Q & A

"How does soot get into my oil?"

The primary cause of soot is improper combustion. When clean fuel burns completely (which is a form of oxidation), the only by-products are water and carbon dioxide. However, due to impurities and inefficiencies in the combustion cycle of an engine, numerous other by-products are produced, including SOX, NOX, soot, acid and other transition products. Soot is highly polar, carbon rich particles. Several factors influence poor combustion, including:

• Rich mixture,

• Lugging,

• Excessive idling,

• Cool jacket temperatures,

• Poor atomization of fuel,

• etc.

Most soot and other by-products of combustion exit through the engines exhaust system. A percentage, however, blows by the rings from the combustion chamber into the crankcase, where it contaminates the lubricant. Soot can have the following effects on the engine and lubricant:

• Increased lubricant viscosity

• Blocked oil flow passageways, causing starvation

• Decreased effectiveness of antiwear, dispersant and detergent additives

• Increased wear

In an appropriate effort to reduce pollution, the EPA has placed new restrictions on emissions, which is forcing the use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) starting next year, which essentially gives soot and other combustion byproducts a multi-pass opportunity to blow by the rings into the crankcase. In the very near future, the stakes for soot management will increase dramatically. Oil analysis and lubrication management practices must be adjusted to deal with the increased threat caused by soot contamination.

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Today's Tip

• Severly hydro processed and hydrocracked base stocks may be a suitable alternative to synthetic lubricants for hot applications, at a much lower cost. Some of these lubricants have very high viscosity indices and excellent resistance to oxidation and thermal failure.

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Book Bits

From the newly revised book "Lubrication Fundamentals":

In-Service Purification

In circulating systems, the lubricant, hydraulic fluid, or metalworking fluid should be kept as free of contaminants as possible, first, as noted earlier, by preventing entry of contaminants into the system, and second by in-service purification during operation. Purification, depending on the nature and extent of the contaminants, may consist of continuous bypass or full-flow treatment. In many instances, a combination of the two methods is incorporated into the circulating system. In addition, large-capacity critical systems may use portable units for adding oil to the system or for periodic polishing, or independent purification units connected permanently to large reservoirs, or separate batch units to purify or reclaim drained lubricants for reuse.

Click here for more information about the book "Lubrication Fundamentals".

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