Please define Group numbers.

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There are a multitude of threads that refer to group numbers, like group III, group IV and so on. But in none of those threads could I find a definition of those group numbers. Please define or direct me to the definitions.
 
Courtesy( I believe anyway ) Amsoil...

Base Stock = Mfg Method:

Group I = Solvent Freezing:

Group I base oils are the least refined of all of the groups. They are usually a mix of different hydrocarbon chains with little or no uniformity. While some automotive oils on the market use Group I stocks, they are generally used in less demanding applications.

Group II = Hydroprocessing and Refining:
Group II base oils are common in mineral-based motor oils currently available on the market. They have fair to good performance in lubricating properties such as volatility, oxidative stability and flash/fire points. They have only fair performance in areas such as pour point, cold crank viscosity and extreme pressure wear.

Group III Hydroprocessing and Refining:
Group III base oils are subjected to the highest level of mineral oil refining of the base oil groups. Although they are not chemically engineered, they offer good performance in a wide range of attributes as well as good molecular uniformity and stability. They are commonly mixed with additives and marketed as synthetic or semi-synthetic products. Group III base oil products have become more common in America during the past decade.

Group IV = Chemical Reactions( All polyalphaolefins-PAOs ):
Group IV base oils are chemically engineered synthetic base stocks. Polyalphaolefins (PAOs) are a common example of a synthetic base stock. Synthetics, when combined with additives, offer excellent performance over a wide range of lubricating properties. They have very stable chemical compositions and highly uniform molecular chains. Group IV base oils are becoming more common in synthetic and synthetic-blend products for automotive and industrial applications.

Group V = All others not included in Groups I, II, III or IV (Esters):
Group V base oils are used primarily in the creation of oil additives. Esters and polyolesters are both common Group V base oils used in the formulation of oil additives. Group V oils exhibit a wide variety of properties specific to each individual oil's formulation. Group V base oils are generally not used as base oils themselves, but add beneficial properties to other base oils.
 
Hi,
flanso - Along with the excellent Group descriptions provided above by NHSilverado there is another Group:

Group 6 - Polyinternalolefins

This Group was enabled about 2005 and includes a number of very advanced "lubricants" - by definition
 
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Once again these and other definitions commonly used should be stickied at top of this area.

Can anyone do that?
 
Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,
flanso - Along with the excellent Group descriptions provided above by NHSilverado there is another Group:

Group 6 - Polyinternalolefins

This Group was enabled about 2005 and includes a number of very advanced "lubricants" - by definition



Never heard of Group VI( probably because it is used in Europe primarily - exclusively? ). Thanks for the info. Best info I could find on it is this...

Group VI oils. These are polyinternalolefins (PIO) somewhat similar to PAOs. These oils are not readily available at present anywhere outside of Italy.

Europeans Adopt 6th Base Oil Group
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
By Tim Sullivan

The Technical Association of the European Lubricants Industry -- ATIEL -- this summer adopted a definition for a sixth group of lubricating base stocks: polyinternalolefins. The initiative was driven by South African energy company Sasol, which produces PIOs and states that they offer performance similar to polyalphaolefins.

“In terms of chemical composition, they’re not very different from PAOs,” said Massimo Ciali, global market manager of lubricants for Sasol’s Olefins and Surfactants division. “And they act very similarly in lubricants.” Ciali noted that the definition adopted by the association included base oil interchange guidelines. Sasol hopes the definition and guidelines make it easier for lube formulators to substitute PIOs for PAOs. The guidelines allow interchange of PIOs with each other and with PAOs without the need for additional engine tests.

ATIEL maintains definitions of base stock categories which, except for the new Group VI category, are identical to those maintained by the American Petroleum Institute for North America. Groups I, II and III represent mineral based oils with increasingly stringent limits for aromatics, viscosity index and sulfur content. Group IV is for PAOs, while Group V is a catchall for any base stocks that do not fall into the other categories.

PIOs are similar to PAOs in that they are synthetic linear chains of alphaolefins. Ciali said Sasol convinced ATIEL that it made sense to define a new category in order to reduce the amount of testing required of formulators trying to license motor oils that contain PIOs.
 
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You almost have to learn on here. Rarely is that disclosed.

For the most part I believe all Castrol Syntec is a group III unless it is the German 0w30 flavor, all Amsoil except the XL is Group IV, Redline is Group V, Mobil I've seen most say is group III and some say is group IV. I really don't know.

Feel free to correct me!!!
 
Originally Posted By: cosynthetics
You almost have to learn on here. Rarely is that disclosed.

For the most part I believe all Castrol Syntec is a group III unless it is the German 0w30 flavor, all Amsoil except the XL is Group IV, Redline is Group V, Mobil I've seen most say is group III and some say is group IV. I really don't know.

Feel free to correct me!!!


I think on Mobil 1 some of it is Group III and some is Group IV. Not sure which is which. I think I read here somewhere that the Extended line is Group III but that could be wrong. Can't recall which was Group IV. I am not a M1 user so I am trying to call from memory what I read just in passing.

To add to your list I believe Penzoil Platinum is Group III. Royal Purple is mostly Group IV with some Group V I believe( but no Group III ).
 
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Quote:
Group III Hydroprocessing and Refining:

Although they are not chemically engineered, …


This part isn't right. Group II/III's are chemically engineered -- from crude oil + hydrogen. Solvent refineries only make Group I base oils because the process is only capable of extracting certain portions of the crude oil, they can't remake the crude oil. They could possibly make small amounts of a poor quality Group II/III, but it wouldn't be cost effective. These solvent refineries don't make Group II/III's because they don't have the catalytic hydrocracking facilities to restructure the crude oil.

Hydrocracking is much more than simple refining -- in hydrocracking, crude oil molecules are striped apart and then rebuilt (saturated) with hydrogen. Calling them highly refined mineral oil is a very loose use of the term "highly refined". Hydrocracking is a refining process in the sense that undesirable things are being removed, but it's much more than that too in that it includes a chemical engineering process. It also happens that many of the things you're removing are molecularly attached to the hydrocarbon chains you want.

This is a better description …
Quote:
hydrocracking …

Hydrocracked lubricants are formulated via hydrocracking, in which crude oil molecules are chemically altered and rearranged into building blocks with favorable characteristics.
 
Originally Posted By: Drivebelt
Quote:
Group III Hydroprocessing and Refining:

Although they are not chemically engineered, …


This part isn't right. Group II/III's are chemically engineered -- from crude oil + hydrogen. Solvent refineries only make Group I base oils because the process is only capable of extracting certain portions of the crude oil, they can't remake the crude oil. They could possibly make small amounts of a poor quality Group II/III, but it wouldn't be cost effective. These solvent refineries don't make Group II/III's because they don't have the catalytic hydrocracking facilities to restructure the crude oil.

Hydrocracking is much more than simple refining -- in hydrocracking, crude oil molecules are striped apart and then rebuilt (saturated) with hydrogen. Calling them highly refined mineral oil is a very loose use of the term "highly refined". Hydrocracking is a refining process in the sense that undesirable things are being removed, but it's much more than that too in that it includes a chemical engineering process. It also happens that many of the things you're removing are molecularly attached to the hydrocarbon chains you want.

This is a better description …
Quote:
hydrocracking …

Hydrocracked lubricants are formulated via hydrocracking, in which crude oil molecules are chemically altered and rearranged into building blocks with favorable characteristics.



Okay. Just posted what I found on a site.
 
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