The Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV will be exhibiting at ACHEMA (June 10-14, 2024) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Located on the stand of the Fraunhofer Chemistry Alliance in Hall 6.0, Booth D49 under the motto of ‘Inspiring Sustainable Connections’. The company will be presenting high-performance, plant-based alternatives to mineral oil-based lubricants and lubricant additives as well as an innovative GC sensor system for the efficient quality assurance of processes and materials.
A total of 15 institutes from the Fraunhofer Chemistry Alliance will be exhibiting at the joint stand. The focus will be on ‘Accelerating green chemistry’, ‘Digitising chemical processes’, ‘Empowering circularity’, ‘Enhancing safety’, ‘Facilitating scale-up’ and ‘Improving efficiency’.
When developing high-performance, plant-based alternatives to mineral oil-based lubricants and lubricant additives, the Fraunhofer IVV focuses on the holistic and sustainable utilisation of raw materials. For the production of biolubricants and additives, the Fraunhofer IVV therefore mainly uses industrial residues that were previously disposed of unused. Vegetable oils or side streams from vegetable oil refining and aqueous systems are used as the base fluid for biolubricants. Enzymatic processes are used to improve the techno functional properties of vegetable oil-based lubricants. This positively influences the lubricating effect, viscosity and solubility of additives through mild and targeted processing. For water-based biolubricants, the Fraunhofer IVV controls the techno functional properties, such as thermal and physical stability and viscosity, through the use of specific biopolymers.
Secondary plant substances or plant proteins that naturally have highly functional properties are suitable as a basis for the production of bio-based additives. The Fraunhofer IVV already supports companies in the selection of raw materials and develops extraction processes that are specifically adapted to the raw material and the desired target application. In addition to characterizing the chemical and functional additive properties, the institute formulates the additives into the lubricant fluid and tests the interactions with other formulation components. The base fluid and the added additives are matched to each other for the respective area of application in such a way that high-performance bio-based alternatives to mineral oil-based lubricants are created. For more visit ivv.fraunhofer.de
