Building Chinese Standards Together – Kunlun Lubricants on the Move

Recently, the first meeting of the expert group of the "Engine Lubricant China Standard Development" Innovation Alliance – hosted by the Oil Products and Clean Fuels Branch of the Chinese Society for Internal Combustion Engines and strongly supported by relevant domestic vehicle and engine enterprises as well as lubricant and additive companies – was successfully held at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Experts from relevant domestic industry units attended the meeting, including the Chinese Society for Internal Combustion Engines, FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor Group, Weichai Power, BAIC Foton Daimler, JAC, the China Automotive Research Center, PetroChina's lubricant company (Kunlun Lubricants), the Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Processing, Sinopec Lubricant Company, Ruifeng Additives, Handi Lubricants and Tianhe Additives.
Before this meeting was held, and with strong promotion by PetroChina's lubricant company, domestic automotive OEMs and oil and additive companies, together with the Chinese Society for Internal Combustion Engines and the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, established the "Engine Lubricant China Standard Development Innovation Alliance" in Shanghai in mid-September. In view of the fact that PetroChina's lubricant company possesses strong lubricant R&D and lubricant evaluation technology and occupies a leading position in China, the alliance entrusted it with the overall framework design of the Chinese engine lubricant standard and with the design of all the physicochemical, simulation and bench test project schemes for the first-generation Chinese diesel engine oil specification, for discussion and revision by the alliance expert group. In accordance with the alliance's requirements, the PetroChina lubricant company project team actively communicated and coordinated with OEMs and extensively solicited opinions from all sides, and identified the engines of four OEMs that represent the technical characteristics of Chinese engines and account for more than 70% of market share as the prototype engines for bench testing, completing the overall framework of the Chinese engine lubricant standard and the scheme design for the first-generation Chinese diesel engine oil specification.
The meeting was chaired by Professor Shuai Shijin, Secretary-General of the Oil Products and Clean Fuels Branch of the Chinese Society for Internal Combustion Engines and head of the Innovation Alliance expert group. Li Shusheng, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Chinese Society for Internal Combustion Engines and Secretary-General of the Innovation Alliance, first expressed warm congratulations on behalf of the Innovation Alliance council on the convening of the first meeting of the expert group, and presented letters of appointment to the expert group members and technical advisers. Yang Junjie, Deputy Chief Engineer of PetroChina's lubricant company, was appointed technical adviser to the "Diesel Engine Lubricant China Standard Development Innovation Alliance", and Tang Zhongping, President of the PetroChina Lanzhou Lubricant Research and Development Center, was appointed an alliance expert (and deputy head of the group).
The meeting invited Yang Junjie, Deputy Chief Engineer of PetroChina's lubricant company, to give a report on "Building Chinese Standards for Diesel Engine Lubricants", and Xie Jingchun, Deputy Chief Engineer of the PetroChina Lanzhou Lubricant Research and Development Center, to give a report on the "Independent Diesel Engine Oil Specification Development Project". Deputy Chief Engineer Yang Junjie introduced in detail the industry demand, necessity, technical basis and overall implementation framework of the standard development, while Deputy Chief Engineer Xie Jingchun gave a detailed introduction to the project's specific implementation objectives, research basis, key technical points of standard development and project development schedule. The PetroChina lubricant company project team carried out extensive communication and coordination and meticulous technical work for the establishment of independent specification oil standards, and won the full recognition of the expert group.
Group photo of the expert group
The meeting discussed and formed working rules for the expert group, which require experts to assist the alliance in checking key technical points in the standard development process, to organize experts for technical seminars, technical verification and technical guidance, and to form expert group resolutions. Finally, the expert group voted on key technical points for the "diesel engine oil" standard development, including the code designation of the next-generation heavy-duty vehicle diesel engine oil standard, the framework of the heavy-duty vehicle diesel engine oil standard, the bench evaluation method for diesel engine oil, and the selection of typical diesel engines.
The convening of the first meeting of the expert group of the "Engine Lubricant China Standard Development" Innovation Alliance marks the start of implementation work on standardization of independent engine lubricant specifications, and the meeting unanimously approved a plan to launch the first-generation "Chinese national diesel engine oil standard for diesel engine lubricants" in 2019. The dream is on the road; we believe that, with strong support from the relevant industries and with all parties staying true to their original aspirations, the Chinese dream of self-developed lubricant specification standards shared by generations of Chinese lubricant professionals and automotive people will surely be realized!