Patent ID: 7579192
Filing Date: 2009-08-25
Classification: C10M,C10N,G01N,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A system for screening lubricant performance, under program control, comprising: a) a supply of a major amount of at least one base oil of lubricating viscosity; b) a supply of a minor amount of at least one lubricating oil additive; c) a plurality of test receptacles; d) means for conducting molecular modeling of the at least one base oil of lubricating viscosity and the at least one lubricating oil additive to provide leading candidates of the at least one base oil of lubricating viscosity and at least one lubricating oil additive for combination to formulate a leading candidate lubricating oil composition for testing; e) means for combining selected quantities of the major amount of the at least one leading base oil of lubricating viscosity candidate with selected quantities of the minor amount of the at least one leading lubricating oil additive candidate in the plurality of test receptacles to form a plurality of leading candidate lubricating oil composition samples in the plurality of test receptacles; f) receptacle moving means for individually positioning said test receptacles in a testing station for measurement of storage stability in the respective sample; g) means for measuring a first storage stability measurement of the lubricating oil composition sample moved to the testing station and for transferring said first storage stability measurement to a computer controller, wherein said computer controller is operatively connected to the means for individually moving the test receptacles, and further wherein the means for measuring the first storage stability measurement is carried out in the absence of heating each lubricating oil composition sample; h) means for measuring a second storage stability measurement of the lubricating oil composition sample moved to the testing station and for transferring said second storage stability measurement to the computer controller, and wherein the means for measuring the second storage stability measurement is carried out after each lubricating oil composition sample is heated to a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time; and i) means for comparing said second storage stability measurement to said first storage stability measurement of each lubricating oil composition sample to obtain storage stability data for each sample.