This chart shows Lubricants - Total Energy Supply by Country.
A lubricant is a substance introduced to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, transporting foreign particles, or heating or cooling the surfaces. The property of reducing friction is known as lubricity.
Industrial applications, lubricants are used for many other purposes. Other uses include cooking, bio-medical applications on humans, ultrasound examination, medical examinations, and the use of personal lubricant for sexual purposes.
An estimated 37,300,000 tons of lubricants were consumed worldwide.Automotive applications dominate, but other industrial, marine, and metal working applications are also big consumers of lubricants. Although air and other gas-based lubricants are known, liquid and solid lubricants dominate the market, especially the former.
Lubricants are generally composed of a majority of base oil plus a variety of additives to impart desirable characteristics. Although generally lubricants are based on one type of base oil, mixtures of the base oils also are used to meet performance requirements.
One of the single largest applications for lubricants, in the form of motor oil, is protecting the internal combustion engines in motor vehicles and powered equipment.
8 years ago
