Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM
Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM

Recyclability of gear oils

Ongoing research project

The GearOil-LOOP joint research project aims to establish an economical and innovative circular economy for high-quality lubricants. In this project, the consortium wants to develop a recycling process and a gear oil that is specifically suited for recyclability. 

Project description

More than 4 million tons of lubricants are produced and consumed in the EU every year. Most of these lubricants are derived from fossil raw materials. The proportion of bio-based lubricants is very low, as they do not yet match the performance of their fossil counterparts. The recovery of high-quality base materials from waste oil offers enormous potential for avoiding CO2 emissions. The consortium is developing effective recycling technologies for corresponding material cycles.

Today, 40% of waste oil from industrial processes can be reprocessed into base oils. However, the technological processes for this are not sophisticated enough to recover the valuable base materials for high-performance lubricants from waste oil and use them to produce new, long-lasting lubricants. Currently available recycling technologies are therefore limited to low-viscosity oils. There is a great need among lubricant manufacturers and their raw material suppliers to continue using higher-viscosity gear oils, as they offer enormous potential for CO₂and cost reduction. There is also great interest in sustainable lubrication solutions in technology areas such as wind power and mobility.

The main objective of the GearOil-Loop joint research project is to develop concepts for a differentiated circular economy for high-quality lubricants and to demonstrate the performance, resilience, and reliability of recycled lubricants. By the end of the project, at least one gear oil specially developed for the circular economy should be available, the base oil of which contains a predominant proportion of recycled base oil.

Fraunhofer IWM subproject:

Tribological evaluation of recycling processes for gear oils

Transfer of project results to the following Fraunhofer IWM R&D services for companies:

  • Tribological evaluation of performance for optimization and determination of greenhouse gas intensity
  • Definition of criteria for the lubricant conditions of used oils with regard to the circular economy
  • Verification of the performance of recycled lubricants for industrial gearboxes and highly stressed components (gears, roller bearings) 

Funding information