IAAPS and NEOL Partner to Re-Evaluate Engine and Transmission Lubricants

IAAPS, as an advanced propulsion research and innovation centre, has long played a pivotal role in supporting a broad range of propulsion technologies through applied research, industry collaboration, development and validation programmes. The centre’s focus on developing, validating, and optimising emerging solutions has enabled significant progress in next-generation technologies.

Neol Copper Technologies is a hard-science company dedicated to developing, testing, and manufacturing new generation technical lubricants based on their proprietary copper filming technology, which are better for machines, and kinder to our environment.

NEOL partnered with IAAPS to evaluate the performance of their engine and transmission lubricants. CEO and Co-founder of NEOL Copper Technologies, Leyla Alieva, is at the forefront of the mission of NEOL to rethink what lubricants can be and leads the team with a wealth of experience in innovation business development.

Leyla Alieva, CEO, reflects on the project:

“We were looking to verify certain effects of NEOL Lubricants on automotive engines and transmissions, which we constantly saw in real-world application trials. Due to the nature of the copper filming technology, friction surfaces in older engines and gearboxes can experience “rejuvenation” effect manifested as significant fuel efficiency improvement, increased power, reduced vibrations, etc. With field data we had no way to reliably quantify those effects, really, to support our claims. IAAPS project became the solution we were after.”

The Challenge

NEOL Copper Technologies required an independent facility to evaluate and verify the potential benefits of their lubricants, which they had measured in specific laboratory experiments and in-field trials.  The goal was to develop a test protocol using a recognized platform to truly showcase the effects of the technology, to quantify the impact and use that as an entry ticket to different organisations and conversations in their journey to market.

Why IAAPS?

IAAPS stood out for its flexibility and commitment to innovation. The team worked closely with NEOL to challenge their approach, to refine their ideas, and deliver a program which enhanced the original goal. Key requirements for NEOL:

• Independent lab with accurate, reliable and trusted results measurement
• A partner to advise and support
• Senior IAAPS staff were actively engaged throughout, ensuring technical robustness and long-term collaboration.

Andy Lewis, Principal Engineer led the project at IAAPS and states:

"At IAAPS we look to partner with the customer, providing technical insights and directions but remaining impartial to the technology to achieve results that are trusted and credible.  Working with the team at NEOL was great as the skillsets of the two teams complimented each other through the program."

The Collaboration

Working with IAAPS was described as “collaborative and supportive,” with cross-disciplinary teams benefiting from different experiences and backgrounds.

The collaboration explored the role of tribology - the science of friction, wear, and lubrication - in propulsion system efficiency in a controlled trial of a 104,000 km three-year-old ex-commercial rental van.

The Impact

The findings demonstrated fuel savings of over 2.5% (up to 4.5% on certain cycles), highlighting the contribution of tribological advancements to efficiency improvements.

These results emphasize the importance of holistic approaches - where propulsion system design, fuel chemistry, and lubrication technology work in tandem to achieve higher efficiencies and lower emissions.

This activity provided:

• Credible technology demonstration of a novel lubricant additive system
• Valuable validation data for NEOL’s go-to-market strategy
• Reliable independent reference source to support product deployment

As David Wilson , Head of Products, notes:

“With the expertise and commitment of IAAPS team we managed to complete the best possible experiment, delivering exactly the outcome we were expecting. Most of all, I appreciate the team’s ability to put their initial skepticism (which was absolutely healthy in the given circumstances) aside to design a program that allowed an innovation to truly reveal itself.”

Reach out to the IAAPS team to learn more or discuss your innovation challenges.