Automated lubricant formulation

FLEX FORMAX lubricants

FLEX FORMAX lubricants for unattended formulation and testing of lubricants (oils, greases) plus integrated „forced“ testing e.g. via rapid temperature cyling, gasification combined with defined contaminant. FLEX FORMAX fulfills the requirements for process technology (e.g. shearing and composition series). The solution enables raw material mapping / reformulation, e.g. related to REACH.

Two blue chemspeed robotic platforms in metal sitting in a white hallway

Overview

Chemspeed's solution

A typical FLEX FORMAX LUBRICANTS deck consists of up 6 precision blenders in 1 formulation module, 3 overhead gravimetric dispensing robotic tools, a variety of racks with vials, syringes, heated and disposable pre-formulation vessels and much more.

As alternative a deck with 12 precision blenders (150 ml) in 2 formulation modules is feasible without additional racks.

The FLEX FORMAX LUBRICANTS has the unique capability to exchange Robotic Tools and therefore change it's functionality on the fly, resulting in:

Several tools on one single platform
A cost effective robotic platform with a smart footprint
Easy programming
The robot brings functionalities as dispensing, analytics and actions to the precision blenders
Add solids, powders, liquids, highly viscous materials to the milligram resolution while the formulation is being processed
On the working area FLEX FORMAX has up to 2 formulation modules

The formulation module is a working entity consisting of 6 individually controlled, high precision formulation workstations. Each workstation with its own vessel / blender, feed vessel and syringe pump can be customized and controlled to match almost any formulation workflow.

Up to 6 formulation blenders (150 mL volume) with independent stirring, scraping, heating and cooling
Up to 6 feed vessel (50 mL volume) with magnetic stirring and jacket temperature control (up to 90 °C); these can be used e.g. for the preparation of low-viscous pre-mixes
Easy integration of pH probes

Workflow

Example workflow

The interactive workflow panel below showcases example workflows for this solution. Each Chemspeed tool or module performs a set of specific actions, as in any manual lab workflow, and an almost limitless arrangement of these tools is possible.

FLEX FORMAX - Lubricants

Benefits

Powerful advantages

Blending module for up to 6 or 12 different blends per run with up to 30+ ingredients.
Characterization module with tailored solutions for foam collapsing, VOC, TBN...
Lifetime prediction module with tailored solutions, e.g. temperature screening from -50 °C to +250 °C.
Forced degradiation with tailored solutions to mimic a hostile environment, e.g. high shear forces, high pressure, abrasion mi-micking, surface enlargement.
Blending: 20 - 30 ingredients like base oil, friction modifier, viscosity modifier, anti-oxidants, detergents, corrosion inhibitors, etc. and different ingredient ratios pre-formulations, temperature and mixing profiles. Example: 7 different raw materials at different amounts result in 343 experiments.
Service lifetime: Temperature, hydrolytic and oxidation stability, acidity, IR measurement, particle size distribution, photo imaging (UV, IR).
Characterization: TBN / TAN, foam collapsing, VOC, compatibility screening.
Forced degradation: Soot addition, artificial (metallic) abrasion mimicking, high shear forces, high pressure, gaseous pollution.

Automated lubricant formulation

Chemspeed's solution

Example workflow

FLEX FORMAX - Lubricants

Powerful advantages

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