Lube in the Groove

Afton Chemical has rolled out a promising high-performance lubricant that can keep heavy machinery moving faster and lifting heavier loads.

by Peter Galuszka

concern for customers of Richmond-based Afton Chemical Corporation, which makes specialty chemicals for lubricants and fuels.

About 18 months ago, a team of 10 engineers and technicians got to work at Afton’s sleek research building in the shadow of Richmond’s downtown expressway. On Aug. 16, they launched a new product called HiTEC 5785 PMA.

So far the results seem promising. HiTEC 5785 PMA prevents such problems as a loss of viscosity, water corrosion and polymer shearing inside pumps. “The industry needed a polymer that doesn’t break down,” says Ian Macpherson, Afton’s marketing manager for industrial additives who holds a doctorate degree in chemistry. “Since water is almost always present when the pumps operated, we needed something that can counteract hydrolysis that can cause corrosion and acidity.”

HiTEC 5785 PMA, a breakthrough product, emerged from the Richmond labs after Afton’s former parent firm, Ethyl Corporation, reorganized as New Market Corporation in June 2004.

Ethyl, which moved to Richmond in 1961, is a venerable brand name in the chemical and energy industries, known for its antiknock lead compounds used in fuel among other products. The company was forced to rethink its business strategy in the 1970s when tetra ethyl lead was phased out from use in gasoline in the United States after the introduction of catalytic converters for cars. More.

DuPont polymer chemist helped develop the fiber, and demand is soaring.

by John Reid Blackwell

"That is the chemical formula for Kevlar," said Gabara, a bespectacled chemist whose heavy accent and thoughtful, precise language make him seem all the more scientific when he discusses polymer chemistry.

The chemistry behind the bullet-resistant Kevlar and other man-made fibers has consumed decades of work for Gabara, who was born in Poland during World War II and left his homeland in 1968 to find a better life in the United States. That move landed him in Waynesboro, doing research at a DuPont company plant.

He has stuck with the Wilmington, Del.-based company for 36 years, a career in which he has worked at the intersection of chemistry and business, doing research and helping develop applications and markets for such DuPont products as Kevlar and Nomex, a heat-resistant material in firefighter suits. His work has taken him around the world as the company pursued new markets and customers.

The safety aspects of Kevlar were known before its commercial introduction in the 1970s, Gabara said, but the company's plans for the product were different when he came to the Richmond area in 1976 to improve the manufacturing process and increase production at DuPont's Spruance plant.

"When Kevlar was introduced, the vision was that it would be a tire yarn, mostly," he said. "Ninety-five percent of [production] would be used in tires, and 5 percent would go to other uses. In reality, today the reverse is true."

(Reprinted with permission from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.)