MACHINERY LUBRICATION- INDIA SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2019 | Page 19

MLI
Professor Peter Jost CBE HonFREng
INVENTOR OF THE TERM 'TRIBOLOGY'
Engineer known as the father of tribology — the study of friction — who saved industry a fortune by avoiding wear and tear
Peter Jost
coined the
term
“tribology”
(from the
Greek word
“tribo” – I
rub) to
describe the
science of
friction,
wear, and
lubrication
– giving
birth to
a new
engineering
discipline.
THE BEGINNINGS
Hans Peter Jost studied at
Liverpool Technical College and
Manchester
College
of
Technology where his interest
began in engineering. He began
his career as an apprentice at
Associated
Metal
Works,
Glasgow, and Napier and Sons
in Liverpool, winning the Sir
John Larking Medal for a paper
on Measurement of Surface
Finish.
General
Manager
of
international
lubricants
company Trier Bros at 29, he
had developed an innovative
steam machinery lubrication
method. The oil-free aqueous
colloidal graphite lubrication
system saved energy and water
by preventing the boiler tubes
scaling up, which had often
caused them to burst in the
past. British Petroleum adopted
the new system at its five new
refineries, as did Shell Tankers
and the lubrication system
became
essential
until
reciprocating steam plant
became obsolete. By 1960, Jost
had
become
lubrication
consultant to Richard Thomas
and Baldwins.
BIG ACHIEVEMENTS
Sixty years after he launched a
whole new field of engineering,
1992
Became the first
honorary foreign
member of the
Russia Academy of
Engineering
2000
Became first
Millennium honorary
science doctorate
Dr Peter Jost was honoured
with one of the Royal Academy
of Engineering's top accolades
– the Sustained Achievement
Award – for his vision and
achievements in tribology, the
science and engineering of
interacting moving surfaces.
What might appear to be
mundane issues of friction and
lubrication are now understood
to have applications way
beyond engineering, from
medicine and dentistry to nano
technology.
One of Dr Jost's companies,
Centralube,
designed
sophisticated, mission-critical
engineering lubrication and
allied systems for steel mills,
refineries, space vehicles and
forges, and for ships such as the
Class T45 Destroyers and the
new aircraft carriers.
Dr Jost's influential advice to
the UK government included
the very significant 1966 DES
Jost
Report,
which
demonstrated that friction and
avoidable wear were costing the
UK huge sums of money every
year and resulted in the UK
setting up several national
centres for tribology.
2009
Co-launched the
concept of Green
Tribology, paving the way
for the first Green
Tribology World Congress
Jost served as a director and
chairman of several technology
and engineering companies
including the solid lubricants
company K S Paul, and
Engineering
&
General
Equipment. He was an honorary
fellow of the Institution of
Engineering and Technology,
the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers and of the Institute of
Materials.
A MAN OF MANY
FIRSTS
Centralube's ferrous industry
interests led to Jost becoming
the world's first steelworks
lubrication
engineering
consultant. He resolved many
design problems at Richard
Thomas & Baldwin's new
Llanwern integrated steelworks
and his lubricant specification
changes
and
integrated
lubrication distribution systems
resulted
in
substantial
operational improvements and
cost savings.
In 1966, Jost published a
report, commissioned by the
government, which showed (for
the first time) that the problems
of lubrication in engineering
were mainly problems of design.
Their solutions, Jost argued,
2013
Honoured with one of
the Royal Academy of
Engineering's top
accolades–the Sustained
Achievement Award
www.machinerylubricationindia.com
2016
Died on 7 June at the
age of 95
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