Mar 15 2009
ApNano Materials, Inc., a cleantech company and provider of nanotechnology-based products, today announced that vehicle tests carried out by independent automotive test centers and car fleets, including field tests of cars and heavy trucks, show that NanoLub, the company's proprietary nanotechnology-based lubricant, led to an enhancement in compression efficiency and a reduction of over 5% in fuel consumption of the vehicles. The tests found that NanoLub caused also a reduction in engine temperature and noise. Tests also showed that the NanoLub additivated oil did not harm the engine.
"The findings strengthen the results of many other experiments conducted in the last 7 years since the foundation of ApNano Materials," said Dr. Menachem Genut, ApNano Materials' President and CEO. "The experiments show that in addition to NanoLub's benefits in friction and wear reduction, the revolutionary lubricant directly reduces fuel consumption. These days when the prices of fuels are very volatile, NanoLub is a real contribution to energy saving as well as to the reduction in the emission of green house gases. NanoLub not only contributes to fuel economy but is also a real cleantech product."
NanoLub is based on nanosized particles of tungsten disulfide (WS2) that have a structure of nested spheres, called inorganic fullerenes, whose lubrication mechanism includes the layers slipping off under loads to form an adherent film that reduces friction and wear . When used as an additive to liquid oil or grease, NanoLub significantly enhances the lubricating properties of the oil or grease with respect to wear and friction by an order of magnitude versus the same lubricant without this additive. In addition, NanoLub "wraps" the moving parts with a lubricating thin film - called a tribofilm - and continues to lubricate normally for a long time, as an ‘uninterruptable lubrication source' during severe oil leakages.
Companies currently distributing products formulated with NanoLub include ORAPI- a key French grease manufacturer for industrial applications with worldwide distribution channels; Luval S.A. - a major Chile-based lubricant producer for heavy industry and mining whose improved greases treated with NanoLub are in use in several copper mines in Chile; Sonol - an Israeli fuel company. Multisol is marketing NanoLub in Europe, Shima Trading, a large Japanese trading company is marketing the product in Japan and Tempo is marketing it in Canada. OPET, a Turkish fuel oil distribution company owned by the Koc Group, with a network of over 1,300 service stations in Turkey is launching this Spring an add on product based on NanoLub.
"NanoLub has gained worldwide recognition for its successful performance and the great benefits for the end-user," said Aharon Feuerstein, ApNano Materials' Chairman and CFO. "Due to the growing demand, we have significantly increased our manufacturing capacity at our production plant."
Numerous studies worldwide have shown the unique benefits of NanoLub. For example: a study carried out at the University of Newcastle in England found that NanoLub reduces gear wear by 5 - 6 times. Another example is a study carried out at the University of Stockholm where it was shown that the application of NanoLub on steel surfaces led to the formation of a protective film on the surface of the metal during work contact.
The superlubricity of the NanoLub particles was demonstrated by the group of Professor J. M. Martin of Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France. Their experiments demonstrated that when NanoLub was used as an additive to oil, it caused a very low friction coefficient and low wear. From the characterization performed after friction, several phenomena have been proposed to explain these friction reducing properties: NanoLub's fullerenes delamination, formation of a tribofilm made of WS2 sheets on the surfaces, superlubricity of the sheets and a rolling effect of the particle. According to the conclusions of the work of the French group a combination of all these effects can explain the excellent tribological (friction and wear reduction) properties of NanoLub.
ApNano Materials is a private nanotechnology company founded in 2002 by Dr. Menachem Genut, President and CEO and Mr. Aharon Feuerstein, Chairman and CFO. ApNano Materials was incorporated in the US and is headquartered in New York, USA. Its fully-owned Israeli subsidiary - NanoMaterials, Ltd., is located in the high tech science park adjacent to the Weizmann Institute campus in Ness Ziona.