Info Centre >> Fuel and Lube Oil Technical Manual >> 1. The Basic Building Blocks >> 1.2 Synthetics
Synthetic lubricants are manufactured or synthesized by the reaction of selected components under very controlled conditions to produce a desired compound. This process of building up is completely opposite to the production of base oils from crude oil which are a range of hydrocarbon compounds, albeit very narrow.
Synthetic base fluids are very specific compounds and need not be derived from crude oil stock. Each compound possesses certain physical and chemical characteristics that determine the suitability of that compound for use as a lubricant in a particular application. The attributes of a specific compound may be fluidity, volatility, temperature-viscosity behaviour (VI characteristic), hydrolytic stability, compatibility with other materials and the ability to dissolve chemical additives.