20 Minutes With Kevin Harrington
Karl M. Phipps, Managing Editor | TLT 20 Minutes December 2014
ExxonMobil Chemical’s global alliance manager for synthetic fluids and lubricant basestocks discusses the challenges of developing new industrial lubricants.
KEVIN HARRINGTON - The Quick File
Kevin Harrington is the global alliance manager for the synthetic fluids and lubricant basestocks business at ExxonMobil Chemical Co. in Fairfax, Va. Prior to his current role, he was Mobil SHC™ technical manager, guiding technology programs for synthetic industrial oils sold under the Mobil SHC brand. He has more than 25 years of experience with lubricants and lubricant additives, working in such roles as process design, project management, operations management, education and training, lubricant product development, quality assurance and marketing technical service.
Kevin has co-authored numerous papers on the benefits of synthetic lubricants in applications from passenger cars to wind turbines. He has presented technical papers at several industry conferences including the National Corvette Museum, ASTM Symposia, STLE Annual Meeting, ASME/STLE International Joint Tribology Conference and World Tribology Congress.
He received a bachelor of chemical engineering degree from the University of Delaware in 1983 and a master of chemical engineering degree from Rutgers University in 1986.
Kevin Harrington
TLT: How did you end up in your career working in this industry?
Harrington: My path to working in the industry was somewhat indirect. With degrees in chemical engineering, I began my career designing chemical process equipment, leading to an opportunity to join Paramins, the lubricant additives division of Exxon Chemical Co. While at Paramins, I had job assignments supporting and managing additive manufacturing before moving to my first lubrication-related role in marketing technical service for small engine lubricants, which included approval test programs for lube marketers and support of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
We developed a novel, synthetic two-cycle engine oil for an OEM. The final stage of the test program was a high-altitude field test, which was capped off with a successful engine teardown and inspection and a half-day snowmobile ride. That’s what I call a good day at work! From there I was hooked and have enjoyed working in the field ever since.
TLT: Do you think most end-users of lubricants understand the importance of effective maintenance programs?
Harrington: This is an interesting question, and it goes to the crux of the issue when we consider customer acceptance of advanced lubricants. Operators of industrial facilities, for example, employ maintenance approaches that range from “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” to the most advanced predictive and preventive methodologies.
Maintenance personnel that employ a reactive approach typically view advanced lubricants as more expensive options and are not likely to read industry publications such as TLT. At the other end of the spectrum, maintenance professionals who employ proactive maintenance programs understand the concept of total life cycle cost and the positive impacts of their maintenance practices on the productivity of the operating facility. These customers, who you would expect to find among TLT’s readers, recognize the value they can gain through the use of advanced lubricants, including longer equipment life, less lubricant-related downtime and improved energy efficiency.
TLT: We hear that new lubricants can deliver a 2 to 3 percent improvement in energy efficiency. Does that resonate with lubricant end-users and can it have a meaningful financial impact for them?
Harrington: Yes. High-performance synthetic oils deliver significant customer benefits including fuel and energy efficiency and reduced emissions. Lubricants that deliver 2 to 3 percent improvement in efficiency can provide significant electricity or fuel savings when applied across many pieces of equipment.
There are a few points to keep in mind when measuring lubricant-related energy efficiency benefits. First, the ASTM Hydraulic Committee issued guidelines a few years ago on how to measure lubricant-related efficiency benefits, and the general principles are applicable to a wide range of lubricant applications. To obtain valid results, measurements require robust experimental design, including consistent conditions, precise measurement of key parameters and rigorous statistical analysis of multiple results.
Second, potential energy efficiency benefits will vary by application. Applications that have small lubricant-related losses compared to their overall energy usage, such as gas turbines, can have small energy efficiency benefit. Those applications that have relatively large lubricant- related losses, such as hydraulic pumps and high-ratio worm gearboxes, can see significantly greater benefit.
TLT: How long does it take to design and field test innovative industrial lubricants such as gear or wind turbine lubricants?
Harrington: Development of new innovative lubricants requires a significant and sustained investment in research and development. Programs to develop these advanced lubricants progress through three basic stages: (1.) an exploratory discovery phase where many potential components and formulation approaches are screened in rapid tests, (2.) the formulation options are reduced, and the performance of each is evaluated in more realistic, lengthy and costly tests and (3.) the performance of the lubricant is validated in real-world, in-field demonstrations.
In my experience, three variables determine the overall length of each lubricant development program. First, the length of the discovery effort will depend on the magnitude of the change in performance and formulation approach versus previous products, with incremental improvements progressing rapidly and step-out advancement requiring significantly more time. Second, the testing phase depends on the duration, precision and availability of tests that correlate well with the intended application. Finally, the duration of the validation phase will depend on the system response, the level of risk involved and involvement of key stakeholders such as equipment builders or OEMs, ranging from fast response and low risk for metal removal fluids to a few years and higher risk for wind turbine oils or aviation lubricants.
A high-performance jet turbine oil will come to the market after more than a decade of research and testing is conducted side-by-side with leading engine manufacturers and major airlines, extensive performance trials, both on the ground and in-flight, including thousands of in-flight testing hours.
TLT: Can you provide insight into what synthetic lubricants may look like in the future and what are some of the challenges for designing newer lubricants?
Harrington: With the disclaimer that my crystal ball is out of calibration, here are my thoughts on potential evolution of lubricant formulations and an opportunity which could enable significant advancement.
First, lubricants must continue to deliver balanced performance across all relevant performance characteristics—viscometrics, wear protection, oxidative stability, deposit control, low-temperature fluidity, separation from water or air, filterability, corrosion protection and compatibility with materials. Customer benefits from the use of advanced lubricants will be limited by the weakest dimension of lubricant performance.
Base fluid technologies form the core of lubricant formulation. Lubricant performance has progressed as base oils have evolved from natural materials to purified distillation cuts, highly processed materials, as well as advanced synthetic basestocks. This story has been dominated by hydrocarbons, and balanced performance is often defined using early lubricants (often based on API Group I base oils) as a benchmark. This is because equipment designs and some material selections have been based on the performance characteristics of these early lubricants.
Significant advancements are possible with a comprehensive system design approach in which the lubricant and the hardware are designed to complement one another. Lubricant performance can be limited by the current approach in which equipment designers typically treat the lubricant as an afterthought and there is little, if any, flexibility to change equipment parameters by the time that lubricant discussions begin. As long as lubricant development continues to be constrained by equipment design and material selection, lubricant performance benefits will also be limited.
Let’s consider elastomer selection, for example. In fundamental training on lubrication, we list the functions of a lubricant: to reduce friction, protect against wear, remove heat and so on. Elastomer compatibility is often mentioned toward the bottom of the list. The requirement that lubricant formulations must demonstrate compatibility with existing, low-cost elastomers turns this list upside-down. To meet elastomer compatibility requirements, formulators cannot consider some basestock and additive chemistries, which could support performance advancements in primary lubricant characteristics. Lubricant R&D expense to deliver compatibility with current elastomers should be weighed against the cost of higher performance elastomers, which could, in turn, enable the use of higher performance lubricants.
TLT: How do you continue to advance your knowledge and skill set?
Harrington: Definitely, I think on-the-job training is essential these days in furthering your skills. In addition, continuing education is important in any field. Fortunately, STLE provides excellent educational opportunities to those working in the lubricants industry. Members should take advantage of STLE education courses and complement them with content offered at local section meetings and at events such as the annual meeting, Tribology Frontiers Conference, World Tribology Congress, among others.
These opportunities have provided a solid knowledge base and enabled me to work effectively with my ExxonMobil colleagues. I have been very fortunate to work with some of the best scientists and lubrication engineers in the business. I continue to gain knowledge and skills, as we collaborate to tackle challenges in development of new lubricants and to help customers realize performance benefits from advanced lubricants.
TLT: Do you have any advice for young people pursuing a career in tribology and lubrication engineering?
Harrington: In our industry, we have made huge scientific advances in the past few decades. These include metallurgical effects on the ability of a surface to carry load in a lubricated contact, surface chemistry including tribofilm formation and function, lubricant tribological properties affecting film thickness and traction, chemistry in the bulk fluid affecting a wide range of properties of the fully formulated lubricant, including change in viscosity with temperature, resistance to aging, formation of deposit precursors and handling them to minimize deposit formation and interaction of lubricants with other system components like elastomers and paints.
By applying these scientific advances, we can take lubricant development beyond the incremental, Edisonian approaches that have served us for decades to a more predictive, science-based approach. Taken together, these advances will enable development of better basestocks, additives and fully-formulated lubricants.
However, customers and society will not benefit from these scientific advances unless lubricants are properly used and maintained. If misapplied or not properly maintained, an advanced lubricant will not perform up to its potential. The practical side of lubrication engineering seems simple: use the right lubricant for the job. For example, use hydraulic fluid for the hydraulic system and gear oil for the gearbox. Protect lubricants from contamination and keep dirt out. Perhaps the most basic rule of all is to make sure that enough oil goes where it’s needed. When these practices are not followed, lubrication problems occur and getting to the root cause is often not straightforward.
To learn about this, young lubrication professionals should get out into the field. If it’s not possible to get hands-on experience, I encourage our young professionals to reach out to their senior colleagues. For example, at the STLE annual meeting, I encourage them to find someone who has an STLE Fellow ribbon attached to their badge and ask them about the most difficult lubrication challenges they faced and how they overcame them. These discussions are as important in our field as the case studies, which serve as foundational elements in business education.
You can reach Kevin Harrington at kevin.j.harrington@exxonmobil.com.