Story behind new oils
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TWO NEW oils launched by BP Oil last October for use in dieselengined vehicles — Vanellus FE engine oil and Multigear FE gear oil — both contain a unique mineral base oil which was discovered by a team from the BP research centre at Sunbury.
A base oil is the starting point for a lubricant before all the necessary additives have been incorporated.
The BP base oil is the product from the BP France hydrocracker unit at the Lavera refinery near Marseilles and is known as LHC (Lavera Hydrocracker Component).
LHC was developed as BP looked for an oil which would satisfy the criteria of fuel efficiency without increased engine wear at a reasonable cost.
Before Sunbury's involvement, BP was forced towards an expensive synthetic oil which was necessary to achieve a low viscosity base oil not available by conventional refining.
LHC is part of the process which converts heavy oil into lighter products such as gas oil via the hydrocracker which operates at around 400°C (750°F).
Vanellus FE is a 15w/30 oil while the Multigear is available as an 80w/90 or 85w/140 oil which are fully qualified oils to MIL-L-2105C.
BP claims that for an operator with 30 vehicles covering some 2.25m miles a year with an annual dery bill of £390,000, use of Vanellus and Multigear could save some E11,000.