Editor's Corner

One of the things that i really look forward to every year is organizing our annual conference. At last year, the Annuals Fuels & Lubes Asia Conference will be held back-to-back with the Asia-Pacific Base Oil Conference. So mark March 7-11,2011 on your calendar now!

Boosting, Downsizing and Downspeeding

The way Dan Kapp tells it, Shakespeare was right, at least when it comes to the future of engines from American carmaker Ford Motor Co. At the Dearborn, Michigan-based company. what's past really is prologue, and that can readily be seen in Ford's intends to create an engine platform that will meet fuel effieciency and other new requirements, such as lower emissions, for years to come.

No country left behind: Advancing fuel economy in developing Asia

Vehicle numbers in China and India will be comparable to OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries in 2035 because of rapid motorization. And while the current number of vehicles per 1,000 people in developing Asia remains much lower than in OECD countries, we expect vehicle numbers in China and India to grow even further beyond 2035.

Time for an oil change? Advanced generation of PAG shows promise for engine oil formulations

Dow has recently introduced an oil-soluble polyalkylene glycol (OSP). The company calls it an advanced generation polyalkylene glycol (PAG) because of its compatibility with mineral oils and other synthetic base fluids. The new formulation raises the possibility of using it as a primary base fluid, which would make it an expensive formulation, as a co-fluid similar to poly alpha olefins (PAOs) and Group III base oils, or as an additive for automotive and industrial lubricant applications. Doing so could pay dividends. Dow says the OSP can provide improved deposit control, oxidation stability and lowtemperature stability to the fully formulated product.

Biotribology helps improve human lives

After visits with orthopedic surgeons all over Asia and Europe, Ian Clarke used to dread the flight home to Los Angeles, Calif. The strange metal balls clanging inside his luggage could be construed as bombs by airport customs officials. Actually they are bloody cobalt-chrome alloy implants surgically removed from hipreplacement patients.

Judgment Day: Self-repairing systems-from science fiction to the lab

Self-Repairing Systems would not be possible today without nanotechnology, said Hsu at a talk during the Annual Meeting of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) in Las Vegas, Nevada, in May.

In search of a new equilibrium: A review of the global base oil market

In recent months, the global base oil market has been very anxious. High volatility in the crude oil market has made many producers and buyers cautious.

Since the end of April, the next phase of the global credit crisis seems to have started. The focus of financial markets started to shift away from the economic recovery that started in the first quarter of 2009. Markets are now focusing on the fact that no real solution for the credit crisis has been presented. All we have seen so far is a transfer of debt from the private sector (mostly financial institutions and households) to governments.

Greening trucks

Freight is the “CINDERELLA” of the transport sector worldwide, especially in Asia. Whether it is the introduction of cleaner fuels, fuel economy standards, tax incentives, or investments in infrastructure to improve transport, the freight sector comes last and is often ignored. Government policies concerning road transport tend to focus on private vehicles and public transport more than on trucks, despite their huge potential to reduce fuel, CO2 emissions and air pollution.

Road map to cleaner fuels and vehicles in Asia

Vehicle numbers are forecast to grow rapidly in China, India and the ASEAN region in the next 25 years. By 2035, China and India’s vehicle population would surpass that of OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. Vehicle emission and fuel quality standards play a critical role in limiting the emissions from each vehicle and, together with other measures, in reducing the impact of continued vehicle growth on Asia’s air quality.

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