In technical documentation, in periodicals and in the work of an accountant, you can often come across the abbreviation fuel and lubricants. Various categories of fuels and lubricants are hidden behind these mysterious letters. They are widely used in the maintenance of automotive equipment and a wide variety of mechanisms.
Fuels and lubricants
Fuels and lubricants are a wide family of petroleum products used in automotive and other equipment. This category includes fuels obtained from oil, substances for lubricating machine components and assemblies, as well as special-purpose fluids. The main type of fuels and lubricants is fuel. It accounts for almost three quarters of all substances included in the group of fuels and lubricants.
The fuel component of fuels and lubricants is kerosene, aviation fuel, diesel fuel, gasoline, liquefied and natural gas. The lubricants are greases, transmission and engine oils. Cooling and brake fluids are often distinguished into a separate group of fuels and lubricants. It should be noted that not all types of lubricants related to fuels and lubricants are of petroleum nature: some of them are prepared from silicon compounds.
Fuel as a type of fuels and lubricants
When internal combustion engines and diesel engines appeared and began to be widely used, they required special types of fuel for themselves. The initial raw material for him was oil and its derivatives. Both diesel fuel and gasoline are a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and special additives that improve the working properties of fuels and lubricants. The production of fuel mixtures is a complex technological process that includes multistage refining of oil and petroleum products.
Most often, in everyday life and in production where automotive equipment is involved, you have to deal with different types of gasoline. In its production, they strive to find a balance between the ability to burn and resistance to detonation. By changing the composition of the fuel components, its manufacturers obtain gasolines that differ in knock resistance, which is externally reflected in the labeling of the final product and is designated by the so-called octane number.
Lubricant materials
Lubricants can have a very different composition, but their purpose is the same - to eliminate harmful friction between the moving parts of machines and mechanisms, which are forced to come into contact during operation. Modern standards make high demands on this category of fuels and lubricants. When choosing a lubricant, they usually focus on the recommendations of the machine manufacturers and take into account scientifically developed specifications. Oil for a car is selected taking into account the type of engine and its power.
Special requirements are imposed on lubricants that have to work in systems with increased pressure. Where the gaps between the contacting parts are only hundredths of a millimeter, only purified and extremely homogeneous lubricants can be used that do not have impurities and inclusions. If this requirement is neglected, the units will quickly fail.
