in Delhi has a recycling capacity of 1800 KL/annum (as published on the MoEF website), and
- if there are over 9 million cars registered in Delhi, and
- if just half (4.5 million) of the cars in the city perform an oil change once a year, and each car has a minimum sump capacity of 3.5L,

then we are looking at the need to recycle 15,750 KL of used oil - which leaves us wondering where on earth the rest of the 13,950 KL of used oil disappears every year.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

How would you get all these oils in used condition under similar usage conditions?

I do 10K kms every 3 months and in these 92K kms that my Swift has clocked it has seen these 3 type of oils used. Currently I am using MGDO Mobil Super 5W40.

Hence after draining, can collect a litre of oil and keep it aside for testing.

But I am not sure if they'll do testing or no.