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October 19, 2021
Topic:
Chemistry and Technology of Fuel and Lubricant Additives
Speaker: Dr. Prem Pal, Manager- Downstream Products, REDA Canada Ltd.
Presentation Topic:
Fuels and lubricants are essential part of our life. In fact, they have been instrumental in our survival and progression as we see today. With time, our understandings for producing more efficient fuels and lubricants for the complex and advanced machines have constantly been improving. From simple bullock-cart wheel-axle friction reduction in early days to the operation of complex machines including spacecraft to take us and our machines to distant world, even the robots working in those distant worlds –all rely upon the performance of fuels and lubricants.
There are many types of chemical additives mixed into base fuels and lubricants to enhance performance, to suppress some undesirable properties, and to impart some new properties. Additives can make up from 0.1 to 30 volume percent of the finished product, depending upon the target application of the product.
Additives are expensive chemicals, and creating the proper mix or formulation of additives a complicated science, for example it is the choice of additives that differentiate turbine oil from hydraulic oil, gear oil and engine oil, or standard gasoline and premium gasoline.
This presentation will walk us thru the basic chemistry and engineering of the additives, how they perform their functions such as with-in the body of the oil (e.g., anti-oxidants), or out-side the body of the oil (e.g., anti-wear additives, detergents, and corrosion inhibitors).
Our speaker:
Dr. Prem Pal is a Professional Chemist having extensive experience in petroleum refining, especially with quality deliverance of fuels and lubricants. Having spent his 20 plus years in this field, he offers a deep insight into science and engineering of today’s fuels & lubricants, particularly about the additives used to accredit them.
Dr. Pal is currently employed as Manager -Downstream Products with REDA Chemicals Canada. REDA Canada Ltd. is a leading manufacturer & distributor of specialty chemicals for industrial business-to-business solutions.
In his previous roles, he has spent a number of years working on R&D of next-generation fuels and lubricants, some of which have resulted into grand commercial applications, including gas-to-liquids (GTL) process by Syntroleum Corporation, and making ethyl acetate with 100% atom efficiency (Avada Process) by British Petroleum. He has been Research & Development Chemist for a good number of years with Fuels & Lubricants Group at Alberta Innovates/ InnoTech Alberta.
Prem graduated from the University of Liverpool, UK in 2002, with a doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Chemistry. He is currently a member of Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta (ACPA).
meeting details:
Location: STLE Alberta Section meetings will be held via Zoom webinar for the immediate future.
Cost for Presentation: FREE