Lubricants News and Updates

DKB & Renegade Race Fuels, Partnering Up to Fuel Your Victory!

renegade fuels logo

We're excited to announce that we have partnered up as a Master Distributor for Renegade Racing Fuels for the Northeast!

Renegade produces high quality racing fuels and lubricants to power competitive racers for the win, from drag racing to supercross, to ATVs and power boats. 

Renegade is the fastest growing race fuel brand in the U.S., and we're very excited to work with them to provide an opportunity for customers in our area to have access to high quality, affordable competitive racing fuel. 

For more information on Renegade products, you can check out their website here: http://www.renegaderacefuel.com/ or if you want to speak to one of our sales reps about products and availability, feel free to contact us either via web form or calling us at 800-289-2875. 

PESA dragster at the starting line

 

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ICYMI: API Licensed Fleetline DEF is here!

Bottle of Fleetline DEF

In case you missed it - this July we received our first shipment of our FleetlineDEF cases! This is a fully API licensed product. The cases contain two 2.5g jugs each, and are an economical choice for an ultra high spec product, like the rest of our Fleetline offerings. 

For pricing and quantity options, or if you have any questions, feel free to contact us at lubesales@burkeoil.com 

 

 

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DKB joins NESSARA


We just got this in the mail - NESSARA, or the New England Service Station and Automotive Repair Association is a non profit group that works very hard on behalf of small, independent service stations, repair facilities, and similar companies in the industry to keep them informed of policy changes that can affect their business, and lobbies  against legislation that hurts small business' bottom lines. 

(You can read more about NESSARA here: http://nessara.org/index.php )

 

 

 

Nessara certificate for Dennis K. Burke Inc. Circa 2014

 

 

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Dennis K Burke joins with PQIA to Support Lubricant Product Integrity

We are proud to announce that we are now official supporters of the PQIA - the Petroleum Quality Institute of America. The Institute's focus is testing and ensuring that lubricants, transmission fluids, and motor oils available in the marketplace have been tested and verified to be of high quality.

PQIA issued a press release on our support, you can read that here: PQIA Dennis K Burke Press Release

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Oil Eater comes in Second Place in Waste Min's 2013 Industrial Degreaser Ratings

Oil Eater product line

 

The Waste Minimization forum (wastemin.com) recently published its "2013 Industrial Degreaser Ratings" report. They tested the top 15 general purpose degreasers/cleaners, then ranked their performance, reported their pricing, and any hazard warnings relevant to the products. You can read their entire infographic on the study here: http://www.wastemin.com/discuss/index.php?threads/industrial-degreaser-performance-ratings-how-the-top-15-degreasers-stack-up.6/#.UzsDeKhdVRY  - they had some interesting results that challenge some conventional wisdom on what makes a good cleaner/degreaser - definitely worth the read.

The number two finisher in their study was Oil Eater Cleaner and Degreaser (which we're proud to be a distributor of). Even better, they came in at half the cost of the first place finisher. Oil Eater is water based, non hazardous cleaner that can be used on anything from gettin grease stains out of laundry to truck washing, to brake parts cleaning. In the Waste Min study, Oil Eater also produced less rust than a traditional solvent based degreaser.  

If you want to learn more about Oil Eater you can visit their website at www.oileater.com or if you'd like try it out, we do have limited free samples available. Give us a call or fill out the contact form to the right for more info or to get a free sample while supplies last. 

 

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Why are Environmentally Friendly Lubes Important for Vessels?

There have been a lot of questions regarding Marine vessel lubricants and the VGP regulations on them, so we thought it would be a good idea to lay out some of the fundamentals on the topic. The VGP regulations on vessels requires that vessel operators replace conventional lubricants with environmentally friendly options whenever possible. 

The concern isn't so much spills as normal amounts of lubricants lost in vessel operation, such as from stern tubes. A 2011 study by the European Commission DG Joint Research Centre actually found that routine operational lubricant discharge created more pollution in the Mediterranean Sea than accidental spills did. That's pretty significant!

By using more environmentally friendly products, operators can minimize damage to the environment while still meeting lubrication needs. 

Key issues are if a product is biodegradeable - either readily or inherently, whether its toxic to the aquatic environment, and how much bioaccumulation compounds in the product cause (how much it will build up in living tissue over time). For example, conventional petroleum based lubricants have the potential to bioaccumulate, don't biodegrade well, and can be highly toxic to the aquatic environment. In contrast, PAG, synthetic ester, and vegetable oil based Environmentally friendly lubricants biodegrade readily, have low toxicity to the aquatic environment, and do not bioaccumulate. So in that context, it makes a lot of sense to switch as much vessel lubrication as possible away from conventional lubes. 

In future posts we'll get more in depth on what different products meet VGP requirements, as well as what different parts of the regulation mean to different businesses and vessel types.

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How is DEF Pricing Going to Look Going Forward?

According to farmfutures.com in their weekly review, Urea prices on the international market spiked this week, up over $120 per ton.  Futures were trending lower for the spring and summer months though, on hope that international supply issues could relieve some of the demand pressures  - hopefully that leads to a pull back in pricing over the next couple months, but time will tell. As you know, ammonia pricing also impacts DEF pricing, and the good news is those prices eased some this past week or stayed relatively stable anyways, depending on the individual market. (you can read more about the specifics on the Urea & ammonia market movements here: http://farmfutures.com/story-weekly-fertilizer-review-0-30765 )

 

Since DEF is 32.5% urea, price swings on the market impact the price of DEF. Urea is also used in agriculture for nitrogen-release fertilizer, so usually we see spikes in demand (and price) along with agricultural schedules. This recent spike appears to be more supply related.

 

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This Ain't Your Grandpa's Diesel Truck - SCR, DEF & Clean Emissions

Diesel Engines have sure come a long way from the noisy, clunky, smelly, black smoke pumping trucks we used to see. Today's diesel engines are quiet and clean, and in the case of 2010 model year and later vehicles - they even have emissions ratings better than many of their gasoline counterparts. How did that happen?

The first step was the big one - the switch to Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel dropped the sulfur content from up to 500 parts per million to a max of 15 parts per million, which improved pollution levels like crazy and got rid of the black exhaust. 

The other major shift came as a result of the EPA's 2010 policy on reducing the NOx levels in emissions to almost zero. This was accomplished with the implementation of SCR technology and the use of Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) - DEF is injected into the exhaust stream and neutralizes NOx into Nitrogen and Water Vapor.  

SCR Emissions Graph

Image Credit (and a great source) - http://www.factsaboutscr.com/scr/engine-control-standards.aspx 

If you want to learn more about SCR specifics and how DEF works to eliminate NOx emissions, You can find out everything (and probably more) that you ever wanted to know in this new product information video from Peak at the following link: 

http://www.peakhd.com/product-lines/bluedef/about/ 

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Are You Maximizing your Equipment's Efficiency?

We talk a great deal around here about proactive solutions - ideas and programs that, with a little time and capital ultimately save us time, money, and maybe most importantly - save us from the headaches of unanticipated problems. A major proactive plan that's been awesome for ourselves and several of our customers is Oil Analysis. 

What if you could get an analysis emailed to you every time you PM'ed your fleet  - whether that was tractors, heavy construction equipment, or a specialty machine?

What if that analysis could tell you your equipment may have a slow coolant leak, or your system showed a little corrosion? 

With that kind of heads up, you could proactively schedule down time for that equipment to be repaired without dealing with the chaos from equipment failure. 

What if on top of that, your report let you maximize oil drain intervals?

With that info, you could schedule your maintenance out more easily, and save on your overall lubricant spend in many cases. 

CITGO has a calculator on their site you can calculate what oil analysis may save your business based on mileage, fleet size, etc - you can try that calculator out here: http://www.hdlubes.com/Calculator/ 

(CITGO offers this analysis to Dennis K Burke customers for FREE on qualified engine oils, so you can try it no risk and see if it adds value to your bottom line..... Dont use engine oil? No problem - Dennis K Burke offers an analysis program for Industrial & Specialty Equipment as well )

You can read more about Oil Analysis benefits in general (especially for industrial equipment) on the WearCheck USA site here: http://www.wearcheck.com/ 

The peace of mind from knowing your fleet is running at maximum efficiency, and your mechanics have a heads up of small engine issues before they result in catastrophic failures and downtime alone is worth it. 

If you would like more info on Oil Analysis in general, or how DKB can help you get started, fill out the contact form on the right or call us anytime.

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Winter Additive Options

It's getting cold out there! 
Now is a good time to revisit the topic of winter fuel and fuel additives. Very few things are more critical than ensuring your fleets winter operability.
There are a lot of options out there, from Kero blending to different types of Additives. We've seen a lot of people have loyalty to the Valvtect Diesel Guard Winter Additive. The video below gives you a good amount of info on the product - if you're weighing out additive options for the winter season, it's worth a look. 
 
 
 
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