Patent ID: 7684933

Claim:
A method to blend components to form a finished lubricant having a predetermined characteristic from base stocks and additives comprising: (a) blending the base stocks and additives is determined by a computer model that relates that a characteristic of a lubricant to the amount and properties and costs of its the base stocks and additives corresponding to the predetermined characteristic wherein said predetermined characteristic includes one or more of the predetermined characteristics KV=f 1 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), CCS=f 2 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), HTHS=f 3 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Noack Volatility=f 4 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), MRV=f 5 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Brookfield Viscosity=f 6 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Soot-dispersancy=f 7 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Oxidation=f 8 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Deposit=f 9 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Wear=f 10 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Sulfur=f 11 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Phosphorus=f 12 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Base Number (BN)=f 13 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Color=f 14 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Ash Content=f 15 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Aniline Point=f 16 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Acid Number (AN)=f 17 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Viscosity Index=f 18 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Turbidity=f 19 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Demulsibility=f 20 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Foam Stability=f 21 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Acute Toxicity=f 22 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Biodegradability=f 23 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Nitrogen=f 24 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), Detergency=f 25 (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . , P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . ), where X 1 , X 2 , X 3 . . . are the wt %, vol %, or the mole fractions of components 1, 2, 3 . . . and P 1 , P 2 , P 3 . . . area subset of the properties of the corresponding components, KV=kinematic viscosities, CCS=cold cranking simulator, HTHS=high temperature, high shear viscosity, MRV=mini-rotary viscometer, (b) determining the characteristic of the lubricant, adjusting the base stocks and additives based on measurements of the characteristics of the lubricant, continuing to iteratively adjust the amount of the base stocks and additives until the lubricant meets the predetermined characteristics based on costs and properties of base stocks and additives, wherein blend adjustments and corrections to the lubricant are made using functions based on on-line sensors in raw materials and finished product tanks.