Unattended Formulation and Testing of Lubricants (Greases, Engine Oils)

FORMAX LUBES

Chemspeed’s FORMAX LUBES workstation is an advanced, fully automated platform designed for sample preparation, formulation, characterization, forced degradation and stress testing in lubricant development. Leveraging patented overhead gravimetric dispensing and modular, high-precision formulation tools, it delivers unmatched efficiency, consistency, and scalability—while meeting the unique challenges of working with oils, greases, and highly viscous materials.

Overview

Chemspeed's solution

FORMAX LUBES represents a complete automation solution for lubricant formulation and testing, enabling:

Fully unattended workflows
Customizable and scalable experiments
Rapid process parameter screening and raw material mapping (e.g. REACH compliance)
High-throughput development with traceable data handling

From sample prep to testing under real-world conditions, Chemspeed's modular robotic platform accelerates time-to-result, improves data quality, and reduces cost per sample by up to 90%.

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.

FORMAX LUBES

Benefits

Powerful advantages

Gravimetric dispensing of solids / powders, liquids, and viscous materials — while mixing, heating, cooling, refluxing, and scraping
Balance moves to destination for faster and more efficient dispensing (balance resolution: 0.1 mg or 0.01 mg)
Dispensing range: from a few mg up to several grams
Full control and monitoring of all formulation parameters such as:
- Internal and jacket temperature
- Shear rate and viscosity
- Scraping speed
- Reflux
- pH
Scraper adjustment: flexible positioning and orientation (PTFE, PEEK material options)
Automated data logging of all parameters (mixing speed, temperature, time, etc.)
Easy integration with Excel, ELNs, LIMS, and DoE software
Precision formulation vessels with:
- Stainless steel or custom materials
- Up to 6,000 rpm stirring
- High-viscosity handling (up to 1,000 Pa.s)
- Integrated pH, viscosity, temperature, and calorimetry
Flexible modules for:
- Blending (up to 60+ ingredients)
- Characterization (e.g. viscosity, rheology, IR, imaging)
- Forced degradation and stress testing (shear, abrasion / oxidative degradation, temperature simulation combined with viscosity, imaging, IR measurements)

Software

AUTOSUITE

Chemspeed’s AUTOSUITE software packages execute and control all modules in every solution. They control all Chemspeed robotic platforms and any other integrated 3^rd-party software and hardware.

Explore AUTOSUITE

Chemspeed AutoSuite Software laptop screen