IKV Group

Speciality Lubricants

Fully Synthetic Oils

Synthetic oil is a lubricant consisting of chemical compounds that are artificially made (synthesised). Synthetic lubricants can be manufactured using chemically modified petroleum components rather than whole crude oil, but can also be synthesised from other raw materials. This is compared to semi-synthetic oils (also called ‘synthetic blends’) are blends of mineral oil with no more than 30% synthetic oil. Designed to have many of the benefits of synthetic oil without matching the cost of pure synthetic oil.

Synthetic oil is used as a substitute for lubricant refined from petroleum when operating in extremes of temperature, because, in general, it provides superior mechanical and chemical properties than those found in traditional mineral oils.

Aircraft jet engines, for example, require the use of synthetic oils, whereas aircraft piston engines do not.The base stocks that form a synthetic lubricant are tailored through molecular restructuring in order to meet specific physical and chemical characteristics.

Some of the most common synthetic lubricants are listed below

  • Polyglycol fluids (POG), Polyalkylene Glycol (PAG), Polyglycol Ethers, Polyalkalylene Glycol Ethers
  • Silicones
  • Esters: Diesters (Dibasic Acid Esters)
  • Esters: Polyolesters (Neopentyl Poly Esters)
  • Polymerized alpha olefin (PAO): Polyalphaolefin, Olefin Polymers, Olefin Oligomers-  synthetic hydrocarbons
  • Alkylated Aromatics- Dialkylbenzenes- a synthetic hydrocarbon
  • Phosphate Esters

There are many hundreds more types of synthetic lubricants and chemical variations of these synthetic lubricants. There is also no one specific synthetic lubricant that is superior in all respects, although a particular synthetic lubricant may possess certain specific advantages for a specific application.

© 2025 IKV Tribology Ltd