Lanzhou Grease Plant Successfully Develops No. 20 Aviation Lubricant Base Oil

On November 14, the first batch of No. 20 aviation lubricant base oil from Lanzhou Grease Plant met all technical indicators required by the military and was successfully delivered, marking the successful development of No. 20 aviation lubricant base oil.
No. 20 aviation lubricant base oil uses poly-alpha-olefin synthetic oil as its base oil and is used to lubricate and cool the rotor bearings of turbojet engines and the gears and bearings of accessory drive mechanisms, with extremely stringent indicator requirements.
After experts from the aviation appraisal committee and military leaders visited the Grease Plant for on-site inspection, technical personnel at the plant overcame various difficulties. Starting from laboratory tests, they screened production schemes and worked out process conditions that both met product quality requirements and suited the plant's production facilities. During more than a month of industrial trials, they successively overcame problems such as difficulties in neutralization and filtration, overlapping components in hydrotreated oil, and distillation closed-cup flash point failing to meet the standard. Eliminating all possible causes of nonconformity, they finally broke through conventional process methods and adopted measures including a rectification column at the top of the vessel, stripping and nitrogen protection, successfully developing the first batch of No. 20 aviation lubricant. Analysis by the Lanzhou Lubricant R&D Center confirmed that all technical indicators of the oil met military requirements.
At present, the first batch of No. 20 aviation lubricant base oil has been successfully delivered.