Synthetic oil is the term used to refer to oil after the once-crude oil is synthesized using other chemicals to produce oil with altered properties. This is done basically to create a substitute for petroleum – especially when the petroleum supply is lacking, facing a shortage or is just too expensive for the market to patronize. It is also used for lubricant oils, especially when users demand a type of oil that better suits the mechanical and chemical needs of the equipment to which the particular synthetic oil would be used as lubricant.
Dr. Hermann Zorn was one of the earliest scientists who worked on the creation of what is now known today as synthetic oil. Dr. Zorn, who is affiliated with I.G. Farben Industrie, which is based in Germany, started his work because of his search for a type of oil similar to natural oil but does not have the unwanted tendencies of natural oil, including the tendency of oil to transform into gum or gel once it is used in engines.
The Fischer-Tropsch process, which consists of converting the carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane components of the oil into liquid hydrocarbons, is one of the many forms that has been used to produce synthetic oil since it was first tried and tested at the height of the second World War by Germany. This is an innovation that they came up with during WWII when the country had difficulty accessing crude oil supply lines.
Because of the properties of synthetic oil, many companies in the automotive industry, particularly makers of mass-produced and high-end cars and motorcycles, prefer the use of synthetic oil for the engines and other mechanical parts of the vehicles. Still, analysts understand that even synthetic oils, with their advantages, also have some disadvantages. This helped open the door to other innovations, particularly the creation of semi synthetic oil that allows consumers to use an oil that has the benefits of both pure oil and synthetic oil.