Evonik Oil Additives USA, Inc.
Efficiency gains have become reality with DYNAVIS® technology
By Lauren Zunner, Marketing Manager, DYNAVIS® - Americas | TLT CMF Plus November 2018
How to transfer value into business with industrial hydraulic fluids
At Evonik, we’ve branded our group of highly shear stable VISCOPLEX® viscosity index improver products under the DYNAVIS® technology brand. DYNAVIS® technology stands for a range of benefits coming from formulating high efficiency hydraulic fluids, including energy efficiency and improved productivity of hydraulic equipment, and excellent low temperature properties with a wide temperature operating window of the fluid. With such an extensive list of advantages, also offering customers a robust package of support helps a lubricant marketer value sell a premium fluid. The goal is to be a true partner to our customers, and that’s why we can consult not only on formulation work and lab testing, but also provide OEM approvals, including Denison HF-0 and Bosch Rexroth, and marketing tools.
The DYNAVIS® marketing toolbox provides customers with point-of-sale (POS) tools and other product launch support like tradeshow concepts, white papers, press releases, etc. At a later point we will explore in more detail the unique sales tools we’ve created to help lube marketers sell a high tier fluid, but I’ll first explain why we’ve invested so much into DYNAVIS® technology for shear stable high VI hydraulic fluids.
The Market
Although conventional monograde dominates, as well as select elevated VI low shear stable fluids, the huge opportunity is in having a shear stable high VI hydraulic fluid in your portfolio that offers your customer energy efficiency. You can prove these energy efficiencies with the help of the DYNAVIS® tools.
According to Evonik’s estimates, of the total hydraulic fluid market, the majority at roughly 60% is used in mobile machinery applications to transport, excavate, and lift materials. The remaining 40% is used in industrial machinery applications to provide power transmission and motion control. This 40% minority is not insignificant. However, high efficiency fluids play almost no part: greater than 95% are monograde as operating temperature and mechanical stress seems low. But with proven energy efficiency gains, promoting an energy saving multigrade fluid formulated with DYNAVIS® technology is the next opportunity in the market.
Injection Molding Equipment
Efficiency in injection molding is defined as work done per energy consumed, pieces/kWh. With DYNAVIS® technology, we’ve measured and statistically validated thousands of data points using different combinations of OEM injection molding machines and hydraulic fluids resulting in anywhere up to 11% energy savings. The concept of our testing revolves around a strict methodology for performance testing, implemented both in-house at Evonik as well as at OEMs. It also revolves around the fluid formulation. Any fluid has to at least comply with the DYNAVIS® Performance Standard, meeting or exceeding the thresholds for viscosity index greater than 160, and shear stability as outlined in
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The DYNAVIS® Performance Standard
Formulating according to the DYNAVIS® Performance Standard, with VISCOPLEX® products and the choice of your preferred other raw materials, ensures the optimum balance between hydro-mechanical and volumetric efficiency. Without a balance, hydraulic systems can have the dilemma of hydro-mechanical losses with a fluid at high viscosity, and volumetric power losses with a fluid at too low viscosity. On one hand, mechanical efficiency of the hydraulic system would benefit from a fluid that is very thin and easily flowing. However, too thin of a fluid delivers poor volumetric efficiency as internal leakage consumes much of the pump’s energy and the fluid gives poor lubrication.
On the other hand, a thick fluid is good for volumetric efficiency as the loss from internal pump leakage is minimal, however this thick fluid would be difficult to flow and result in hydrodynamic friction and churning losses in the overall system. The ideal fluid choice is a balance. DYNAVIS® formulated fluids are able to keep up this balance for a wider temperature operating window than a conventional fluid. They consume less energy due to reduced hydro-mechanical losses and reduced internal leakage.
Proven in our lab, corroborated by OEM’s own tests on their equipment, and in the field with performance demonstrations at end users, a change from ISO VG 46 to ISO VG 32 is possible without losing wear protection for the pump. Evonik has studied the operations and parameters of injection molding machines in the field globally. Because these machines typically operate in controlled environments they seldom come anywhere close to the maximum operating temperature specified by the pump. Therefore at an average operating temperature like 40 to 50 ⁰C, a change from an ISO VG 46 monograde fluid to an ISO VG 46 multigrade fluid formulated with DYNAVIS® technology would show little benefit due to the fact that the kinematic viscosity (KV) of both fluids in that temperature range is roughly the same. DYNAVIS® technology expands the temperature operating window. This is ideal for construction and mining machinery used in outdoor environments where temperature can be more extreme, but not as impactful for an injection molding machine for which operating temperatures are more moderate. The key in stationary applications is shifting down a viscosity grade to a DYNAVIS® formulated ISO VG 32. The pump is still protected at high temperature, however at low and mid-range temperatures, the system experiences all of the advantages of a lower viscosity and highly shear stable fluid with reduced hydro-mechanical losses.
DYNAVIS® Marketing Tools
The concepts described so far – balancing mechanical and volumetric efficiencies, expanding the temperature operating window and giving the system the most benefit by reducing a viscosity grade from ISO 46 to ISO 32 – are well understood by Evonik and the lubricant community. The challenge is conveying these technical concepts to a vast market of end users and helping them realize the advantages they would achieve in their own equipment at their own site. For that, the most unique and exciting part about DYNAVIS® is the collection of tools Evonik created to help lubricant marketers sell the value of a high efficiency hydraulic fluid to an end user.
An animation was developed to tell the story of these concepts. It includes a digital rendering of a hydraulic system with either a vane or piston pump, along with the other implements, and shows how the system operates with monograde fluid and the comparison to DYNAVIS® multigrade as shown in
Figures 2 and 3. The animation tool also includes a section explaining the tradeoffs between hydro-mechanical and volumetric efficiency, shown in
Figure 4. It explains that by using DYNAVIS® technology to balance both, the hydraulic system achieves the greatest efficiency.
Figure 2. DYNAVIS® technology is designed to reduce energy losses caused by friction and volumetric effects. The high viscosity index of DYNAVIS® technology eliminates the need to use a thicker fluid.
Figure 3. One of the drawbacks to conventional hydraulic fluids is the loss of viscosity at operating temperatures. DYNAVIS® technology works to maintain viscosity and reduce volumetric losses.
Figure 4. Shown here the animation tool illustrates the imbalance that can occur with the use of conventional fluid. DYNAVIS® technology balances out hydro-mechanical and volumetric efficiencies.
This animation is one of the POS tools we offer to lubricant marketers to help sell a high efficiency fluid to customers.
Additionally we’ve created an easy-to-use calculator loaded with actual energy savings test result data gathered and statistically validated over many years. This calculator, shown in
Figure 5, allows for custom inputs from the user regarding the operation parameters of the injection molding machine (power consumption, operating hours/year, fluid drain interval and fluid volume), and also the costs associated with the price of energy in $/kWh and fluid costs. The inputs can be continuously adjusted in order to play out a variety of scenarios your customers might imagine. All inputs lead to a calculation showing the savings on energy cost possible just by switching their hydraulic fluid.
Figure 5.
The interactive digital tools, along with a library of OEM testimonials and case studies from field tests, create the baseline for successful promotion of a high performance multigrade fluid into the stationary equipment market.
Evonik can confidently predict performance and savings when using DYNAVIS® technology. We’ve consistently measured efficiency gains for 4-11% compared to monograde reference fluids, along with additional benefits: lower oil temperature, state of the art equipment protection, and long drain intervals.
There’s no shortage of benefits with DYNAVIS® formulated fluids. The opportunity exists now to be a trendsetter in energy efficiency. I invite you to visit our website
www.dynavis.com or contact me directly to discover more.