American Elements is a long standing supplier to numerous oil & gas producers and their refineries, including Shell, Chevron, BP and Exxon Mobil. We also supply starting raw materials to key oil cracking catalyst manufacturers, such as W.R. Grace and the BASF division, formerly the Engelhard Corporation.

Our Trifloron dry film lubricant is now an industry standard for bolt breakaway during oil refinery maintenance.

Question? Speak to an American Elements engineer at oil.gas@americanelements.com

Innovation Case Study #24: American Elements Launches First Ultra High Temperature Dry Lubricant

#24: American Elements Launches First Ultra High Temperature Dry Lubricant

The Challenge

Lubricants are critical to all forms of manufacturing, but the most challenging environments are those involving high temperatures and pressures in which most lubricants simply decompose. One such environment is the high temperature operations of oil refineries. Shell Oil sought a lubricant it could coat on its high temperature bolts at its Deer Park, Texas refinery to assure the bolts could be removed during subsequent maintenance programs. Standard industrial lubricants such as molybdenum disulfide were useless because they break down at the temperatures oil refineries operate at.

The Innovation

American Elements’ researchers examined the chemical structures of various lubricant materials and then explored the potential for high temperature materials with similar structures. This led to the discovery that a class of rare earth fluorides shared the hexagonal layered structure that allows molybdenum disulfide to perform as it does. Further experimentation confirmed that this class of material could in fact function as moly sulfide, but at much higher temperatures.

The Result

After further in situ testing at several refineries, in 2005 American Elements launched Trifloron™ , a new class of high temperature dry lubricants which today is a standard "bolt breakaway" lubricant in oil & gas refineries.
Below is merely a selection of the full catalog of Oil & Gas products that American Elements manufactures. If you do not see a material you're looking for listed, please search the website or contact customerservice@americanelements.com.

Selected Products Supplied to the Oil & Gas Industry

(Methylcyclopentadienyl)manganese(I) Tricarbonyl Aluminum Fluoride, Anhydrous Aluminum Foam Aluminum Oxide Nanoparticles / Nanopowder
Ammonium Octamolybdate Ammonium Perrhenate Barium Chloride Dihydrate Beryllium-Copper Alloy
Beryllium-Copper Alloy Sputtering Target Bismuth 2-Ethylhexanoate Boric 11 Acid Isotope Calcium Bromide
Calcium Chloride Calcium Chloride Anhydrous, Powder Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles Cerium Hydroxide
Cerium(III) Nitrate Hexahydrate Cesium Formate Cesium Formate Hydrate Cesium Formate Solution
Chromium Carbide - Nickel Chromium Composite Powder CLYC:Ce Scintillation Crystal Cobalt Chromium Nickel Iron Molybdenum Manganese Alloy Cobalt Oxide Nanoparticles
Cobalt Oxide-Molybdenum Oxide on Alumina Cobalt Powder Copper Nickel Alloy Copper Nickel Alloy Powder
Copper Nickel Nanoparticles Copper(I) Oxide Copper(I) Oxide Sputtering Target Copper(I) Thiocyanate
Copper(II) Nitrate Hemi(pentahydrate) Copper(II) Nitrate Hydrate Ethylene Sulfite Ferrocene
Gallium(III) Nitrate Hydrate Gold Nitrate Solution Graphene Nanoplatelets Graphite Crucibles
Hastelloy X Alloy Indium Powder Invar Alloy Powder Iridium Acetate
Iron Carbide Iron(II) 2-Ethylhexanoate Iron(II,III) Oxide Iron(II,III) Oxide Nanoparticle Dispersion
Iron(II,III) Oxide Nanoparticles / Nanopowder Lanthanum Bromide Doped with Cerium Lanthanum Nitrate Hexahydrate Lanthanum Oxide Nanoparticle Dispersion
Lanthanum Oxide Nanoparticles / Nanopowder Lanthanum(III) Carbonate Octahydrate Lanthanum(III) Nitrate Hydrate Lead Naphthenate
Magnesium Acetate Solution Magnesium Chips Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate Magnesium Ethoxide
Magnesium Oxide Powder Molybdenum Naphthenate Molybdenum Octoate Molybdenum Oxide Powder
Molybdenum Sulfide Nickel Aluminate Nickel Aluminum Bronze Nickel Chromium Iron Molybdenum Alloy
Nickel Copper Alloy Nickel Sulfate Nickel Sulfate Anhydrous Niobium Oxalate
Palladium Pellets Perrhenic Acid Phosphorus(III) Chloride Platinum Wire
Poly(oxoaluminum 2-Ethylhexanoate) Potassium Carbonate Solution Potassium Formate Rhenium(VII) Oxide
Ruthenium Powder Ruthenium(III) Acetate Scandium Sputtering Target Silicon Oxide Nanoparticles / Nanopowder
Silver Nanoparticles Sodium 2-Ethylhexanoate Sodium Acetate Trihydrate Sodium Bicarbonate
Sodium Bromide Sodium Bromide Solution Sodium Carbonate, Anhydrous Sodium Ferrocyanide Decahydrate
Sodium Formate Sodium Gluconate Sodium Sulfate Anhydrous Sodium Tungstate Dihydrate
Stainless Steel Tube Strontium Chloride Hexahydrate Tin Powder Tin(II) Chloride Dihydrate
Titanium Coil Titanium Hydride Titanium Hydride Slurry Titanium Powder
Titanium(IV) Oxide Pieces Titanium(IV) Oxide, Rutile Nanoparticle Dispersion Titanium(IV) Oxide, Rutile Nanoparticles / Nanopowder Tungsten Pieces
Tungsten Powder Tungsten(VI) Oxide Nanoparticle Dispersion Tungsten(VI) Oxide Nanoparticles / Nanopowder Tungsten(VI) Oxide Powder
Vanadyl Oxalate Vanadyl Oxalate Solution Yttrium Sputtering Target Zinc Acetylacetonate
Zinc Acetylacetonate Hydrate Zinc Nitrate Zinc Nitrate Hexahydrate Zinc Nitrate Tetrahydrate
Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle Dispersion Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles / Nanopowder Zirconium Nickel Alloy Zirconium Nickel Alloy Powder
Zirconium Oxide Powder Zirconium Phosphide Zirconium(IV) Acetate Hydroxide