Welcome to AISO Lubricants Group
News Center
Taking quality as the core, market-oriented, constantly innovating technology, and comprehensively enhancing the overall competitiveness of the brand
Exploring Automotive Lubricants: From Crude Oil Refining to Powering Safe Driving
Release time:
2026-06-06
Author:
Source:
In the automotive industry, the engine is known as the "heart" of a vehicle, and automotive lubricant serves as the vital "blood" that sustains its long-term and stable operation. Though seemingly ordinary, this specialized oil is a sophisticated industrial product refined through petroleum purification, chemical blending, and precision testing. It not only fulfills the basic function of reducing mechanical wear but also undertakes the critical mission of stabilizing vehicle power and extending the overall service life of automobiles. With the continuous upgrading of automotive technology in recent years, high-performance lubricants have become core consumables for the stable operation of both fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicles, making their production processes and application values a major focus of industry attention.
Exquisite Craftsmanship: The Complete Production Process of Automotive Lubricants
Automotive lubricants are not natural products directly extracted from crude oil. Instead, they are compound oils manufactured from crude oil through a series of physical purification, chemical modification, and precision blending procedures. The entire production process consists of four core links: base oil refining, additive proportioning, constant-temperature blending and purification, and quality inspection and filling, all implemented with precise procedures and stringent standards.
As the core carrier of lubricants, base oil accounts for 70% to 95% of the total composition and directly determines the basic performance and stability of lubricants. In the initial production stage, factories conduct pretreatment on crude oil, removing impurities, moisture, and harmful particulate matter through desalination, dehydration, and purification processes to avoid affecting subsequent refining. The crude oil then enters the distillation process. Based on the boiling point differences of petroleum fractions, intermediate fractions suitable for lubricant production are separated, preliminarily isolating light oil and gas from heavy residues.
The initially fractionated oil still contains unstable components such as aromatic hydrocarbons, sulfur, and nitrogen compounds, which require deep refining to optimize quality. The industry predominantly adopts hydrocracking and hydrofinishing processes. Under high-temperature and high-pressure hydrogenation reactions, polycyclic hydrocarbons are converted into structurally stable saturated hydrocarbons, thoroughly eliminating harmful substances like sulfur and nitrogen. This process optimizes the molecular structure of the oil, improving its viscosity stability, oxidation resistance, and high and low temperature resistance. According to different refining technologies, base oils are categorized into mineral base oils, semi-synthetic base oils, and fully synthetic base oils. Fully synthetic base oils feature uniform molecular structures and superior performance, and are widely used in high-end vehicles and high-performance engines.
Single base oils have inherent performance limitations and cannot adapt to the complex operating conditions of automobiles. Therefore, additive proportioning is a key step in improving lubricant quality. Manufacturers precisely deploy various functional additives according to the models of vehicles and engine operating conditions, including detergent dispersants, anti-wear agents, antioxidants, viscosity index improvers, anti-rust and anti-corrosion agents, and more than ten other auxiliary agents. Each additive plays an exclusive role, compensating for the performance defects of base oils and endowing lubricants with multi-dimensional protective capabilities.
After proportioning, the oil undergoes constant-temperature blending and precision filtration. Base oils and additives are injected into blending kettles in fixed ratios and fully stirred at a constant temperature to ensure uniform component distribution. Precision filtering equipment is then used to remove trace impurities and sediments to guarantee oil purity. Finally, the finished oil passes dozens of performance tests covering viscosity, flash point, pour point, and oxidation resistance. Only products that meet all standards are filled, sealed, and launched to the market as qualified automotive lubricants.
Diversified Empowerment: Core Functions and Values of Automotive Lubricants
Acting as an all-round guardian for engines and various automotive mechanical components, automotive lubricants are far more than simple lubricating media. They undertake six core functions during vehicle operation, comprehensively ensuring stable, efficient, and safe driving.
The primary function islubrication and wear reduction. Inside automotive engines, metal components including pistons, crankshafts, gears, and bearings operate at high speeds with reciprocating friction, where the working temperature can reach 400℃ to 600℃. Lubricants form a dense and stable oil film on friction surfaces, converting dry friction between metal parts into fluid friction. This greatly reduces the friction coefficient and metal wear by more than 80%, effectively preventing component stagnation, aging, and damage, and significantly extending the service life of core engine parts.
The second key function is heat dissipation, which assists in maintaining a constant engine operating temperature. A large amount of heat is generated during engine operation, which cannot be fully dissipated by the water cooling system alone. During internal circulation, lubricants continuously absorb heat from high-temperature components such as pistons, cylinders, and bearings, and release heat when flowing back to the oil pan. This circulating heat exchange avoids local overheating, cylinder bursting, and power attenuation, keeping the engine operating within the optimal temperature range at all times.
Cleaning and purification is an easily overlooked yet vital function of lubricants. Long-term engine operation produces metal debris, carbon deposits, colloids, oil stains, and other impurities, which may block oil passages and aggravate component wear if accumulated. The detergent dispersants in lubricants suspend and wrap various impurities to prevent them from adhering to component surfaces. These impurities are carried to the oil pan through oil circulation and filtered out by the oil filter, continuously keeping the engine interior clean and avoiding oil passage blockage.
Lubricants also provide sealing and efficiency enhancement. Tiny gaps exist between engine pistons and cylinder walls. Lubricants fill these micro gaps to form a sealing oil layer, effectively preventing the leakage of high-pressure gas in cylinders. This improves cylinder compression efficiency, reduces power loss, stabilizes engine power output, and prevents corrosive gas from entering the crankshaft case and damaging components.
In addition, lubricants deliver anti-rust, anti-corrosion, and shock absorption effects. Moisture and acidic substances in the air may erode metal parts during vehicle parking and operation. The oil film isolated air and moisture to prevent metal oxidation and acid corrosion. Meanwhile, the tough oil film buffers vibration and impact force generated by high-speed component operation, reducing mechanical noise and improving vehicle driving smoothness.
Industry Outlook: High-Performance Lubricants Become the Mainstream Trend
With the popularization of new energy hybrid vehicles and the technological upgrading of traditional fuel engines, automotive operating conditions have become increasingly complex, raising higher requirements for lubricants in terms of temperature resistance, long-term stability, and energy conservation and environmental protection. Industry data shows that fully synthetic high-performance lubricants have gradually replaced traditional mineral lubricants and become the mainstream market choice, thanks to their long service life, wide adaptability, energy saving and noise reduction advantages.
Industry experts point out that the quality of automotive lubricants is directly related to vehicle power performance and driving safety. High-quality lubricants can not only reduce engine failure rates and maintenance costs but also lower fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. For vehicle owners, regularly replacing qualified and model-matched lubricants is the most economical and effective way to maintain vehicles and extend their service life. In the future, with the progress of chemical technology, low-viscosity, long-life, eco-friendly and intelligent lubricants will continue to boost the high-quality development of the automotive industry.
Key words:
Latest News
Factory Address: No.1 -5 Quanli Street, Jingkai District, Feicheng City, Tai'an City, Shandong Province
Company headquarters: jinan city shandong province tianqiao district times headquarters base seven district 28
Service Hotline
Douyin