Extraction and tribological investigation of top piston ring zone oil from a gasoline engine

With tightening emission regulations, increased expected fuel economy, and longer drain intervals impacting on lubricant formulation, greater understanding of how oil degrades in an automotive engine is becoming ever more important. Equally significant is the effect that this degraded lubricant has on the tribological operation of the engine, particularly its overall internal friction and component wear. In a previous paper, four tests to degrade oil in a single cylinder engine were reported [1]. These tests were set up such that the lubricating oil was degraded in the ring pack before returning to the sump, where it was sampled and chemical and rheological analysis undertaken. This paper reports the extension of this work using the same Hydra engine and describes how oil has additionally been extracted from the rear of the top piston ring during engine operation. This extracted oil has then been subjected to similar analysis as the sump oil samples in the previous tests, along with additional analysis to look at the tribological properties of the oil using tribometers. The results clearly show significant differences in the rheological, tribological, and chemical properties of the fresh oil and used sump oil samples when compared with the top ring zone (TRZ) oil samples, particularly the effect of load on the levels of volatiles present in the TRZ samples and their effect on traction and friction coefficient values during tribological testing

A Comparison Study On Engine Oil Properties For Bi-Fuel Motorcycle

All mechanical equipment must be lubricated in order to reduce friction and wear between the touching surfaces. For four-stroke motorcycle engine, the function of the engine oil play critical roles since the oil does not burn along with fuel in combustion chamber as two-stroke motorcycle engines. The oil will circulate around inside the engine and the quality of the oil will decreased time by time. In conjunction with that, the engine oil must be removed after certain running period or distance recommended by the engine manufactures. The use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel claimed to provide several benefits to engine components and effectively reduce maintenance requirements. It does not mix with or dilute the lubricating oil faster and will not cause deposits in combustion chambers as well as on spark plugs to the extend that the use of petrol does, thereby generally extending the engine oil, piston ring and spark plug. It is the intention of this paper to compare the effect of both physical and chemical properties of motorcycle engine oil used by MODENASS KRISS 110cc motorcycle engine after running 5000 km using natural gas and gasoline respectively

Ferrographic and spectrographic analysis of oil sampled before and after failure of a jet engine

An experimental gas turbine engine was destroyed as a result of the combustion of its titanium components. Several engine oil samples (before and after the failure) were analyzed with a Ferrograph as well as plasma, atomic absorption, and emission spectrometers. The analyses indicated that a lubrication system failure was not a causative factor in the engine failure. Neither an abnormal wear mechanism, nor a high level of wear debris was detected in the oil sample from the engine just prior to the test in which the failure occurred. However, low concentrations of titanium were evident in this sample and samples taken earlier. After the failure, higher titanium concentrations were detected in oil samples taken from different engine locations. Ferrographic analysis indicated that most of the titanium was contained in spherical metallic debris after the failure

Engine performance of a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine fuelled with blends of Jatropha Curcas oil and stardard diesel fuel

Blends of Jatropha Curcas oil and standard diesel fuel were evaluated (without pre-heating). The engine tests for the blends were performed in a Petter single cylinder direct injection diesel engine under steady state conditions at high loads. Engine speeds between 1300-1700 rpm were selected for the engine tests. Torque, power output, specific fuel consumption, in cylinder pressure, ignition delay, rate of heat released and exhaust composition were evaluated. The tested blends between 10-20% of oil shown lower effective torque and power output joint to a higher specific fuel consumption related to the lower heating value of Jatropha oil compared to diesel fuel. Lower pressure peaks and rates or pressure rises were observed when Jatropha blends are used. A decrease in the rate of heat released and shorter ignition delay were observed for the blends. Decreases in HC and CO emissions were observed for blends compared to diesel fuel. Both alternatives assessed shown that the differences observed compared to diesel fuel, can be partially restored with engines regulation. The use of Jatropha oil in order to be a partial or full alternative to the use of diesel fuel for energy production was achieved

Tests of oil scraper piston ring and piston fitted with oil drain holes

Tests were conducted to determine whether or not a properly located and properly designed oil scraper piston ring, installed on a piston provided with oil drain holes of sufficient area, would prevent the excessive oiling of the Liberty engine, particularly with the engine running at idling speed with full oil pressure. Results showed that excessive oiling was in fact prevented. It is strongly recommended that scraper rings and pistons be adopted for aircraft engines

Ferrographic and spectrometer oil analysis from a failed gas turbine engine

An experimental gas turbine engine was destroyed as a result of the combustion of its titanium components. It was concluded that a severe surge may have caused interference between rotating and stationary compressor that either directly or indirectly ignited the titanium components. Several engine oil samples (before and after the failure) were analyzed with a Ferrograph, a plasma, an atomic absorption, and an emission spectrometer to see if this information would aid in the engine failure diagnosis. The analyses indicated that a lubrication system failure was not a causative factor in the engine failure. Neither an abnormal wear mechanism nor a high level of wear debris was detected in the engine oil sample taken just prior to the test in which the failure occurred. However, low concentrations (0.2 to 0.5 ppm) of titanium were evident in this sample and samples taken earlier. After the failure, higher titanium concentrations ( 2 ppm) were detected in oil samples taken from different engine locations. Ferrographic analysis indicated that most of the titanium was contained in spherical metallic debris after the failure. The oil analyses eliminated a lubrication system bearing or shaft seal failure as the cause of the engine failure

Oil cooling system for a gas turbine engine

A gas turbine engine fuel delivery and control system is provided with means to recirculate all fuel in excess fuel control requirements back to the aircraft fuel tank. This increases the fuel pump heat sink and decreases the pump temperature rise without the addition of valving other than normally employed. A fuel/oil heat exchanger and associated circuitry is provided to maintain the hot engine oil in heat exchange relationship with the cool engine fuel. Where anti-icing of the fuel filter is required, means are provided to maintain the fuel temperature entering the filter at or above a minimum level to prevent freezing thereof. In one embodiment, a divider valve is provided to take all excess fuel from either upstream or downstream of the fuel filter and route it back to the tanks, the ratio of upstream to downstream extraction being a function of fuel pump discharge pressure

Pentachlorophenol and spent engine oil degradation by Mucor ramosissimus

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) has been widely used for many years and belongs to the most toxic pollutants. Spent engine oils enter environment every day in many ways. Both of them cause great environmental concern. In the present work we focused on identifying metabolites of PCP biodegradation formed in the cultures of Mucor ramosissimus IM 6203 and optimizing medium composition to enhance PCP removal in the presence of engine oil acting as a carbon source. Pentachlorophenol (PCP) to tetrachlorohydroquinone (TCHQ) transformation was the most interesting transformation conducted by the tested strain. TCHQ was further transformed to 2,3,5,6-TCP and 2,3,4,6- TCP. Strain IM 6203 is also capable of PCP transformation to corresponding anisoles – pentachloromethoxybenzene (PCMB) and pentachloroethoxybenzene (PCEB). Characterization of enzymatic background involved in PCP to TCHQ transformation showed that TCHQ formation is catalyzed by inductive and cytochrome P-450 dependent enzymatic system. Experiments conducted on mineral medium allowed defining the optimal quantitative and qualitative medium make-up for PCP to TCHQ transformation. Biodegradation of PCP on the optimized synthetic medium X was more efficient than on rich Sabouraud medium. The tested strain is capable of growing in the presence of spent engine oil therefore we checked the ability of PCP transformation on optimized synthetic medium containing oil as a carbon source. The obtained results showed that PCP removal and TCHQ formation occurred were found to be the most efficient on the oil containing medium (OX medium). PCP removal and TCHQ formation after 240 h of culturing reached 1.19 mg/l and 0.89 mg/l, respectively. Additionally, 55.5% of oil introduced to the medium was removed during 10 days of the experiment. PCP biodegradation mechanisms used by Mucor species have not been sufficiently explained. The presented results point to the tested strain as an interesting model for the research on fungal PCP biodegradation in the areas highly contaminated with engine oil and for its future application in PCP and oils removal

Lubricant degradation, transport and the effect of extended oil drain intervals on piston assembly tribology

There are ever increasing demands on lubricant manufacturers to meet governmental legislation and customer needs by improving fuel economy, engine durability and exhaust system compatibility as shown by the introduction of GF4 and move towards GF5 specification oils. This has created an ever increasing need to understand how oil degrades in an engine and how this degraded oil affects piston assembly tribology. This review conference paper will give an overview of a collaborative project that has been undertaken to further enhance the understanding of how lubricant degrades in an operating engine, its transport through the engine and effect upon piston assembly tribology

Oil quality in diesel engines with on line oil cleaning using a heated lubricating oil recycler

A method of cleaning the oil on line was investigatedusing a bypass fine particulate filter followed by an infra red heater to remove water and light diesel fractions in the oil. This was tested on a range of on road vehicles and a Ford 1.8 litre IDI passenger car engine on a test bed. Comparison was made with the oil quality on the same vehicles and engines without the on-line recycler. Test times were from 200 to 1500 hours of oil ageing and some of the tests showed that the oil quality was still good after 4 times the normal oil life. The results showed that the on line oil recycler cleaning system reduced the rate of fall of the TBN and rate of increase of the TAN. There was a very significant reduction in the soot in oil and the fuel dilution. There was also a consistent reduction in all the wear metals apart from copper and a decrease in the rate of reduction of oil additives. There was also measured on the Ford IDI engine a 5% reduced fuel consumption. Many of these effects were attributed to an influence of the cleaner oil on reduced engine deposits