CEN/TC 19/WG 33 - Bio-lubricants

This document specifies a procedure for determining the degree of aerobic degradation of fully formulated lubricants. The organic material in a fully formulated lubricant is exposed in a synthetic aqueous medium under laboratory conditions to an inoculum from activated sludge.
Biodegradation resulting in mineralisation of the organic material can be determined by measuring released CO2 in a total organic carbon (TOC-) analyser. In contrast to existing test methods measuring released CO2 this method uses a precise preparation procedure for non-water soluble organic material.
The above mentioned method applies to fully formulated lubricants which
a)   are water-soluble, non-water soluble or emulsifiable, and
b)   are not toxic and not inhibitory to the test microorganisms at the test concentration.
The presence of inhibitory effects is determined as specified in this document.
This test method is focused on fresh water as test medium. Tests in sea water are currently not included in this method, but may be introduced later.

This European Standard specifies the term bio-lubricant and minimum requirements for all kinds of bio-lubricants and bio-based lubricants, while e.g. the EEL [4] refers to specific bio-lubricant families.
This European Standard also briefly describes relevant test method needs with respect to the characterization of bio-lubricants. It presents recommendation for related standards in the field of biodegradability, product functionality and the amount of different renewable raw materials and/or different bio-based contents used during manufacturing of such bio-lubricants forming one product group.
WARNING — Not all potential risks for the environment can be addressed by this standard.

This Technical Report gives information about bio-lubricants and recommendations for bio-lubricant (and bio-based lubricant) related terminology. These recommendations are based on a discussion of commonly used terms in this field.
This Technical Report also briefly describes the current test methods in relation to the characterization of bio-lubricants. It presents recommendation for related standards in the field of biodegradability, product functionality, impact on greenhouse gas emissions and te amount of different renewable raw materials an/or different biobased contents used during manufacturing of such bio-lubricants forming one product group.
The criteria of the European Ecolabel for Lubricants ("EEL") [2] includes the terms discussed in this paper.
NOTE 1   The European Lead Market Initiative ("LMI") [3] defines the term "bio-based" as described in Table 1. It is important to mention that "bio-based" does not imply "biodegradable". In addition, "biodegradable" does not imply the use of "bio-based" material.
NOTE 2   For the purposes of this European Technical Report, the term "% (m/m)" is used to represent the mass fraction.