Hi 427,
I understand your desire to know percentages, but there are scientific reasons why I can't go there. For example, just making up numbers here, let's say I see 60% Group III based on a raw area % readout. I am only looking at the components that eluted from the GC. If there were 15% "heavies" that didn't elute, such as the VI solids and organometalic detergents, then that 60% figure of visible Group III would drop to 51% of the finished formula. If Mobil uses 10% heavy PAOs that don't elute, then the figure goes to 45%. Then there are response factors for the various base oils, and base line judgments for defining the separation and integration of the peak areas. These could raise or lower the figure somewhat and can only be determined by careful calibration - a lot of work. If they drove the percentage down, then we could be looking at 30%. So in this example the Group III percent could range between 30% and 60% of the finished oil. This is NOT a range I am putting on M1, just an example to demonstrate the difficulty in making percentage statements.
Stating a percent range without calibration just isn't valid and could be misleading. I am willing to say that the Group III is easily the largest of the visible (eluted) base oils, i.e. more than the AN or base oil grade PAO (4 to 10 cSt) based on raw area %, or to say there is a "big slug" of Group III, but more specific than that gets unscientific.
The samples we ran of German Castrol Syntec Gold and Green show the small amounts of additive carrier oil we would expect in a finished synthetic oil, typically 5-10%. The M1 EP samples are a night & day difference by comparison.
Tom
I understand your desire to know percentages, but there are scientific reasons why I can't go there. For example, just making up numbers here, let's say I see 60% Group III based on a raw area % readout. I am only looking at the components that eluted from the GC. If there were 15% "heavies" that didn't elute, such as the VI solids and organometalic detergents, then that 60% figure of visible Group III would drop to 51% of the finished formula. If Mobil uses 10% heavy PAOs that don't elute, then the figure goes to 45%. Then there are response factors for the various base oils, and base line judgments for defining the separation and integration of the peak areas. These could raise or lower the figure somewhat and can only be determined by careful calibration - a lot of work. If they drove the percentage down, then we could be looking at 30%. So in this example the Group III percent could range between 30% and 60% of the finished oil. This is NOT a range I am putting on M1, just an example to demonstrate the difficulty in making percentage statements.
Stating a percent range without calibration just isn't valid and could be misleading. I am willing to say that the Group III is easily the largest of the visible (eluted) base oils, i.e. more than the AN or base oil grade PAO (4 to 10 cSt) based on raw area %, or to say there is a "big slug" of Group III, but more specific than that gets unscientific.
The samples we ran of German Castrol Syntec Gold and Green show the small amounts of additive carrier oil we would expect in a finished synthetic oil, typically 5-10%. The M1 EP samples are a night & day difference by comparison.
Tom
