The Petroleum
Quality Institute of
America (PQIA) is an
independent resource
for information and
insights on the
quality and
performance of
lubricants in the
marketplace. Our
mission is to serve
the consumer of
lubricants by
reporting on the
quality and
integrity of
lubricants in the
marketplace.
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PQIA Takes up the Issue
of Line Wash Misuse
JobbersWorld, the
leading trade journal
serving lubricant
distributors, reported
in its May 11th issue
that it continues to
field questions from
marketers about Shell's
sale of line wash (also
known as flush oil) into
the US market. (JobbersWorld
Story)
For those that don't
know, line wash is
typically defined as the
material in the pipes
when a blender switches
a blend from one type of
lubricant to another. As
an example, when a
blender switches from
making a 10W-30 to a
5W-30, there is a
certain volume of
lubricant in the lines
while the change is made
that is a mixture of
both the 5W- and 10W-30
grades. While lines are
flushed, the line wash
is neither a 5W-30 nor a
10W-30. Instead, it's a
mixture. But with some
adjustments made by the
introduction of base
oils and additives,
marketers say the
mixture can be made to
look like either a 5W-30
or 10W-30 engine oil
that meets current
specifications. Further
they say, this material
is sold for far less
then on spec engine oil
since it is no more than
"flush oil" used to
clear the lines between
blends and would
otherwise have little
value. And from what
they hear, flush oil is
not a drop in the
bucket.
In an effort to address
marketer's questions
concerning this issue,
JobbersWorld went right
to the source and asked
Shell specifically about
its sales of flush oil.
To Shell's credit,
rather than ducking or
ignoring the issue, they
responded directly to JobbersWorld.
PQIA agrees with
JobbersWorld that line
wash is an issue
affecting the quality of
lubricants in the
marketplace. Since
PQIA's mission is to
serve the consumer of
lubricants by reporting
on the quality and
integrity of lubricants
in the marketplace. PQIA
made the decision to
take a closer look at
line wash and report on
it in our PQIA's first
Newsletter.
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 Shell
Responds to Questions
About Line Wash
The following is Shell's
response to JobbersWorld
questions about Line Wash.
"Flush oil is generated at
our blending plants as part
of our work to protect the
quality and integrity of our
Shell branded lubricants. We
generate flush oil through
many daily activities, such
as moving additives or base
oils from storage tanks to
blending tanks, flushing
lines moving product from
blending tanks to storage
tanks, or storage tanks to
bulk trucks, and flushing
lines between filling
operations. We flush lines
to ensure the integrity of
our formulations. We have
initiatives underway to
continually reduce the flush
oil output from our
facilities. For example, we
are making fluid-handling
improvements to our largest
facility that will result in
a 75% reduction of flush oil
produced.
In the meantime, we sell
flush oil to be used
appropriately by other
companies. The amount we
sell annually is around 3 to
4 million gallons,
significantly less than the
amounts suggested in the
recent Jobber's World
article. Flush oil is virgin
product that is suitable for
a variety of uses. We
consider that selling this
product to be repurposed
(rather than having it
hauled away by a used oil
carrier) to be a
responsible, sustainable
approach to this by-product
of our manufacturing and
quality assurance processes.
Flush oil typically contains
a mixture of various product
streams (PCMO, HDEO, gear
oil, industrial oils, ATF,
base oils, additives). We
clearly communicate to flush
oil buyers the possible
components of the material
and do not make any
guarantees regarding the
substance's characteristics,
because they vary from batch
to batch. We also clearly
communicate that the flush
oils we sell are not to be
resold under any Shell or
Pennzoil-Quaker State
Company trademark. It is our
understanding that buyers
typically use flush oil as a
blend component in a
hydraulic fluid, bar and
chain oil, process oil or
other such product, packaged
under a private label.
Others use flush oil as
low-grade boiler or marine
fuel."
PQIA applauds Shell for
responding to questions
about line wash and we
appreciate Shell's efforts
to help assure the quality
of lubricants in the
marketplace.
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ILMA Responds to PQIA
Questions about Line
Wash
Shortly after JobbersWorld
ran its story about line
wash "Speaking
of Shell" the
Independent Lubricant
Manufacturers Association (ILMA)
sent a letter to its members
specifically addressing the
issue of line wash. That
letter included the
following statement:
"ILMA received numerous
complaints from members
about "line wash" or "line
flush" being sold by certain
oil companies to third
parties and then
misrepresented by these
third parties or their
customers as finished
lubricants - both
refiner-branded and
unbranded -- in a number of
U.S. markets."
Understanding close to 30%
of the lubricants sold in
the US market are produced
by independent lubricant
manufacturers, the Petroleum
Quality Institute of America
contacted ILMA with
questions about line wash
and other lubricant quality
related issues. ILMA was
kind enough to respond.
Click here to read ILMA's
Response
Of particular interest (and
concern) to PQIA in ILMA's
letter is the statement:
"With regards to the line
wash issue, ILMA has
received member complaints
for two or three years.
However, the frequency of
those complaints increased
dramatically over the past
six months. The initial
complaints were referred to
ILMA's counsel, who advised
the affected member
companies on how they could
individually address the
issue. In 2009 discussions
with the State weights and
measures officials on
lubricant quality issues,
ILMA identified the line
wash issue as a growing
member concern."
This statement certainly
helps confirm PQIA's
concerns that line wash is a
quality issue requiring
attention.
PQIA thanks ILMA for taking
the time to respond to our
questions about line wash
and we appreciate their
efforts to help assure the
quality of lubricants in the
marketplace.
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Chevron Responds to PQIA
Questions About Line
Wash
According to Chevron,
"Chevron accumulates flush
oil at its plants as a
result of its day-to-day
manufacturing process. Flush
oil is used by Chevron
internally for lower grade
mining hydraulic oil and
chain bar oils. It is also
sold to compound blenders
and recyclers for similar
products."
Chevron says, "This flush
oil is sold under contracts
containing strict
prohibitions against the
resale of such flush oil
under any Chevron brand
name. Such contracts further
require the purchasers of
the flush oils to conduct
their operations in strict
compliance with all
applicable laws and
regulations."
Further Chevron says, "Our
marketers and customers
depend on the purity and
high-performance of Chevron
Lubricant formulations to
succeed in their businesses.
Flushing leftover product
lines is necessary to
maintain product integrity."
And maybe most importantly,
Chevron says, "As part of
our ongoing effort to
increase the efficiency of
our operations, our supply
chain network is
continuously working on
developing and implementing
processes - most
significantly at our largest
lubricants plant, in Port
Arthur, Texas - to reduce
our flush oil inventory."
PQIA thanks Chevron for
taking the time to respond
to our questions about line
wash and we appreciate their
efforts to help assure the
quality of lubricants in the
marketplace.
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But what about the
other Major Lubricant
Manufacturers? Where
does their
Line Wash go?
Shell and Chevron responded
to public questions about
where their flush oil goes.
In addition, both companies
say they are taking action
to reduce the amount of line
wash they produce. But what
about the other major oil
companies? Where does their
line wash go and are they
too taking action to reduce
the volume they produce and
to assure their line wash is
not misrepresented in the
marketplace?
PQIA invites the other
producers of finished
lubricants to let us know
what efforts they are making
to assure that their line
wash is not misused in the
marketplace.
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Test Results for
Private Label Brands
Look Good - But alarms
are Tripped for One
 Ten
brands of Private Label-a
PCEO in quart bottles were
purchased by PQIA at retail
outlets. Blind samples were
prepared by PQIA and sent to
Intertek Automotive Research
in San Antonio, Texas for
chemical and physical
analysis.
The samples include both
5W-30 and 10W-30 viscosity
grades. The variations in
grades is a function of the
random sampling process and
the fact that some locations
sampled did not have 5W-30
engine oil available.
ALERT: All but one of the
private label samples tested
show data indicative of what
one would expect to see for
an API SM GF-4 engine oil.
One brand (PittPenn),
however, gives cause for
concern.
Click here for alert.
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Petroleum Quality
Institute of America
406 Main Street - Suite
20
Metuchen, New Jersey
08840
Phone: 732-640-6797
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Copyright 2010 Petroleum
Quality Institute of
America |
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In This Issue |
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PQIA Takes up the Issue of Line Wash
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Shell Responds to Questions About
Line Wash
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ILMA's Responds to PQIA Questions
About Line Wash
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Chevron Responds to PQIA Questions
About Line Wash
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But What About the Others?
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PQIA Test Results on Private Label
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PQIA Proposes a Solution to
Line Wash Misuse
The
misapplication of line wash in
certified motor oils has been an
ongoing issue for many years.
While many industry
organizations and participants
have expressed concern and taken
actions to curb such abuse, the
problem apparently persists.
PQIA's question is , Can more be
done to assure the certified
products on the shelves at
retail stores, in the bulk tanks
at quick lubes, new car dealers,
and other installers do not
contain line wash?
The Petroleum Quality Institute
of America (PQIA) believes the
answer is YES, and the solution
is relatively easy.
The way to start is for the
producers of line wash to put
markers in their line wash that
uniquely identify it as flush
oil. Then organizations like
API, PQIA, ILMA, the line wash
producers, and others can look
for these markers in their
ongoing market sampling and
testing programs, and offenders
can be quickly identified and
stopped. Markers are already
used by some oil blenders to
identify their oils in their
ongoing quality control and
market monitoring efforts, so
adding another marker should fit
well into existing programs.
Furthermore, the markers in line
wash need not be quantified like
other markers as their
qualitative presence alone is
enough to show that line wash
was blended into the product.
If any of our readers have
ideas that could help in
addressing this issue, please
drop us a note.
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