Platinum Research Organization Targets New Technology To Replace ZDDP in Motor Oil Applications

    DALLAS--Aug. 27, 2002--Wear tests recently completed at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) demonstrated that Dallas-based Platinum Research Organization (PRO) has developed a new catalyst-based technology that could be an answer to the ZDDP pollution issue facing the automotive industry.
    ZDDP (zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate) is used as an oil additive to help protect engines from wear, but it has been found to indirectly contribute to emissions by de-activating the emission control catalyst in vehicles. Additive manufacturers are hoping to develop a replacement for ZDDP that will avoid these emissions problems.
    Wear tests were performed to determine the efficacy of a patented technology called Techrobond(TM) that uses a catalytic reaction to alter surfaces and bind low-friction compounds to them at room temperature. Techrobond is a combination of a catalyst and modified PTFE (or polytetrafluorethylene, a form of Teflon(R)).
    "These tests show that Techrobond can be the technology to provide anti-wear characteristics to motor oil without the emissions problems of ZDDP," noted Dr. Harold Shaub, a former researcher for Exxon and Quaker State Oil. Dr. Shaub, who serves as a consultant to PRO, said that industry standards for a new generation of motor oil are due in 2004, "and most people in the industry feel that ZDDP concentrations will be reduced for 2004 and eventually be phased out."
    Funded by a grant from PRO and a Technology Development and Transfer grant from the State of Texas, the tests focused on Techrobond's action when it is dispersed throughout commercially available motor oil, explained Dr. Ronald Elsenbaumer, chairman of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UTA and a co-investigator.
    In ball-on-cylinder tests, Techrobond-treated oil outlasted the untreated oil by a factor of four. "The ball-on-cylinder device ran for 25,000 revolutions with the untreated oil before failure," Dr. Elsenbaumer explained, "while with the Techrobond-treated oil it continued to perform well at 100,000 revolutions.
    The tests also showed that the new surface is self-healing--as the new surface modification wears away under friction, it is replaced by the ongoing catalytic action.
    "We've been in discussions with the oil industry for several years regarding he use of the Techrobond technology as a replacement for ZDDP," said John T. "Cork" Jaeger, president and chief executive officer of PRO. "There are three benefits any replacement of ZDDP must show: the performance and protection must be equal to or better than ZDDP; it must be environmentally compatible with the catalytic converter; and it must be cost competitive.
    "These tests offer further proof that our technology provides the level of performance without the pollution problems to successfully compete as a replacement additive for ZDDP."