Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
7 18
diffuse through the film and attack cylinder liners and piston
rings, causing severe corrosive wear (Broeze and Wilson
1948-49)*.
The relation between dispersivepower and piston fouling
is rather more complicated, and dispersive power and alkalinity interact together (Denison and Kavanagh 1955). The
lacquers and insoluble resins which act as binders of the
s a t produced during combustion and form a major part
of many engine deposits are thought to be formed by the
polymerization of oxidation products of the fuel or of the
lubricating oil. Some of these oxidation products are acidic
and may be rendered innocuous by reaction with alkaline
additive. Moreover, some deposits arc formed by the reaction between lubricating-oil components and the sulphur
acid produced in the combustion chamber, which may also
catalyse the polymerization referred to above. Neutralization of the sulphur acids by the alkaline additive therefore
helps to keep the piston clean. Dispersive power is still
needed to avoid deposition in the engine of insoluble contaminants, either soot from the combustion chamber or
products from the neutralization reactions discussed above.
Oxidation stability is necessary for the conml of the
ilm on the
corrosion of sensitive bearing metals. The oil f
cylinder walls is exposed to very high local temperatures
and may oxidize to give some corrosive products which are
liable to attack copper-lead bearings. This process may be
retarded or prevented by making the oil more stable to
oxidation.
It has been seen that alkalinity is necessary both to reduce
corrosive wear and to keep the piston clean, and in practice
sufficient dispersive power and oxidation stability may be
maintained in an oil to ensure satisfactory performance so
long as there is an adequate reserve of alkalinity.
It therefore seems that in such cases, allralinity could be
used as a criterion of the effectiveness of a heavy-duty oil
during its life and evidence will be presented to show that
this is indeed the case.
In order to relate the performance of an oil to its W t y ,
a method of measurement applicable to a used oil is required.
In principle a suitable method is to titrate the oil against a
strong acid, that is to measure the quantity of add required
to neutralize the alkaline additive in a given quantity of the
lubricating oil. Many practical difficulties arise, however.
An electrometric indication of the end point is necessary,
together with careful selection of the reagents and of the
reaction medium. These difficulties will not be discussed in
this paper. It may be necessary to vary the procedure
according to the particular additive or combination of
additives employed.
The result is conventionally expressed as the number of
milligrammes of potassium hydroxide chemically equivalent
to the alkalinity contained in 1 gramme of oil, or mg. KOH
per gramme for short.
It is perhaps worthy of mention at t h i s point that it was
at one time thought that the performance of a used oil could
be estimated from its sulphated ash or additive metal
content. However, neither of these characteristics is a
* An alphaberial list of references i s given in Appmdix ZV.
BASE OIL
-,
ADDITIVE OIL
719
FRESH CHARGE
OF ADDITIVE OIL
.-
BASE OIL
A.
ADDITIVE OIL
FRESH CHARGE
OF ADDITIVE OIL
10
8
6
=-lo
Z 6
l-
mI: 4
Ln
z 2
i
0
10
20
30
NUMBER OF 16-HOUR PERIODS RUN
40
10
6
4
allralinity.
The state of the piston is described on an arbitrary scale.
Each section of the piston is considered in turn,ring grooves
and lands, skirt, etc. For each section the relative areas
10
20
30
NUMBER OF 16-HOUR PERIODS RUN
40
b x Topskirt.
o Lowerskirt.
c x Topringgrooves.
o Other ring grooves.
720
NUMBER OF 40-HOUR
-2
u4
PERIODS RUN
-ox Alkalinity.
Top-ring groove rating.
02.
02.
02.
Thus quite a high-alkalinity concentration must be maintained if a fuel of high-sulphur content is used. The reason
for the relation between fuel-sulphur content and the critical
value of the alkalinity level is believed to be as follows. Oil
is splashed up on to the cylinder-bore surface and some of
it finds its way into the ring-belt area. While it is there some
of the additive is neutralized by acids formed when the fuel
is burnt. Some of the oil is consumed but the rest eventually
drains back into the crankcase. Thus the oil 'returning to
the crankcase contains less additive than that splashed up
on the cylinder bore and this causes the loss of alkalinity
observed as the engine is run. The oil in the ring-belt area
thus contains less alkalinity than that in the crankcase, but
it is the concentration of alkaline additive in the ring-belt
area which controls the deposit formation on the piston.
NEUTRALIZING ACIDS
ADDED AT RATE oL
721
rates of the order of 0.1 pint per hr. The circulation rate
tends to decrease with increasing oil viscosity, but it appears
to be independent of engine speed and load within the range
investigated (500-1,500 r.p.m.). It seems to be independent
of oil consumption within the range normally encountered,
although the circulation rate was found to be rather higher
in one case where slow runnhg-in of chromium-plated
compression rings was accompanied by excessive oil consumption. Circulation rates estimated by this method show
reasonable agreement with those obtained by other methods
(Edgar 1957).
CORROSIVE WEAR A N D ALKALINITY
CYLINDER ZONE
ALKALINITY CONCENTRATION CI
011 ClRCULATlpN
t P
CRANKCASE ZONE
WEIGHT OF OIL L2
ALKALINITY CONCENTRATION Cz
'
OIL ~ A K E - U RATE
P
R
722
>
723
-x
0-0
0-
(L
vt
724
Fs
In Fig. 10 it was shown that in the absence of oil consumption, the variation of alkalinity with time in an engine run
would be linear for the class of additive considered in this
paper. The effect of oil consumption is to make the line
curve downward. During a long run, make-up is added at
intervals and this gives a saw-tooth curve of the form
shown in Fig. 13, curve I. If make-up is added very often,
so that in effect there is a continuous addition of maka-up
to balance the continuous loss of oil through consumption,
curve I is smoothed out to give curve 11. It is shown in
Appendix I that the forms of these curves may be calculated,
given a knowledge of the following factors: conversion
ratio, fuel consumption, fuel sulphur-content, oil consumption, oil charge.
XZYN
725
CENT WEIGHT
726
727
APPENDIX I
P R E D I C T I O N OF THE V A R I A T I O N OF A L K A L I N I T Y
W I T H T I M E D U R I N G AN E N G I N E R U N
728
This is equivalent to
FS
112
lo
oLX 32
units KOH per unit of oil per unit of time
or
FS
112
E
.
-
0.3y
0.5
Q
1.06
1.12
1.19
1.28
1.39
0.1
1.11
0.3
1.36
1.51
1.70
0.4
(1)
where A = 0.35yFS/R.
(2) Make-up equal to the oil consumption. Equation (1) with
M = R becomes
dC
L z +RC = RCM-0.35yFS
where L is now constant, = &.
The solution is
c = cM-A+(A-cM+co)C(-~)
. .
(3)
. . .
(4)
0.4
0.5
. . . .
[(F)]
CO-CM
T=- 2.303L
+AQ
1
where Q = --log, (1 -q)
QR log S-CM+AQ
4
from equations (4) with Ccb, nl = S.
(c) Rate of oil consumption negligible, that is, RT small compared
with L:
from equation (1) with R = 0 = MyC = S.
729
RunNo.2
Time,
hours
50
100
200
400
580
Alka- Time,
linity hours
1.66
1a75
1-27
0-45
0.10
-I
I RunNo.3 I
RunNo.4
45
180
360
430
475
550
650
2.42
1.93
1.73
1*29
0.75
0.39
0.12
50
100
150
300
400
500
600
I
APPENDIX I1
VARIATION OF A L K A L I N I T Y W I T H E N G I N E R U N N I N G T I M E :
A N EXAMPLE OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS FROM A
FIELD TEST
.
.
.
0.2
0.4
0.6
EXP (- R f/L)
0.8
1.0
RunNo.3
Run No. 4}
R Oil consumption rate.
t Engine running time.
L Crankcase oil charge.
730
A. DYSON,
from that in run 1. Similarly, the relation in run 3 does not differ
significantly from that in run 4. The relation in runs 1 and 2,
however, differs significantly from that in runs 3 and 4. There is
no evidence that these relations are not linear.
The residual mean square about the two regression lines is
0.0127 with 19 deg. of freedom, and the corresponding standard
deviation estimate is 0.11 mg. KOH per gramme. These error
estimates may be compared with a mean square of Oa018 estimated
from a laboratory determination of the repeatability of the analytical
procedure, and of an estimate of the residual variance about the
regression lines of 0.0027 with 51 deg. of freedom from a typical
laboratory e q i n e experiment. The higher error variance estimate
obtained here no doubt reflects the lack of control of the make-up
procedure as discussed above and also variations of fuel and oil
consumption rates with time. However, the linearity of the
relation confirms the applicability of the equations developed in
Appendix I.
The regression equations connecting the alkalinity concentration
with x are
runs 1 and 2, 2.79~-0.62
runs 3 and 4, 3.19~-0.53
The alkalinity concentration in the make-up oil was 3.4 mg.
KOH per gramme, so the estimates of A arc 4.0for runs 1 and 2
and 3.9 for runs 3 and 4. These are obtained by equating the
intercept at x = 0 to
CM-A
The initial concentrations COare estimated from the intercepts
at x = 1, and the values are 2.2 for runs 1 and 2 and 2.7 for runs 3
and 4. The oil of the initial charge was nominally identical with
the make-up oil and it is suspected that considerable mixing with
the previous oil charge had taken place. Between 20 and 35 per
cent of the oil in the crankcase at the beginning of the run must
have been left over from the previous charge if this explanation is
correct, assuming that this oil contained no alkalinity or acidity.
An alternative explanation is that the rate of neutralization of
fresh alkalinity at the start of the run (less than 50 hours) was very
much more rapid than during the later stages (more than 50 hours
running time). However, this phenomenon has never been
observed in carefully controlled taboratory tests.
A further point is that the initial concentration of 3.4 mg.
KOH per gramme corresponds in effect to a concentration after
adding make-up. If the sampling times are randomly distributed
over the make-up period the experimental line will be biased
below the continuous make-up line. This would explain some of
the apparent dilution, but it is dimcult to calculate the magnitude
of the effect.
The conversion ratio may be estimated from the value of A.
FS
4.0 = 0 . 3 5 ~ Thus
A P P E N D I X 111
O I L C I R C U L A T I O X RATES
where
02 = a l ( l - R / P )
The solution for C2 if CZ = COat time t = 0 is
and
Thus
p-R=
Cmin
from which (P-R) may be calculated from 0 2 , the observed rare
of neutralization of alkalinity in the crankcase, and Cmin, the
critical alkalinity concentration in the crankcase for a clean piston.
In practice, the piston cleanliness merit rating is plotted against
the ratio C / D , where C is the alkalinity concentration in the crankcase oil and D is the depletion rate. The value of this ratio when
the piston cleanliness approaches its maximum value gives
LzI(P-R).
For different engines of the same class
0 2 = 0.35yFS
where F is the fuel consumption rate, quantity per unit time,
S the sulphur content, per cent by weight, and y is approximately
constant, 2 0.1 per cent.
The working rule which has been established is
Cmin = S
P-R = 0.35yF 2 0.035F
Thus ( P - R ) should be approximately 3) per cent of the fuel
consumption.
APPENDIX IV
REFERENCES
BROEZE,
J. J., and WILSON,A. 1948-49 Proc. I.Mech.E., Automobile Division, vol. 111, p. 128, Sulphur in Diesel Fuels.
DENISON,G. H., and KAVANACH,
F. W. 1955 Fourth World
Petroleum Congress, Rome, Section VI/c, Reprint No. I,
Recent Trends in Automotive Lubricating41 Research.
EDGAR,J. A. 1957 1.Mech.E. Conference on Lubrication and
Wear, Paper No. 2, Control of Wear in Piston Engines.
JOHNSTONE,
H. F. 1929 University of Illinois, Eng. Experimental Station Circular No. 20.
VAN DER ZIJDEN,M. J., and KELLY,A. A. 1956 Trans. Inst.
Mar. Eng., vol. 68, p. 272, Combating Cylinder Wear and
Fouling in Large Low-speed Diesel Engines.
J. E., and V m DEN ENDE,J. C.
VANDER ZIJDEN,M. J., VANHINTE,
1950 JI. Inst. Petroleum, vol. 36, p. 561, SO2 and SO3 in
Exhaust Gases of Internal Combustion Engines.
731
Discussion
Mr. K. T. Arter, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Member),
said that the
paper was particularly well chosen for a joint meeting of
the Lubrication and Internal Combustion Engine Groups.
Engineers were inclined to take for granted the complex
chemical reactions which accompanied the release of energy
in the cylinder, probably because they were not sufficiently
well understood. In modern high-duty engines the oil not
only had to lubricate and cool the moving parts; it had also
actively to interfere with those high-temperature reactions
so as to render the end products harmless. Many different
additives were in use for that purpose.
The concept of additive depletion was well known, but
the authors use of mathematical equations for predicting
that factor according to operating conditions was both new
and interesting. Their method was evidently based on comprehensive tests, but it was clearly confined to experience
with one particular class of heavy-duty oil, and they had
acknowledged in the paper that allralinity was not a criterion
in all cases.
There were, in fact, other classes of additives which
might be acidic and which achieved the same purpose in the
engine by different chemical reactions. Some of those had
performed well in service tests, and easily met the requirements of the standard engine approval test.
To quote but one example,bne of those additives, in
approximately4 per cent concentration,gave a MIL-L-2104
level of cleanliness, although the new oil had an acid number
of 2 mg. KOH per gramme. There was no evidence to
suggest that heavy-duty oils of that type suffered depletion
at any greater rate than those covered by the paper. He
would like to ask the authors if they had had experience of
such additives and whether they would agree with that
point of view.
The authors were fortunate in having such comprehensive
test facilities at their disposal. It would be interesting to
know roughly how many engine running hours were represented in the data used in the paper, as the figure would be
likely to be impressive.
He would also like to ask their opinion of the singlecylinder engine test on which all Army and Navy acceptances
were based. Because of the world-wide implications of such
approvals, the test procedures in that engine had gained
universal acceptance, and he wondered how far those tests
correlated with full-scale performance.
He questioned whether that additive depletion rate was
proportional to total fuel throughput, regardless of load
732
DISCUSSION
gallons
of oil would be used, against 54 gallons with 0-22 per cent
oil usage and 5,000-mile oil-change periods.
On the cited engine, then, service experience agreed
generally with the paper, and it was more economic to
have the low oil consumption and 5,000-mile oil changes,
than the 1 per cent oil usage for indefinite-alkalinity safeguard. As the authors emphasized, it was essential to change
the oil for other reasons than alkalinity level.
733
134
DISCUSSION
735
(3) Pistons which flexed over the ring belt when subjected to high mechanical loading, which was often the
cause of blowby and subsequent contamination of the
lubricating oils,
(4) Top land clearances of the pistons were sometimes
too great, which exposed the upper ring to high gas temperatures and that could produce ring sticking and
peripheral scuffing problem, both of which could be
associated with blowby.
(5) Poor heat flow characteristics relative to the piston
were often responsible for high crown and ring belt temperatures, producing ring sticking and subsequent blowby
problems.
(6) Neglected maintenance, whereby engines were
operated with the oil in a highly contaminated state. In
addition, certain operators had adopted the policy of
filtering detergent heavy-duty oils for re-use on a fiftyfifty basis with new oils of a similar type in the belief
that they were cutting running costs, which was a fallacy.
In the event of trouble being experienced it was often
found most difiicult to establish the true cause, thereby
putting the technicians of the oil companies and the
piston manufacturers to unnecessary trouble, and their
products were blamed for something which had been
brought about by factors outside their control.
Many schools of thought regarded 210-212 deg. C. (410413.6 deg. F.) as the maximum temperature for the top
grooves of a piston where an engine was using I.C.E. lubricating oil, and 230-235 deg. C. (426-455 deg. F.) for a Supplement 1 heavy-duty type oil. However, instances have
been observed showing temperatures of the order of 260265 deg. C. (500-509 deg. F.) for the top groove zone without ring sticking occurring, and that was attributed to the
absence of ring belt deformation, together with close cold
clearances over the top land, a most important factor, which
influenced the quantity of by-products of combustion reaching the top-ring groove. A cold clearance of less than 0.002in. per in. of diameter was often permissible with a welldesigned direct-injection engine piston, manufactured in
11-12 per cent silicon alloy, and still further reductions
were permissible with the hypereutectic 20-24 per cent
silicon alloys, which was considered a very important step
forward, and would ease the burden placed on the oil companies.
Many manufacturers of both pistons and engines had
treated close-top land clearances in a very sceptical manner,
and when carbon scuffing had been experienced, such
clearances had actually been increased, which had only
aggravated matters, instead of a reduction being made to
prevent carbon build-up. With a well-designed piston, where
the heat flow characteristics had been carefully studied, the
clearancesover the top land underwent little change between
halfand fdl load operating conditions, and it was therefore
only necessary to allow a very slight clearance increase to
accommodate overload or abnormal operating conditions.
Close top land clearances made the greatest contribution
towards solving many of the problems associated with ring
736
DISCUSSION
sticking, scuffing, and groove wear, for which the oil companies had been trying to find a palliative, when the trouble
should have been tackled at the source. Before it was possible
to consider the adoption of close top land clearances, it was
essential to ensure that either the cylinder liner or bore were
reasonably free from distortion when subjected to mechanical and thermal stressing.
Whilst the oil companies had produced lubricants with a
large percentage of alkaline additives to combat corrosive
wear on the cylinder liners and the rings, in his view many
engines were being operated with the cylinder wall temperatures far too low, and instances had been observed
where the side faces of the compression rings had been
heavily acid etched, and that applied to engines using the
normal type of gas-oils. T o observe that phenomenon, it
was necessary to examine an engine where the dimensions
of the rings and grooves were still within reasonable limits,
otherwise the violent pounding which occurred when
clearances were increased removed all evidence of the
etching.
The oil companies had undoubtedly done a grand job
in trying to meet the conditions of service referred to,
but the real answer to many of the problems obviously
rested either with the engine and component manufacturers
or the owner-operator, and it should not be overlooked that
as oils became richer in additives, so the prices tended to
increase, which in turn often tempted the operator either to
increase the running time between oil changes or to turn his
attention to using a percentage of filtered oils.
Whilst it was maintained there was still scope for considerable improvement in engine and piston design, there
was always a definite case for advocating the use of detergent-type lubricating oils, regardless of piston operating
temperatures, with a view to increasing engine efficiency
and life, particularly by means of cleanliness.
137
Communications
Dr. F. T. Barwell, B.Sc. (Eng.), Wh.Sc. (Member),wrote
ilm
that although the authors had recognized that the oil f
on the cylinder walls was exposed to high local temperatures
and might become oxidized, they had not seriously discussed
the effect of temperature as a variable governing engine
cleanliness.
The laboratory test engine or engines on which the results
presented in Figs. 2-13 had been obtained wps not defined
or described in the paper and it would assist in assessing the
generality of the results if that omission were rectified in .
the reply to the discussion. Presumably, if the same engine
had been used under identical conditions throughout the
tests, the effect of piston temperature would have been
eliminated. He would welcome the authors view as to
whether or not the wide range of conversion factors
reported was attributable to differences in piston operating
temperature in the different engines.
Authors
Mr. A. Dyson, Mr. L. J. Richards, and Mr. K. R.
Williams wrote in reply that two general points had
occurred frequently in the discussion. In the first place, it
was assumed in the paper that dispersive power and oxidation stability could be maintained at adequate levels during
an engine run provided that the original oil was well formulated. In those circumstances alkalinity became the
limiting factor. That applied to the majority of cases in the
authors experience in which heavy-duty oils were used in
practice. They believed that the principles described in
their paper could be applied to many conventional organometallic additives used in most Diesel engines, and they
had worked out the application in detail for one particular
class of those additives. Oils or applications in which there
was some difficulty in maintaining adequate standards of dispersancy or oxidation stability were, of course, excluded and
it was for that reason that the words with particular reference to oil alkalinity were included in the title of the paper.
The second general point concerned the tests to which
heavy-duty oils were customarily subjected in the caterpillar
engine. Very high standards of cleanliness were demanded,
whereas in the applications with which the paper was concerned, the object was limited to ensuring that the engine
would continue to function satisfactorily, and would not
suffer from ring sticking, objectionable piston deposits or
corrosive wear. Those requirements were far less stringent
AUTHORS REPLY
738
Table 5. (Fig. 5)
a Piston cleanliness merit ratings 10 = clean.
1 *o
0.2
1.8
Additive concentration.
.1
Additive concentration.
.I
co I
1 .o
1.8
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I 1 (l:g1 1
Cr
1.30
1.36
1.41
;:1
260
0.2
c2
c
3
co
2.84 6.00
2.96 6.18
2.84 6.04
c
1
0.60
0.76
080
cz
2.19
2.39
225
c
3
543
5.36
5.46
co
c
1
c2
0-16 132
::4:
c
3
4.70
44;
~~
Table 6. (Fig. 6)
a Piston cleanliness merit ratings 10 = clean.
Oil viscosity,
seconds Redwood
1 at 140 deg. F.
170
Additive concentration
Jacket
temperature,
deg. C.
1 ;:;:1 1 1 I I I
1.00
40
85
A1
Az A3
A1
A2
A3
--
Fuel
flow,
02. per
mn.
4.03
405
6.78
7.49
8.41
8.65
3.73
3.68
4.13
8.29
8.70
9.16
954
9.29
9.69
I 8:; 1 1 1 I 1 1
8.58
8.50
8.38
Oil viscosity,
seconds Redwood
1 at 140 deg. F.
Additive concentration
65
170
A1
A3
A2
---
Jacket
tempera--re,
deg. C.
Fuel
flow,
02. per
min.
40
1 .oo
0.75
0.50
0
0
0
0.61
0.81
1.07
158
2.34
258
1 .oo
0.78
0
0
0
0.78 1.92
0.64 2.22
1.11 2.59
85
0.50
A1
A2
A3
-
0
0
0
0.64
0.93
1.15
2.07
2.30
258
0
0
0
0.77
0.83
0 81
2.28
233
2.78
739
740
AUTHORS REPLY