Afton Chemical Corp. will present on the subject of “Targeted Transmission Fluid Property Design for Improved Fuel Economy” at the CTI 19th Symposium China in Shanghai, China on September 26, 2013. In this focused-topic presentation, Afton’s Dr. Joseph Carroll will discuss research findings leading to gains of up to 1 to 2% in improvements relative to a conventional factory-fill fluid.
Stricter government regulations on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and mandated incremental fuel economy improvements year over year coupled with stiff financial penalties for failing to deliver on those targets is forcing automakers to take a holistic look at where any and all fuel economy gains can be squeezed from their vehicles. One area of relatively low-cost to the OEM to achieve measurable fuel economy gains can be realized from exploring new lubricants. More specifically, automatic transmission fluids (ATF) can be optimized resulting in up to 1 to 2% fuel economy improvement relative to the original factory installed fluid. This improvement in fuel economy is directly attributable to changes in the fluids physical properties.
By manipulating an ATF’s composition, we can change physical properties of the fluid; properties including thin film coefficient of friction, film thickness, high temperature high shear viscosity, and other fluid viscometric properties to achieve better fuel economy. The influence of each of these physical properties can vary significantly with operating conditions, drive cycles, engaged hardware, transmission type, vehicle size, etc. Therefore, an ATF that improves fuel efficiency in one vehicle under a specific set of driving conditions may not improve fuel efficiency under a different set of conditions. Nonetheless, it is clear that the right ATF in the right transmission can deliver substantial fuel economy gains and OEMs will continue to look to additive companies to help them deliver on their fuel economy/CO2 emission reduction targets.
Dr. Carroll currently holds the position of Senior R&D Scientist at Afton Chemical Corporation in the U.S. Since 2010 he has been employed at Afton Chemical as an ATF Formulator responsible for working on new product development and formulation of next generation transmission fluid technologies, with a particular focus on novel additive research for improved fuel economy.
