F+L Webcast

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Afyren started construction of a unique, low-carbon, zero-waste biorefinery to produce bio-based acids in Carling Saint-Avold in France’s Moselle region. The plant, called Afyren Neoxy, is a greenfield biorefinery in a brownfield chemical complex called Chemesis in eastern France. It is also located in an area surrounded by sugar beet production basins. Afyre...

Anne-Gaelle Morin is an R&D and technical strategy leader with 25 years of international scientific, regulatory and industrial  experience building up to a strong expertise in all chemistry for mobility. For the last 10 + years, she has been in  directorial roles outreaching into technical and sales fields, skilled into transforming new technology needs into precise technical roadmap...

Selim Erhan has a Ph. D. in Organic-Polymer Chemistry from Western Michigan University.  He started his career as a research scientist at the National Center for Agricultural Research Service of the U.S, Department of Agriculture (USDA). At USDA, he worked on finding industrial applications for vegetable oils in areas such as rubber, paper, agricultural sprays, pharmaceuticals, food, lubrican...

In Episode 26 of F+L Webcast, David Barned, senior vice president and general manager of the North American Business Unit of Master Fluid Solutions based in Perrysburg, Ohio, U.S.A., discusses supply chain issues during the Covid-19 pandemic and post-covid challenges. David became senior vice president and general manager of the North American  Business Unit of Master Fluid Solutions in Octob...

Hind Abi-Akar recently retired from Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. While at Caterpillar, Hind, who has a PhD in Materials Science, worked in the Fluids Group where she was involved in the development of Caterpillar lubricants. She also represented the compan...

Episode 24 of F+L Webcast features Anand Bhargav, global segment manager for main-tier PCMO [passenger car motor oil] and small engines segments at Chevron Oronite Pte Ltd based in Singapore. Bhargav discusses a new JASO motorcycle engine oil specification which is set to be released in early 2023. This update will allow for the use of lower viscosity oils, providing better lubrication and protect...

Jeffrey (Jeff) Brown has extensive experience bringing new technologies to market and is a pioneer in the field of renewable chemicals.  Prior to co-founding and becoming president and CEO of Novvi, he was a vice president at Amyris, a synthetic biotechnology and renewable chemical company headquartered in Emeryville, California, U.S.A., developing new products from synthetic biology. During...

Eric G. Holthusen, group chief technology officer at Petronas Lubricants International Sdn. Bhd. (PLI), has a wealth of experience in the lubricants industry and has forged a distinguished career since joining Shell in Hamburg, Germany in 1989. During his time at Shell, Eric held a variety of roles in lubricants and fuels technology, testing, and marketing. In 2001, he took up the r...

In this episode, Dr. Nuwong Chollacoop, Renewable Energy Research Team Leader at the National Metal and Materials Technology Center (MTEC) in Thailand, shares the latest biodiesel and electric vehicle (EV) trends in Thailand. Thailand currently mandates all petroleum diesel being sold in Thailand to be blended with 7% biodiesel. Thailand is the world's third largest producer of palm oil, but a dis...

An OEM-led consortium is trying to transform how global vehicle fluid specifications are being defined today to meet society’s carbon neutrality goals by 2035 and 2050. Carbon neutrality goals are definitely going to drive the performance standards and specifications coming out of the International Fluids Consortium (IFC), said Mike Kunselman, business development manager of Michigan, U.S.A.-based...

Indian Oil Corp. (IndianOil), a Fortune 500 company, remains a clear lubricants market leader in India, three decades after India deregulated its lubricants market. In this interview, Dr. SSV Ramakumar describes his journey from a young chemist fresh from obtaining his doctorate in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee to becoming the esteemed director of R&D, as well...

Monica Johansson has been on a running streak for 1,170 days. Her goal is to take 20,000 steps a day. She runs about 20 minutes every day. She also runs four to five ultramarathons a year. An ultramarathon is anything above a regular marathon, which is 42.195 kilometers. Johansson has worked for Volvo Cars since June 2011 as fuels engineer and then with Volvo Group since March 2019. She received h...

Dr. Boris Zhmud, born in Russia, now based in Stockholm, Sweden, has more than 20 years of professional experience in lubricants and lubrication engineering. He has authored or co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and has several patents. He currently consults on tribological problems for companies in Europe, including in Germany and in the UK. He is also a member of the British Roy...

In today’s environment, it is no longer politically correct to espouse the importance of the internal combustion engine in light of the climate change movement. Episode 16 of F+L Webcast with Eugene Tan takes a different perspective on the role of lubricants in the context of climate change. Tan, senior advisor of GXS Partners, a consulting company focused on strategic advisory and business operat...

In this episode, Rebecca Warden discusses the work of the Advanced Fluids for Electrified Vehicles (AFEV) consortium at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). Warden, who is the manager of the Fleet and Driveline Fluids Evaluation Section at SwRI, is co-project manager of the AFEV consortium. During her 12-year career at SwRI, Warden has been involved with projects ranging from test stand design and...

We interview Keith Howard of Lubrizol about China VI, China VIb and the general China vehicle parc.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) published the latest ACEA European Engine Oil Sequences on April 30, 2021, with first allowable use commencing on 1 May 2021. For the first time, ACEA has split the light- and heavy-duty specifications, with only the light-duty standards updated. The heavy-duty and passenger car efforts are moving at different speeds and some tests for the...

Diego Brodoni, vice president/general manager for Valvoline Europe, discusses the dramatic changes in the lubricants market in Europe over the past 20 years, from product technology to supply chain, from sales channels to consumer behavior. The market is moving fast, says Mario Montuori, regional technology manager, Europe, for Valvoline International. The need to get higher fuel efficiency, rathe...

Multi-awarded tribologist Ashlie Martini, a professor of mechanical engineering at University of California, Merced, discusses the future of tribology and why a tribologist will always have a job.  Tribology is an enabling or supporting technology, says Martini, who traces back tribology to ancient Egypt, although the term was coined only in the 1960s by Professor Peter Jost. Quantitative stu...

Infineum expects to publish its first sustainability report sometime in April 2021, says Maurizio Abbondanza, technology & sustainability director at Infineum UK Ltd. The upcoming report signals a transition towards greater sustainability. The Infineum representative believes such a stance is unavoidable for any company. Our businesses could be disrupted tomorrow by climate change as much as t...

Downstream set to play a larger role for oil and gas companies Not too long ago, the only way to develop a wind or solar energy business was with the support of the government. Economics did not support a viable entry into these renewable energy markets. It is only in the last five to 10 years that companies could operate wind and solar from an economic perspective, says business strategist, Rob v...

ALMU Executive Director discusses his 35+ year career with Mobil, BP and Lubrizol, including 19 of those years in China. Now, he has taken on a new challenge since retiring in July 2018 from The Lubrizol Corporation, where he was Asia-Pacific region head based in China. Bernard will play a key role in guiding ALMU members through a period of transformation for the lubricants industry while meeting...

Biosynthetic® Technologies recently announced the global launch of their new product line of novel additives for metalworking fluids (MWF) called Biocea™. These novel sustainable additives use the patented estolide technology. These MWF additives are biobased, biodegradable, non-bioaccumulative, and non-toxic. Biocea additives leverage Biosynthetic Technologies’ proprietary estolide technology for...

By the end of September, there were 33 million cases of Covid-19, and more than one million deaths, worldwide. With the U.S. President, his wife and his close aide, contracting the virus themselves in early October, Covid-19 once again occupied the headlines throughout the world. Dr. Frederick Passman, one of a few industry experts on industrial microbial ecology, discusses how people can return t...

Top 5 Auto Trends: “Just-in-Time” being replaced by “Just-in Case” In our September 2020 edition of F+L Webcast, Michael Dunne, president of ZoZo Go, discusses the Top 5 Auto Trends and the Asian automobile market post Covid-19. Investment sentiment is swinging back to Southeast Asia, the darling of the 1990s, as the relationship between the U.S. and China continues to deteriorate. The principle o...