Prediction of thickening efficiency of olefin copolymers and kinematic viscosities of the blended base oils by determining intrinsic viscosities of the copolymers in cyclohexane

The engine oil contains various performance additives along with polymer-based viscosity index improver, which are made from special types of flexible long chain polymers whose functionality is derived from their thickening efficiency, viscosity-temperature relationship, and shear stability. Olefin copolymers of the type ethylene/propylene copolymer are extensively used as viscosity index improver for engine oil formulations whose performance is a function of their composition, co-monomer sequence distribution and molar mass. Polymer coils interact with base oil and make it increasingly resistant to flow which accounts for substantial changes in viscosity parameters i.e. kinematic viscosities and viscosity index of blended base oils. Intrinsic viscosity of a polymeric solution is an important “dilute solution viscosity” parameter, which is easily measurable using Ubbelohde viscometer.

In the present work, intrinsic viscosity of twenty samples of laboratory synthesized olefin copolymer in cyclohexane at 30 °C were correlated with their thickening efficiencies, kinematic viscosities of the olefin copolymer blended base oils at 40 °C and 100 °C. These correlation studies enable prediction of performance of olefin copolymer in blended base oil based on an easily and quickly measurable intrinsic viscosity parameter, leading to faster screening of large number of olefin copolymers for their utility as viscosity index improver in lubricants, in a short span of time with limited resources.