Introduction and History of Renewable Lubricants™ Technology

Growing environmental awareness, our vulnerability to unexpected supply of foreign petroleum, concerns of economic security, and more stringent regulations regarding petroleum product use have spurred renewed interest in vegetable oil lubricants. Vegetable oils are obtained from renewable resources and are biodegradable. Thus, they offer specific environmental and economic sustainability benefits over mineral oil-based lubricants. In addition to these benefits, vegetable oils also have certain performance advantages over conventional mineral oil base stocks. These include low volatility, high flash points, super high viscosity index, and excellent lubricity.

Since 1991, Renewable Lubricants™, Inc. (RLI™) has pioneered an extensive research and development program of vegetable oil-based (biobased) lubricants. The program’s overwhelming success is due in part to project collaborations with the Department of Defense, Department of Interior, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Concurrent Technology Corporation, United Soybean Board, Dow AgroSciences, Lubrizol, Ohio Soybean Council, National and Ohio Corn Growers Associations, Penn State University, University of Lincoln Nebraska, and Chevron Phillips Chemical. Renewable Lubricants, Inc. has been under government grants, contracts, and/or working agreements with most of these organizations and companies.

Renewable Lubricants™ is the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of high performance biobased lubricants. Our patented technology and extensive field successes in over 250 products are what place us without peers in the biobased lubricant market. Renewable Lubricants has developed lubricants that perform in 3500 horsepower high performance, high temperature racing engines to the most severe hydraulic requirements including extreme cold temperatures of Lake Superior’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Mark Thomas has won 7 World Titles within the 15 years that Renewable Lubricants has formulated his racing oils. This has never before been accomplished. His record is unsurpassed in the Alcohol Funny Car class. Parker Hannifin, through their OEM Engineering, PWS Motion Control (www.pwsdirect.com), asked Renewable Lubricants to design a special 8000-psi bio-hydraulic fluid for the BMW Oracle Americas Cup Racing Ships (See-www.bmworacleracing.com). Renewable Lubricants’™ Bio-Hydraulic fluid was installed at the beginning of 2006 and the team in Valencia Spain could not believe the improved performance of the hydraulic steering systems. Parker PWS approved Renewable Lubricants’ Bio-Hydraulic Fluids for the Port of Los Angeles gangways, flood gates for the Tehachapi Reservoir Project in California and many other projects. Additional OEM approvals include Northrop Grumman, Altec Industries equipment, and Genie Terex lifts. Parker Hannifin’s Denison Pump and Vickers Pump tests are listed on Renewable Lubricants’ data sheets.

Renewable Lubricants™ has worldwide patents and proprietary additives that have shown exceptional performance in biobased formulas. This technology provides a low cost method for improving cold temperature performance and stabilizing oxidation of vegetable oil based lubricants for high and low temperature engine, transmission, hydraulic, gear, and many industrial fluid applications. Internal and outside test data show that other commercially available compounds have not duplicated this level of performance. Renewable Lubricants is providing these biobased products for many government and commercial markets. Government agencies purchasing include the USDA, DOI, DOE, US Navy, US Coast Guard, and US Air Force to name a few. The NOAA weather ships in the Great Lakes, Charleston, SC, Norfolk, VA, and Monterey Bay, CA are all using Renewable Lubricants’ products throughout the ships (Motor Oils, Hydraulic Fluids, Gear Oils, Grease, Penetrants, Fuel Conditioners, and Cable Lubricants). This is a unique opportunity to comply with the New Farm Security and Investment Act of 2002 (H.R.2646), Executive Orders, and achieve major objectives for the environment, agriculture, and national security. The new law, in Title 9 of the Farm Bill “The BioPreferredSM”, includes a biobased products preference program, which obliges all government agencies to purchase biobased products “to the maximum extent practicable”.

Renewable Lubricants’™ Biobased products are freely sold in the United States and Internationally through Grainger and other major international companies. In formulating, manufacturing, and marketing these products, Renewable Lubricants™ is subject to the statutes and regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Department of Defense (DOD), and other government agencies. Renewable Lubricants™ has been contracted by and worked with the USDA and DOD since 1993 (grants under audit). Renewable Lubricants’™ Biobased Product Technology endures grueling and demanding Military and Industrial Specification Test Protocols to determine their performance, reliability, lifecycle cost, and safety. Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) is an independent prime government contractor for this technology exploration and validation. Renewable Lubricants™ has been working with CTC and the DOD/TACOM, designing extreme cold temperature and fire resistant hydraulic fluid to meet improved MIL specifications for tactical equipment (see CTC letter). Other independent government contractors who have evaluated Renewable Lubricants’ products include Northrop Grumman, SouthWest Research Institute (SWRI) and National Institute for Standard Technology (NIST).