For lubricant base oil use, the vegetable derived materials are preferred. Common ones include high oleic canola oil, castor oil, palm oil, sunflower seed oil and rapeseed oil from vegetable, and tall oil from tree sources.

To create lube oils with different viscosities, heavy oil is distilled into various fractions and residues through a process known as vacuum distillation. These resulting fractions are categorized as fractional lube oils and residual lube oils, each serving different applications due to their varying viscosities.

In fact, most lubricants should be handled with care and proper personal protective equipment (PPE). The base oils and additives that make up lubricants not only can have catastrophic effects on the environment, but they can also be toxic to your health.

To begin with, lubricants can be categorised into four main types: oils, greases, penetrating lubricants, and dry lubricants. While oil and grease are the commonly used lubricants in daily operations, facilities also use dry and penetrating lubricants.