717

DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS : THEIR SELECTION AND

UTILIZATION WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO OIL
ALKALINITY
By A. Dyson, M.A.*, L. J. Richards, B.Sc. (Eng.), Wh.Sc..f., and K. R. Williams, B.Sc.$
The main functions of heavy-duty lubricating-oil additives are to control engine fouling,
bearing corrosion, and wear of liners and piston rings. Alkalinity is desirable for the
control of wear and is one of the major requirements for the avoidance of piston fouling
when conventional organo-metallic additives are used. In a well-balanced oil, sufficient
dispersive power and oxidation stability may be incorporated to ensure adequate piston
cleanliness and freedom from bearing corrosion provided that the alkalinity level is satis-
factory.
The alkalinity level falls during service, and for satisfactory performance with certain
types of additive in common use it must be kept above a minimum value. For these
additives equations are given which enable the variation of the alkalinity level with time
in given circumstances to be predicted approximately. The most satisfactoryarrangementis
to use an oil containing sufficient alkalinity so that the concentrationnever falls below the
critical value. The oil-change period is then determined by other considerations, for
example, contamination with abrasives. If an oil of lower alkalinity-concentration is used,
then the equations developed permit an approximate estimate of the oil-change period,
determined solely from the aspect of additive effectiveness. The applicationof these results
to engines with separate cylinder lubrication is discussed.
Thus oils, and, where appropriate, oil-change periods, may be selected on a rational
basis instead of by trial and error.

INTRODUCTION
ABOUTTWENTY YEARS AGO it was found that the addition of
certain materials to the lubricating oil could alleviate ring
sticking and other difficulties which were being encountered
in the operation of high-speed Diesel engines. From these
early beginnings a new class of Diesel-engine lubricant was
developed and it is now common practice to use oils of this
type, called ‘heavy duty’, in Diesel engines; in fact some
highly rated engines will not run on straight mineral oils.
In the early days of these oils there were sometimes com-
plaints that they gave little or no benefit over the straight
mineral oils then in common use. On the other hand many
users were completely satisfied with the new oils and found
that they gave reduced engine wear and reduced fouling and
consequently longer engine life. Fig. 1 shows examples
typical of the range of results observed.
Experience showed that different grades of heavy-duty
The MS. of this paper was first received at the Institution on 27th
3ub 1956. For a report of the meeting, in London, at which this
paper was presented, see p . 740. Fig. I . Typical Examples of Differences in Piston Condition
* Research Physicist, :Shell’ Group, Thornton Research Centre. Which Can Arise from Improper and Proper Use of
t Research Engineer, Shell’ Group, Thornton Research Centre.
$ Research Physicist, ‘Shell’ Group, Thornton Researoh Centre. Heavy-duty Oil

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7 18 A. DYSON, L. J. RICHARDS, AND K. R. WILLIAMS
lubricating oil were required for differing engines and
operating conditions. This was recognized in the MIL-L-
2104A, Supplement I and Series I1 Specifications defined
by the ability of the oil to pass a series of tests on a Cater-
pillar engine run at three different levels of severity. These
tests are widely acccptcd and have in general proved satis-
factory yardsticks of oil performance. Furthermore, engine
manufacturers have, as a result of their test-bed and field
experience, been able to define the grade of lubricant
required in a unit run under specified operating conditions
in terms of these performance levels. For a particular
grade of oil they have recommended oil-change periods
appropriate to various operating conditions. However, this
plbccss of oil selection and oil-change period recommenda-
tion is a purely empirical one. It had, of course, been
recognized for a long time that the oil contaminants, such
as insolubles and fuel dilution, should not be allowed to
exceed a certain value. However, experience showed that in
many cases with heavy-duty lubricants satisfactory engine
cleaxiliness and wear levels were not obtained, despite quite
low levels of contamination present in the oil when it was
drained from the engine. It was evident that some other
factor was determining the necessity for oil change.
Laboratory examination of used-oil samples showed that
the additive was being used up or depleted in service and
that depletion of the additive often made oil change ncces-
sary. It was therefore decided to embark upon an extensive
investigation in an attempt to define in a rational manner
the factors effccting additive depletion. From the results
obtained in this investigation it was hoped that it would
prove possible to predict the grade of heavy-duty lubricant
and oil-change period required by a Diesel engine under
given operating conditions.
This paper describes work which has shown how
additive depletion is relatcd to engine design and operating
conditions. It also shows how with certain classes of
additive lubricants oil-change periods, as determined by
considerations of additive depletion, may be related to
certain readily defined parameters.
P R O P E R T I E S REQUIRED IN A
HEAVY-DUTY OIL
Before considering in detail what happens to the additive
in a heavy-duty oil when it is used in a Diesel engine, it is
relevant to consider the properties which are improved or
conferred on a mineral oil by the presence of heavy-duty
additives. l h c y are alkalinity, dispersive power, and
oxidation stability.
Those aspects of the performance of a Diesel engine
most lkely to give trouble and which the heavy-duty oil
is expected to control are corrosive wear of cylinder liners,
and piston rings; piston fouling (ring sticking, piston
lacquer, oil ring plugging) ;and bearing corrosion.
Alkalinity combats the corrosive wear of cylinder liners
and piston rings. When conventional fuels are burnt,
sulphur oxides and the corresponding acids are produced,
and enter the oil film in the cylinder walls. Alkaline additives
in the oil film may neutralize these acids before they can
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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 alka-
linity 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 reac-
tion between lubricating-oil components and the sulphur
acid produced in the combustion chamber, which may also
catalyse the polymerization referred to above. Neutraliza-
tion 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 con-
taminants, either soot from the combustion chamber or
products from the neutralization reactions discussed above.
Oxidation stability is necessary for the conml of the
corrosion of sensitive bearing metals. The oil f ilm on the
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.
I n 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.
 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS : THEIR SELECTION AND UTILIZATION 719

measure of the alkalinity of a used oil, since additive metal
may remain in solution or in suspension in the oil after the
additive has been neutralized in doing its job.
Such used additive is still detectable directly or in the
form of its sulphate, and both field and laboratory studies
have confirmed the lack of correlation between these pro-
perties and the actual performance of the oil.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PISTON A S THE
ALKALINITY IS NEUTRALIZED
As the engine is run, additive is neutralized and the
alkalinity of the oil decreases. The piston remains clean,
however, until the base number reaches a certain critical
value, after which the piston becomes dirty quite rapidly.
This is illustrated in Fig. 2, which shows the variation of
covered by different types of deposit are estimated visually
and multiplified by a merit figure for that type of deposit.
The merit figure depends on the colour and nature of the
deposit, a perfectly clean surface obviously having the
highest merit figure. The sum of these products of per-
centage area and merit figure gives the rating for the par-
ticular section of the piston. These sectional ratings are
suitably weighted and combined to give an overall piston
rating. A perfectly clean piston would have an overall rating
of 10, a very dirty one would be rated at 0. Fig. 3 shows the
state at various times of the individual areas of the piston
which are combined to give the overall rating shown in
Fig. 2. Each part starts getting dirty at about the same time,
but in general the top of the piston is rather more sensitive
than the skirt. It is interesting to note that when a fresh

FRESH CHARGE FRESH CHARGE

J BASE OIL
-,
ADDITIVE OIL
.-
OF ADDITIVE OIL

10
BASE OIL
A.
ADDITIVE OIL OF ADDITIVE OIL
+

N
=-lo
Y
a

-
0
u
Z 6
l-
a
t
mI: 4
Ln
z 2
z
i
0 10 20 30 40
2
U
10
NUMBER OF 16-HOUR PERIODS RUN

Fig. 2. Alkalinity and Piston Cleanliness Ratings at 16-hour

Intervals During an Engine Run Using Fuel Containing 6
I per cent Sulphur
o No. 1 piston, cleaned after every period. 4
+ No. 2 piston, not cleaned after period 3.
2
alkalinity and piston cleanliness with time during a long
runusing a fuel containing 1 per cent sulphur in a laboratory 0
Diesel engine. Chromium-plated compression rings were 0 10 20 30 40
NUMBER OF 16-HOUR PERIODS RUN
used in this experiment and the run-in was slow. The oil
consumption was relatively high, about 2 per cent of the Fig. 3. Sectional Piston-area Cleanliness Merit Ratings at
fuel consumption, and so much fresh additive was intro- Intervals During an Engine Run Using Fuel Containing
duced with the make-up oil that the alkalinity decreased 1 per cent Sulphur
only slowly. After some time the consumption was made up a x Top land.
with straight mineral-oil in order to accelerate the drop in o Other lands.
allralinity. b x Topskirt.
The state of the piston is described on an arbitrary scale. o Lowerskirt.
Each section of the piston is considered in turn,ring grooves c x Topringgrooves.
and lands, skirt, etc. For each section the relative areas o Other ring grooves.

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720 A. DYSON, L. J. RICHARDS, AND K. R. WILLIAMS

heavy-duty oil is charged to the engine, the piston skirt

and the lands are cleaned up but the grooves stay dirty.
This indicates that the additive can stop further deposition
but that the removal of deposits already formed depends on
a mechanical rubbing action.
MINIMUM ALKALINITY REQUIRED FOR A
CLEAN PISTON
In the particular case discussed above, the piston stayed
clean as long as the alkalinity remained above about 0.3 mg.
KOH per gramme. However, the high oil-consumption due
to the very slow mming-in of the compression rings is
believed to have influenced the result. From observations
of the behaviour of a number of different Diesel engines 3 -2 u4 8
running under widely different conditions, it is possible to ALKALINITY REMAINING AT END OF TEST-
derive a working rule. This states that the piston will MG. KOH PER GRAMME
remain clean provided that the alkalinity exceeds a critical Fig. 5. Piston Cleanliness Against Residual Alkalinity at
value which has been found to be approximately propor- End of Test fur Various Fuel Sulphur Contents
tional to the sulphur content of the fuel. For example, the
value for a certain class of additive is about 1 mg. KOH per Each point represents the mean result of three runs with different
oil viscosities.
gramme for every 1 per cent sulphur. As is shown later in
this section, the critical level might be expected to vary with
engine design or operating conditions, and although the previous experiment. The critical alkalinity level is seen to
stated value is adequate for most engines, higher minimum be between 1.5 and 2-5 mg. KOH per gramme.
additive concentrations are sometimes necessary to ensure Fig. 5 shows the result of a comparison of different oils
freedom fiom ring-sticking. This paper is concerned mainly containing different concentrations of alkaline additive with
with the behaviour of oils containing additives of this type, different fuels. The piston cleanliness rating is plotted
against the alkalinity remaining at the end of test. It will
be observed that for alkalinities above about 1 mg. KOH
per gramme there is very little difference in engine con-
dition between the fuels of 0.2 and 1.0 per cent by weight
of sulphur. Fig. 6 shows a similar comparison at different
values of the fuel consumption for a constant fuel sulphur

NUMBER OF 40-HOUR PERIODS RUN

F&. 4. Alkalinity and Top-ring Groove Cleanliness Rating

During an Engine Run Using Fuel Containing 2.8 per
cent Wezght Sulphur
x
-
0
-ox Alkalinity.
Top-ring groove rating.

Periods 1-4 in this figure correspond to periods 5-8 in Fig. 8.

but the procedure given below for the selection of oils,and,
where appropriate, oil-change periods, may easily be
modified to apply to the case of additives with different
I 2 3
requirements. ALKALINITY REMAINING AT END OF TEST-
Fig. 4 shows the variation of piston cleanliness and MG. KOH PER GRAMME

alkalinity with time during an experiment similar to the Fig. 6. Piston Cleanliness Against Residual Alkalinity at
one described previously except that the fuel contained 2.8 End of Test for Various Fuel Inputs
per cent by weight of sulphur. This level of sulphur was
adopted to magnify the influence of this factor on additive 0 Fuel input 0.50
per min.
02.
o Fuel input 0.75
per min.
02.
depletion and does not represent a present-day or probable x Fuel input 1.00 per min.
02.
distillate fuel. The rings were well run in and the oil- Each point represents the mean result of four runs with different
consumption rate was about 40 per cent of that in the combinations of Iubricant viscosity and jacket temperature.

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 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS : THEIR SELECTION AND UTILIZATION
Thus quite a high-alkalinity concentration must be main-
tained 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
OIL CONSUMED RATE R
CYLINDER ZONE
ALKALINITY CONCENTRATION CI
011 ClRCULATlpN
t P \
CRANKCASE ZONE OIL ~ A K E - U RATE
P R
WEIGHT OF OIL L2
ALKALINITY CONCENTRATION Cz
' I I NUMBER OF 40-HOUR PERIODS RUN
F&. 7. Model of Oil Circulation System to Ring-belt Zone
A simplified model illustrating these points is shown in
Fig. 7. The flow of oil up to the ring-belt zone and back
is represented by a circulation rate P. The difference in
concentration of the alkaline additive in the ring-belt zone
and in the crankcase may be shown to be approximately
equal to a/P, where a is the rate of addition of the acid
which neutralizes the additive, and may be calculated from
the observed rate of loss of alkalinity in the crankcase
(Appendix 111). Therefore if some effective additive is to
be present in the oil in the ring-belt zone its concentration
in the crankcase oil must be at least a/lJ which is the
required critical alkalinitylevel. The effective oil-circulation
rate P may thus be calculated. Details of the calculations
are given in Appendix 111.
The results obtained for two direct-injection four-stroke
Diesel engines of about 1.5 litres capacity give circulation
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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 con-
sumption. Circulation rates estimated by this method show
reasonable agreement with those obtained by other methods
(Edgar 1957).
CORROSIVE WEAR A N D ALKALINITY
The criterion for the minimum alkalinity required in the
crankcase oil has been established only in relation to piston
cleanliness. It has been found, however, that the action of
the alkaline additive in reducing corrosive wear normally
lasts at least until the piston has become dirty. This is
Fig. 8. Alkalinity and Wear Rate at 40-hour Intervals
During an Engine Run Using Fuel Containing 2.8 per
cent by Wezght of Sulphur
Periods 5-8 in this f i v e correspond to periods 1-4 in Fig. 4.
illustrated in Fig. 8 which shows the piston-ring wear rates
in the experiment for which the piston cleanliness was
shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 9 shows the results of experiments using a fuel con-
taining 1 per cent by weight of sulphur. In this case the top
ring was made radioactive by exposure in a neutron pile
at Harwell. The wear products from this ring enter the oil
film on the cylinder walls and drain down to the crankcase.
Oil from the crankcase is continuously circulated past a
scintillation counter, a very sensitive detector of radiation,
and the curve of counting rate against engine running-time
is automatically plotted by means of a recorder. The
counting rate is proportional to the concentration in the oil
of radioactive wear products, that is, to the total top-ring
722 A. DYSON, L. J. RICHARDS, AND K. R. WILLIAMS

conditions and to the additive combination in use, then

deposits will probably be formed in the ring grooves,
although these will not be worse than those experienced
with a straight mineral oil. I t has been shown above that
these deposits will not be removed by subsequent operation
with alkalinity concentrations above the critical level. This
emphasizes the importance of never allowing the alkalinity
concentration to fall below the critical level, particularly in
the case of engines sensitive to ring-groove deposits.
Measurement of alkalinity concentration in used oils is
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 not a simple matter, however, and specialized equipment
and skilled workers are required. The standard methods
given in the literature have been found to require modifica-
tion when used for this purpose. The necessary laboratory
facilities are not available to most engine operators, and if
they are available they are very expensive. Furthermore, it
is often desired to make recommendations in advance for
oils for specific situations, as a process of trial-and-error
is not regarded very favourably by the operators on whose
engines the errors are committed.
It is therefore desirable to predict the variation of
alkalinity with time. It will be shown later that this may
be done provided that information is available on the alka-
linity of the fresh oil, the engine characteristics, and the
running conditions, etc. Most of the remainder of this paper
is concerned with this particular problem.
ENGINE RUNNING TIME-HOURS

Fig. 9. Alkalinity and Wear Rate During Four Diflerent VARIATION O F ALKALINITY WITH TIME
Engine Runs with Additive Oil DURING A TYPICAL ENGINE R U N

”>
o Three different continuous runs.
0
Run during day only, shut down at night.
The variation in the allralinity of the crankcase oil with time
during an engine run in the absence of oil make-up is
illustrated in Fig. 10. For the classes of additive dealt with,
it has been found that in these conditions, the curve of
alkalinity against time is curved downward as in curve I.
wear which has taken place. The slope thus corresponds to This is to be expected if the effective rate of neutralization
the wear rate. Suitable corrections must be applied for is constant, as the volume of oil present in the crankcase
radioactive decay and for losses due to oil consumption, decreases as oil is consumed. It is possible to correct for this
etc., and the corrected wear rates are then plotted as shown
in Fig. 9.
In both these instances the full anti-wear effect of the oil
is evident for the whole of the period during which some
alkalinity is maintained in the crankcase oil.

RECOMMENDING OILS A N D OIL-CHANGE

P E R I O D S I N T H E IDEAL C A S E
So far, the stage has been reached at which a definite
recommendation may be given to Diesel engine operators
concerning the selection of oils and oil-change periods.
These should be arranged so that the alkalinity concentra-
tion never falls below a critical level estimated as x mg.
KOH per gramme for each 1 per cent sulphur content of
the fuel, where x depends on the particular formulation
used. In this way piston cleanlinessis maintained, corrosive ENGINE RUNNING TIME

wear is controlled, and in a suitably formulated oil the Fig. 10. Variation of Alkalinity with Engine Running
oxidation stability maintained at a level sufficient to avoid Time in the Absence of Make-up
the corrosion of copper-lead bearings.
If at any time the alkalinity concentration is allowed to I Observed alkalinities.
I1 Alkalinities which would have been observed in the absence of
fall below the critical level appropriate to the operating oil consumption.

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 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS : THEIR SELECTION AND UTILIZATION 723

effect and to draw curve 11, which represents the alkalinity

which would have been observed in the absence of oil con-
sumption. This line is usually straight, that is, the rate of
loss of alkalinity due to neutralization by acid is in fact
independent of the alkalinity of the oil. The rate of the
neutralization reaction may thus be characterized by a rate
of addition of neutralizing acid which is independent of
initial alkalinity level or of time during an engine run.
Additives other than those of the class considered may
behave differently, for example, the neutralization rate may
increase with increasing alkalinity concentration. However,
in the range of most practical importance, up to 2 mg.
KOH per gramme, the rates of neutralization of all the
additives of which the authors have experience are approxi-
mately the same under similar conditions.

RATE OF NEUTRALIZATION OF ALKALINITY

DURING A RUN
For a given engine working at constant speed the rate of
addition of neutralizing acid has been found to be propor- x -x Initial additive content equivalent to 1.6 mg. KOH
per gramme.
tional to the fuel sulphur throughput, that is, to the product
0-0 Initial additive content equivalent to 3.2 mg. KOH
of the fuel consumption rate (quantity per unit time) and per gramme.
of the fuel sulphur content. It appears to be almost in- 0- 0 Initial additive content equivalent to 6.4mg. KOH
dependent of other factors such as oil viscosity and tem- per gramme.
perature and coolant temperature, within the limits which
better agreement at low values of the fuel sulphur content
have been studied in the laboratory up to the present time.
Fig. 11 shows the relation between neutralization rateis obtained if a value of 0.1 is arbitrarily added to the
measured fuel sulphur content, expressed in percentage
and fuel consumptionat constant speed and sulphur content,
while Fig. 12 shows the effect of fuel sulphur content atweight. Secondly, the neutralization rate with the fuel of
constant speed and fuel consumption. the highest sulphur content does depend slightly on the
Concerning Fig. 12, two qualifications must now be initial alkalinity of the oil. This is really a consequence
made to the simple statement that the neutralization rateof the breakdown of the condition discussed under the
is proportional to the fuel sulphur throughput. Firstly, head ‘Minimum Alkalinity Required for a Clean Piston’,
that the- oil circulating round the ring-belt area should
contain some available alkalinity. There is then sufficient

‘0
X
1CQ

I alkalinity to cope with all the acids present, and further

increases in the allralinity content of the oil have very little
effect on corrosive wear and on piston fouling.
a
(L

If this condition breaks down there is an excess of acid

I
IS0 in the ring-belt zone, and this will neutralize all the base
w
that is supplied to it, that is, the neutralization rate will
z depend on the alkalinity present in the oil. Some of the
3
U excess of unneutralized acid will cause corrosive wear and
5
P
piston fouling, and these will be worse, the lower the alka-
I100 linity concentration in the oil. This was found to be so,
s Fig. 5 is a plot of the piston cleanliness results of the same

+
j
I
experiment, and the relative sensitivity of the piston
I-
vt
cleanliness to additive concentration with the fuel of the
d highest sulphur content can be seen. Any remaining excess
z
acid may drain to the crankcase and cause wasteful neutrali-
zation there.
It has been seen above that the rate of neutralization of
alkalinity is proportional to the fuel sulphur throughput for
a given engine working at a given speed, subject to the two
- 1
I 0.6 I qualifications. The ratio between the observed neutraliza-
FUEL THROUGH r OF ENGINE-oz PER
tion rate and the chemical equivalent of the fuel sulphur
Fig. 11. Variation of Rate of Neutralization with Fuel throughput will be called the conversion ratio, and denoted
Throughput by y per cent. That is to say, only y per cent of the fuel

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724 A. DYSON, L. J. RICHARDS, AND K. R WILLIAMS
sulphur which enters the combustion chamber actually
reacts with the additive present in the lubricating oil. It is
shown in Appendix I that ifthis is known, then the variation
of the allralinity with time during an engine run may be
predicted from a knowledge of other quantities such as fuel
and oil consumption which may easily be measured or
estimated. Thus it is important to know the magnitude of
the conversion ratio in Merent cases. The experimental
method of the determination of the conversion ratio is
illusuated in Appendix 11.
VALUE O F THE CONVERSION FACTOR IN
VARIOUS CASES
The following values of the conversion ratio, expressed as a
percentage, have been observed in a series of Diesel engines
ranging from 3 to 15 inches in bore and from 250 to 2,000
r.p.m. in speed. Each value represents an engine of a
Merent type, and several supercharged engines are
included. The arbitrary addition of 0.1 per cent by weight
to the measured fuel sulphur content has been made in each
case. These values apply to a range of heavy-duty oil
formulations, though not necessarily to all of them:
Direct-injection four-stroke trunk engines: 0.090, 0.075,
0.082, 0.080, 0.061, 0.067, 0.077, 0.041, 0.069.
Pre-chamber four-stroke uunk engines: 0.155, 0.098,
0.130, 0.147.
Direct-injection two-stroke uunk engines: 0.055, 0.095,
0.108.
Direct-injection four-stroke engine with separate cylinder
feed: 0.074.
It appears that prechamber engines are more severe fiom
the depletion aspect in their demands on heavy-duty
lubricating oil than are their direct-injection counterparts.
Insufficient data have been obtained to make a categorical
statement aboutdirect-injection two-stroke enginesalthough
the evidence available suggests that this type of engine is
intermediate in severity between four-stroke direct-
injection and prechamba engines.
It will also be apparent from the above figures that there
is still a wide variation within these classes of engine,
however. The data on direct-injection four-stroke trunk
engines are barely adequate for a statistical investigation
while the data on the other classes of engine are inadequate
at the present time. The conversion factor appears to
increase with increasing swirl or turbulence in the cylinder.
On theoretical grounds y would be expected to depend
on engine dimensions and speed. An argument which is
often advanced is that the concentration of sulphur acids
during the working stroke is pmportional to
Fs
XZYN
where F is the fuel consumption, quantity per unit time,
S the fuel sulphur content, X the bore, Y the effective
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distance between the top of the piston and the cylinder
head, and N the engine speed.
The area of the oil film available for absorption of these
sulphur oxides is proportional to XU,and the rate of entry
of the sulphur acids into the oil film is therefore propor-
tional to
F!3
-
XN
The time available for the.absorption is proportional to
1/N, and the whole process is repeated with a frequency
proportional to N . The value of y would therefore be
expected to be inversely proportional to XN,other things
being equal.
The data on the four-stroke direct-injection trunk engines
show some indications that the conversionfactory decreases
with increasing values of XN,but not so rapidly as predicted
by the simple theory outlined above. It will be appreciated
that XN does not vary very much from one engine to
another, so that experimental verification is rather difficult.
Tests with varying speeds in the same engine have indicated
that the conversion factor decreases with increasing speed,
but again less rapidly than predicted by the simple theory.
EFFECT O F ADDITION O F MAKE-UP
In Fig. 10 it was shown that in the absence of oil consump-
tion, 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 con-
sumption, oil charge.
ENGINE RUNNING TIME
Fig. 13. Vuriutionof Alkalinity with Engim Running
Time Showing Effectof Addition of Make-up
---- I1I Make-up added at discrete intervals.
Continuous addition of make-up.
 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS : THEIR SELECTION AND UTKLIZATION
All these may easily be measured or estimated except the
conversion ratio. This may be known from the experiments
on the same engine, but if it is not known then it is suggested
that the best estimates at present available are the means
of the values given above for the various classes of engine:
Direct-injection four-stroke engines 0.07 per cent
Prechamber four-stroke engines . 0.13 per cent
Direct-injection two-stroke engines 0.10 per cent
If the alkalinity concentration of the make-up oil is high
enough, the continuous curve tends towards a limiting
value after some time, while the saw-tooth curve oscillates
between two limiting values, corresponding to the con-
centrations just before, and just after, make-up. An example
of the experimental verification of the relations derived
theoretically in Appendix I is given in Appendix 11.
If C, is the alkalinity concentration in the make-up oil,
y the conversion ratio per cent, S the fuel sulphur content
per cent by weight, f the ratio of the fuel consumption to
the oil consumption, and Q a safety factor depending on the
make-up procedure, then the limiting value of the alkalinity
concentration after a long time is
C,-A’
where A’ = 0*35yfQ(S+0.1)
In practice, the allralinity concentration of the make-up
oil is usually the same as that in the initial oil charge, so that
the final value of the drop in alkalinity concentration is
simply A’. In these circumstances, the drop is 85 per cent
of A‘ after the engine has consumed a quantity of oil equal
to twice the original oil charge, or 95 per cent of A’ after
it has consumed three times the original charge. In such
cases the oil may be selected by means of the simple equa-
tion already given, as explained in the following section.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF OILS A N D OIL-
CHANGE P E R I O D S FOR INDIVIDUAL C A S E S
If the limiting value of the allralinity concentration is not
less than the critical value, 1 mg. KOH per gramme for
each 1 per cent of sulphur in the fuel, for the class of addi-
tive considered, then the oil-change period will not be
limited by the exhaustion of the additive. The minimum
alkalinity level of the fresh d l is thus given by
C, =.S+A’
= S+O*35yQf(S+O*l)
Thus for a given type of engine with a given make-up
practice, y Q is fixed, and a family of curves may be con-
structed, giving the alkalinity concentration in the fresh
oil necessary for any combination of fuel sulphur content
and fuel/oil consumption ratio. This is illustrated in Fig. 14.
In practice it is obviously uneconomic to market a large
number of oils differing only slightly in alkalinity content.
Thus convenient ‘steps’ in additive concentration are
adopted for marketing purposes and the various brand
references can replace the actual alkalinity levels given in
the figure. For those concerned with specific recommenda-
tions in the field this facilitates considerably the selection
of the most suitable oil for a given application.
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725
FUEL SULPHUR CONTENT-PER CENT WEIGHT
Fig. 14. Fuel Sulphur Content Against Oil Consumption
Required for Indefinite Oil-drain Period
Initial alkalinity level of oil, mg. KOH per gramme.
If an oil of lower initial alkalinity content than that
indicated by the above considerations is used, then an oil-
change period dictated by considerations of additive
effectivenessmay be calculated from the equations given in
Appendix I. However, slight variations in the quantities
involved may lead to large variations in the calculated oil-
change period.
It is emphasized that oil must still be changed when
indicated by other considerations, for example, contamina-
tion with fuel, coolant, or abrasives.
In some cases the oil-change period dictated by these
other considerations may not be long compared with the
time necessary to consume a volume of oil equal to that of
the original crankcase charge. The minimum alkalinity level
of the oil for the maintenance of additive effectiveness
throughout the oil-change period is then no longer deter-
mined by the formulae given above, but must be evaluated
by means of the equations given in Appendix I.
It is important to note that raising the sulphur content of
fuel does not necessarily entail any disadvantages in the
operation of an engine, and frequently it may well be more
economic to use a fuel of higher sulphur content (even if, as
may sometimes be the case, it is desirable to use an oil of
higher additive content). In many cases it is not necessary
to match an increase in fuel sulphur content with a higher
additive content in the lubricating oil. MIL-L-2104A oils
give satisfactory results with fuels of up to 1per cent sulphur
in many applications in which oil-change period is not
limited by additive exhaustion but by oil contamination.
The most familiar examples of this occur in automotive
operation, in which engines generally have an oil-
consumption rate of around 1 per cent of the fuel consump-
tion and under conditions of normal use, MIL-L-2104A
726 A. DYSON, L. J. RICHARDS, AND K. R. WILLIAMS
oils give an indefinite oil-change period with fuels containing
up to 1 per cent by weight of sulphur. These sulphur levels
could be appreciably higher or, alternatively, the oil con-
sumptions appreciably lower, when oils of level Supple-
ment I are used.
Owing to the low conversion ratio for the neutralization
of the alkalinity in the lubricating oil, it is always more
economic to incorporate the alkalinity in the oil than in the
fuel.
OILS FOR THE SPECIAL CASE O F
SEPARATELY LUBRICATED CYLINDERS
A typical problem is that of marine engines. These are
usually big engines with separate cylinder lubrication, and
there is an increasing tendency towards the use of heavy
fuels with high sulphur contents. An oil of very high
alkalinity content is required to reduce the severe corrosive
wear and piston fouling encountered under these conditions.
Let R be the rate of supply of oil to the cylinders, C the
alkalinity concentration of the oil supplied to the cylinder,
F the rate of fuel consumption, in the same units as R, and
S the fuel sulphur content, per cent by weight.
The rate of supply of alkalinity must balance the rate of
neutralization by sulphur acids, thus
CR = 0.35yFS (Appendix I)
The limited data available in engines of this class suggest
that y may be put equal to 0.08 per cent approximately, and
CR = 0.028FS
The ratio of oil supply to fuel consumption normally varies
between 0.2 and 0-6per cent, so that the value of C required
varies between 14s and 4.7s.For a fuel containing 3 per
cent sulphur the alkalinity concentration required may be
as much as 42 mg. KOH per gramme, which is many times
that required for a series I1 crankcase oil.
Since a marine lubricant must be capable of dealing with
the worst possible case, an alkalinity concentration of the
order of 40-50 mg. KOH per gramme is necessary. Although
at first sight it might seem possible to obtain sufficient
alkalinity by using high concentrations of conventional
additives, possibly coupled with a higher rate of oil delivery,
this would be too expensive to present a practicable solution
to the problem. One method of providing the necessary
alkalinity, which has been very successful, is to use an
emulsion of a strong aqueous solution of an alkaline material
in the cylinder oil (van der Zijden and Kelly 1956).
THEABSOLUTEVALUEOFTHE
CONVERSION RATIO
The main argument of the paper has now been concluded
but it is tempting to speculate on the factors underlying the
order of magnitude of the values found for the conversion
ratio y. Since the observed rate of alkalinity neutralization
is approximately proportional to the sulphur throughput of
the engine, it seems likely that the oxides of sulphur and
the corresponding acids are responsible for neutralizing the
additive.
Sulphur dioxide is soluble in lubricating oils, and in the
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presence of water may react with alkaline additives. One
possible mechanism for the entry of sulphur acids into the
oil and the subsequent reaction with alkaline additives is
that sulphur dioxide enters the interface between oil and
combustion gases and diffuses into the oil where it may be
neutralized by the additive. Some experiments on the
diffusion and reaction rate of sulphur dioxide in films of oil
undertaken in the chemical laboratory show that this is
far too slow to account for the observed reaction rate, about
1,000 times too slow, in fact. It is therefore necessary to look
for another picture of what happens.
The lubricating oil of a trunk engine is found to contain
a proportion of the non-volatile combustion products of any
substance which may have been added to the fuel. Thus in a
gasoline engine between 5 and 10 per cent of the lead
supplied with the fuel may afterwards be found in the
lubricating oil, or in the sludge trapped by the lubricating-
oil filter. Some experiments have been undertaken using
leaded fuel in Diesel engines, with similar results. One
obvious sulphur-containing material of moderately low
volatility likely to be present in the combustion chamber is
sulphuric acid. It is known that even a few parts per million
of sulphur trioxide present in water vapour (which need
not be saturated) will condense as strong sulphuric acid
(Johnstone 1929). Thus sulphur trioxide formed by com-
bustion of the sulphur in the engine may be expected to
condense with water vapour, which is always present from
combustion of hydrogen in the fuel, to form droplets of
sulphuric acid which will behave as the low-volatile materials
referred to above. That is to say, about one-tenth of the
sulphuric acid formed will appear in the lubricating oil. If
it is assumed that of the total sulphur burnt in the engine
1 per cent is converted to sulphur trioxide then about 0.1
per cent of the fuel sulphur would appear in the lubricant
as sulphuric acid which would neutralize the alkaline
additive so accounting for the observed values of Y . It must
be stressed that orders of magnitude are being considered
throughout this section, and that an error of 2 or 3 to 1 is
tolerable.
The figure of 1 per cent conversionof sulphur to sulphuric
acid, which is the crux of this argument, may be thought
low, as rather higher proportions of sulphur as trioxide have
been reported in exhaust gases. However, it seems that
oxidation of sulphur dioxide to sulphur trioxide may occur
after the gas has left the engine, and that the composition of
the exhaust gas does not necessarily relate to conditions on
the cylinder walls (van der Zijden, van Hinte, and van den
Ende 1950). In these circumstances the postulated mecha-
nism of additive depletion seems reasonable.
That sulphuric acid is the main factor causing depletion
is borne out by the experimental observation that at least
half of the neutralization products are sulphates. Sulphuric
acid would cause corrosive wear and aggravate piston
fouling unless it were neutralized by the alkaline additive.
Such neutralization is practicable, as in the oil fdm on the
cylinder walls there will normally be an excess of alkalinity
over the small amount of sulphuric acid formed. An oil-film
thickness of about 1 micron would be suffcient.
 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS: THEIR SELECTION AND UTILIZATION
However, some sulphur dioxide or sulphurous acid
probably enters the oil film.Fortunately the rate of reaction
with alkaline additive seems to be very slow, and most of the
sulphur dioxide must evaporate from the oil film when the
gas pressure in the cylinder is released at the end of
the working stroke. Fortunately, again, the sulphur dioxide
or sulphurous acid does not seem to do much harm in the
form of corrosive wear or piston fouling, at least under the
conditions prevailing in most Diesel engines.
It should be emphasized that most of the views expressed
in this section are purely speculative in that direct evidence
in their support is very difficult to obtain.
CONCLUSIONS
It is evident from the work described that it is possible to
relate additive depletion to various engine-design and
engine-operating factors and thereby ensure satisfactory
results with additive-type lubricants. Furthermore, it has
been shown that when heavy-duty oils are used over
extended periods, the deterioration in engine condition is
not necessarily a gradual process permitting considerable
latitude in oil-drain practice, but may be a relatively rapid
one which can lead to catastrophic results in severely rated
engines. The proper selection of oils and oil-change periods
is therefore very important.
With many heavy-duty oil formulations the concentra-
tion of alkalinity may be used as a criterion of the effective-
ness of the additives. The allralinity level falls during
service and for satisfactory operation it must be kept above
a certain minim- value.
The variation of the alkalinity concentration with time
during an engine run may be predicted approximately. The
quantities concerned: fuel and oil consumption rates, fuel
sulphur contents, oil charge, etc., are easily measured or
estimated, and the calculations are relatively simpIe to carry
out.
The initial rate of neutralization depends on the fuel-
sulphur throughput, but after the engine has been running
for some time the alkalinity concentration depends strongly
on the oil-consumption rate. Two-stroke engines and four-
stroke engines with prechambers, give higher neutralization
rates than do four-stroke direct-injection engines. Thus the
neutralization rate tends to increase with increasing com-
bustion-chamber swirl.
Although most of the work has been done using medium-
and high-speed Diesel engines and distillate fuels the con-
clusions are thought to be valid if fuels containing residual
components are used. Furthermore, similar theoretical con-
siderations appear to apply to the separate cylinder lubrica-
tion of large engines such as marine-type Diesel engines.
The results are only approximate, but have already proved
successful in predicting e n g i n e 4 requirements. It is
interesting to note that the oil-change periods calculated
from the above considerations have nearly always been in
line with the engine manufacturers’ recommendations.
However, such recommendations are of necessity general
in nature and the methods described in this paper make it
possible to take into account the particular circumstances of
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727
a given engine so permitting the most economic application
of the lubricating oil. Further evidence is being accumulated
continuously, and as time goes on it is hoped that predic-
tions may be made with greater accuracy. In order to do
this it may well be necessary to take into account detailed
factors in the engine design to an extent not possible at the
present moment.
It is hoped that this paper will have given food for
thought particularly in connexion with the most economic
use of additive-type oils so that neither additive nor base
oil is needlessly wasted. This end can best be achieved by
selecting an oil with an adequate level of performance from
considerations of anti-wear, cleanliness, and stability to
permit the oil-drain period to be determined by the level
of contamination. In the case of installations or railroads
where very efficient filtration coupled with frequent oil-
analysis is practised almost indefinite sump-change periods
are possible.
In conclusion it is suggested that the differences of rates
of depletion with different types of combustion system
merit further examination and consideration by engine
designers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks are due to the directors of ‘Shell’ Research, Ltd.,
for permission to publish this paper. The co-operation of
many colleagues, in particular Mr. J. Hughes and Mr. R.
Smith, is gratefully acknowledged.
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
Definitions of Symbols Used.
y per cent Conversion ratio, that is, the ratio between the rate of
neutralization of additive in the crankcase and the
chemical equivalent of the fuel sulphur throughput.
F Fuel-consumption rate, quantity per unit time or
distance.
S per cent Fuel sulphur content, with an arbitrary addition of
0.1 per cent by weight.
R Oil-consumption rate, quantity per unit time or
distance (same units as F).
L Oil charge.
M Rate of addition of make-up, same units as R.
t Running time or distance since the last oil-change.
tl Time interval between successive additions of make-
up oil.
q = Rtl/Lo Make-up added in each individual operation expressed
as a fraction of the nominal oil charge.
C Alkalinity concentration of the crankcase oil, mg.
KOH per gramme.
Chi M t y concentration of the make-up oil, mg.
KOH per gramme.
Subscript 0 refers to the initial state. It will also be convenient
to use the following quantities:
A = 0.35yFS/R
D = A log, (1 -4)
F, R, L, and t must be in consistent units.
A has the dimensions of concentration and the numerical
coefficientis appropriate to its expressionin mg. KOH per gramme.
728 A. DYSON, L. J. RICHARDS, AND K, R. W I L L U S

Rate of Neutralizaria. The fuel sulphur throughput is The limiting value of C(b),the lowest alkalinity concentration
reached during the make-up period, is
-FS units of sulphur per unit of oil per unit of time
looL
CM-A'
This is equivalent to A' = AQ = -- 0.35yFS log, (1 -4)
where
FS 112 R 4
looLX 32 units KOH per unit of oil per unit of time
For the case of continuous make-up, the asymptotic value of C
FS 112 was
or x 32 x 1,OOO mg. KOH per gramme per Unit of time C, =CM-A
The rate of neutralization is y per cent of this, The important condition is that C should never fall below a
critical value, and interest is therefore concentrated on the lowest
value reached during a make-up period.
Thus Q may be regarded as a correction factor for the make-up
E
.- 0.3y mg. KOH per gramme per unit of time
practice. The variation of this factor with q, the amount added at
each individual make-up expressed as a fraction of the nominal
crankcase-charge, is given in Table 1.
Continuous Addizion of Make-up. It is assumed that the oil
consumed carries with it an amount of alkalinity equal to the Table I . Variation of Correction Factor wilh Make-up
product of the amount of oil lost and the alkalinity concentration
in the crankcase at that time. Most of the oil is lost from the Expressed as a Fraction of Nm'nal Crankcase Charge
cylinder zone where the alkalinity concentration is less than in
the crankcase. In Appendix 111 it will be shown that this does not q l Q
affect the form of the curves of alkalinity against running time.
It is further assumed that F, R, and M are approximately 0.1 1.06
constant when averaged over intervals of time short compared 0.2 1.12
0.3 1.19
with r itself. 0.4 1.28
The balance of total alkalinity in the crankcase gives 0.5 1.39
d
;rt(LC) = M C M - R C - O O ~ ~ ~ F S
but L = Lo -(R -M)t and hence
dC
[Lo-(R--M)~]~+MC = MC~-0'35yFs . (1)
Two alternative values of M will now be considered in turn.
(1) No make-up. M = 0 and equation (1) becomes
dC
(b-Rr);iS- = -0.35yFS
The solution to this with C = COat t = 0 is

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)
where again A = 0.35yFSIR.
Addition of Make-up in Discrete Amounts at Intervals. The
make-up period t l and the rate of oil consumption R will be
assumed to be constant.
If the alkalinity concentration at the end of the nth period, that
is, after time t = ntl is C(b, n) before make-up and C(a, n) after
make-up, then consideration of the neutralization process gives
C(b, n) = C(a, n -1)+D, from equation (2)
0.35yFS log, (1 -q)
where D=
R
Rt
q = 1- 0.1 1.11
L
0.3 1.36
1
Consideration of the make-up process gives
0.4 1.51
C(a, n) = (1 -q)C(b, n) +qcM 0.5 1.70
Thus it may be shown that
C(b, n) = cM+(l-q)"-'(co-c~)+[1-(1-q)"lD/q
C(a, n) = cM+(l-~)"(cO-~M)+[l-(l-q)"lD(l-~)/q Recmendations for Oils and Oil-change Periods. The alkalinity
. . . (4) concentration CMrequired in the make-up oil in order that the oil-

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 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS : THEIR SELECTION AND UTILIZATION 729

change period should not be limited by exhaustion of the additive Table 4. Alkalinity Concmtration Mg. KOH per Grarnme
has already been given in the text : of Oil Sample
CM-(O.~~YFSQ/R) =S
CM E: S(1+0*35yfQ) . . . . (5) Run No. 1 RunNo.2 I RunNo.3 I RunNo.4
where f = FIR. This applies if the oil-change period is long
compared with the time required to consume a volume of oil equal
to the original crankcase charge. Time,
-
Alka- Time,
-I I
Time, Alka-
If an oil of lower alkalinity-concentration is used, the oil-change hours linity hours hours linity
period T, determined solely by considerations of additive exhaus- -
tion, may be calculated from the equations given below. The same 50 1.66 45 50 2.42
equations may be used to determine the alkalinity concentrations 100 1a75 180 100 1.93
200 1-27 360 150 1.73
in the fresh oil CMand Coyfor a value of the oil-change period T 400 0-45 430 300 1*29
dictated by other considerations, in the case where T is not long 580 0.10 475 400 0.75
compared with the time required to consume a quantity of oil 550 500 0.39
equal to the original crankcase charge. 650 600 0.12
(a) Continuous make-up: I

The intercept at x = 1 obviously gives CO.It is advisable to

from equation (3) with C = S. treat COas an unknown quantity, to be determined experimentally.
(b) Make-up at constant intervals: The initial oil charge is usually mixed with a certain amount of oil
from the previous charge, particularly in field tests as opposed to
T=- 2.303L [(F)]
QR log S-CM+AQ
CO-CM +AQ

4
1
where Q = --log, (1 -q)
labomtory tests.
If the make-up is added at constant intervals, and if samples are
available either just before, or just after, the addition of make-up,
from equations (4) with Ccb, nl = S. equations (4) may be used. However, if the make-up is not known
(c) Rate of oil consumption negligible, that is, RT small compared to be regukr, then equations (3) should be used as in the present
with L: example. The effect of sampling at different positions in the make-
up cycle will increase the scatter of the points.
A statistical analysis shows that there is no evidence that the
relation between alkalinity concentration and x is different in run 2
from equation (1) with R = 0 = MyC = S.

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
This example illustrates the verification of the formula developed
in Appendix I and the determination of the conversion ratio.
Small samples of the crankcase lubricating oil were taken at intervals
from a 900-b.h.p. engine employed on power-house duties. The
operating conditions are given in Table 3.

Table 3. Engine Operatinn Conditions

Mean fuel consumption
Mean oil consumption
.
.
302 pints per hr.
4.4 pints per hr.
Oil charge .
Fuel sulphur content
.
.
240 gallons = 1,920 pints
First and last 3 hour of each g-hour
period, 0.7 per cent. Remaining
8 hours, 2.5 per cent by weight

The effective mean fuel sulphur content was therefore

0.7+8 X2-5 = 2.3
9
and the addition of the arbitrary correction of 0-1per cent by
weight increases this to 2-4 per cent by weight.
The alkalinity determinations on the samples gave the results
shown in Table 4.
These results are plotted in Fig. 15 in the form of a graph of 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
alkalinity concentration against the quantity EXP (- R f/L)
x = e(-RtlL)
where R is the oil consumption rate, t the engine running time,
Fig. 15. Variation of Alkalinity with Time During
and L the sump charge. Four Runs on a Power-house Engine
It appears from equation (3) that this should give a straight x Run No. 1 RunNo.3
line, the intercept at x = 0 giving 0 RunNo.2) Run No. 4}
CM-A R Oil consumption rate.
and the slope giving t Engine running time.
A -cM +cO L Crankcase oil charge.

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730 A. DYSON, L. J. RICHARDS, AND K. R. WILLIAMS
from that in run 1. Similarly, the relation in run 3 does not differ where t is the engine running time. The balance of alkalinity in the
significantly from that in run 4. The relation in runs 1 and 2, crankcase gives
however, differs significantly from that in runs 3 and 4. There is dcz = RCo-PCz+(P-R)C,
no evidence that these relations are not linear. L27T
The residual mean square about the two regression lines is The exact solutions to these equations are rather cumbersome,
0.0127 with 19 deg. of freedom, and the corresponding standard but an approximate solution may be obtained very simply if L I ,
deviation estimate is 0.11 mg. KOH per gramme. These error the quantity of oil in the ring-belt zone, is a s s h e d to be very
estimates may be compared with a mean square of Oa018 estimated small. This gives
from a laboratory determination of the repeatability of the analytical C2-C1 = L !
procedure, and of an estimate of the residual variance about the I’
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 where 02 = a l ( l - R / P )
procedure as discussed above and also variations of fuel and oil
consumption rates with time. However, the linearity of the The solution for C2 if CZ = COat time t = 0 is
relation confirms the applicability of the equations developed in
Appendix I.
The regression equations connecting the alkalinity concentration Comparison with equation (3) shows that the effective rate of
with x are neutralization of allralinity in the crankcase is
runs 1 and 2, 2.79~-0.62 02 al(l-R/P)
runs 3 and 4, 3.19~-0.53 These approximate solutions may be shown to hold after a time
The alkalinity concentration in the make-up oil was 3.4 mg. long compared with
KOH per gramme, so the estimates of A arc 4.0for runs 1 and 2 Ll L2
and 3.9 for runs 3 and 4. These are obtained by equating the P(LI +L2)
intercept at x = 0 to If Cmin is the minimum alkalinity concentration in the crankcase
CM-A oil to ensure a clean piston, then
The initial concentrations COare estimated from the intercepts a1
Cmin = p
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 and
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 Thus p-R= %
have been left over from the previous charge if this explanation is Cmin
correct, assuming that this oil contained no alkalinity or acidity. from which (P-R) may be calculated from 0 2 , the observed rare
An alternative explanation is that the rate of neutralization of of neutralization of alkalinity in the crankcase, and Cmin, the
fresh alkalinity at the start of the run (less than 50 hours) was very critical alkalinity concentration in the crankcase for a clean piston.
much more rapid than during the later stages (more than 50 hours’ In practice, the piston cleanliness merit rating is plotted against
running time). However, this phenomenon has never been the ratio C / D , where C is the alkalinity concentration in the crank-
observed in carefully controlled taboratory tests. case oil and D is the depletion rate. The value of this ratio when
A further point is that the initial concentration of 3.4 mg. the piston cleanliness approaches its maximum value gives
KOH per gramme corresponds in effect to a concentration after LzI(P-R).
adding make-up. If the sampling times are randomly distributed For different engines of the same class
over the make-up period the experimental line will be biased 0 2 = 0.35yFS
below the ‘continuous make-up’ line. This would explain some of where F is the fuel consumption rate, quantity per unit time,
the apparent dilution, but it is dimcult to calculate the magnitude S the sulphur content, per cent by weight, and y is approximately
of the effect. constant, 2 0.1 per cent.
The conversion ratio may be estimated from the value of A. The working rule which has been established is
FS Cmin = S
Thus 4.0 = 0 . 3 5 ~ -
R P-R = 0.35yF 2 0.035F
with F = 302, R = 4.4, S = 2.4. Thus ( P - R ) should be approximately 3) per cent of the fuel
Thus y = 0.069 per cent. consumption.

A P P E N D I X 111
O I L C I R C U L A T I O X RATES
A simplified model is shown in Fig. 7. The flow of oil up to the
ring-belt zone is represented by a rate of flow P. The ring-belt
zone contains a weight L I of oil with an alkalinity concentration CI,
and depleting acid is added at the rate 01. Oil is consumed from
this zone at the rate R,carrying with it the appropriate amount of
alkalinity, and the remainder of the oil returns to the crankcase at
a rate (P-R).
The crankcase contains a weight L2 of oil with an alkalinity
concentration C2, and make-up of fresh oil with an alkalinity con-
centration Co is added at a rate K to counterbalance consumption.
T h e balance of alkalinity in the ring-belt zone gives
dC
L1-I = PC2--PC,--a1
dt
APPENDIX IV
REFERENCES
BROEZE,J. J., and WILSON,A. 1948-49 Proc. I.Mech.E., Auto-
mobile 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. Experi-
mental 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’.
VANDER ZIJDEN,M. J., VANHINTE, J. E., and V m DEN ENDE,J. C.
1950 JI. Inst. Petroleum, vol. 36, p. 561, ‘SO2 and SO3 in
Exhaust Gases of Internal Combustion Engines’.

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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 com-
prehensive 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 require-
ments 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 repre-
sented 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 single-
cylinder 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
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731
factor. Some tests he had made before the 1939-45 war,
using a straight mineral oil, indicated that solid contami-
nants in the crankcase oil were a function of fuel consump-
tion, but the ratio increased toward full load and as the
exhaust smoke limit was reached.
Those results were published (Arter 1943-44)*. He
would quote three points from the curve. At 70 lb. per sq.
in. b.m.e.p. the contaminants in the crankcase oil were
0.01 per cent of the fuel throughput. At normal full load of
93 lb. per sq. in. b.m.e.p. they were 0.03 per cent, and with
a smoky exhaust at 98 lb. per sq. in. they went up to 0.1 per
cent, or ten times the figure at 70 lb. per sq. in.
Mr. L. Martland (Member) said that the work involved
in seeking the data presented must have taken very many
months, and probably years, of patient and exacting work.
The result was an eminent addition to current knowledge
of the inner mysterious workings of the internal-combustion
engine.
It would seem that degree of alkalinity could be taken as
a measure of detergency, at least so far as sulphur product
neutralization was concerned.
T o understand better the utility of the work done he had
applied the principle to a widely used four-cylinder, four-
stroke, direct-injection automotive Diesel engine, in order
to compare the authors’ findings with actual recorded
practical results in road-vehicle service. The outcome was
sufficiently interesting to justify summarizing the exercise.
The cited engine used MIL-L-2104A oil, its initial oil
fill was 16 pints, the recommended oil-change period was
5,000 miles, the average use of fuel was 18 m.p.g., and oil
make-up was 0.22 per cent of fuel used by weight. No stuck
rings or varnish on pistons were recorded in the logs of
those engines which were used in normal service vehicles.
First the formula given in the paper was used for limiting
value of allralinity as Cm-0.35yfe(S+p. 1). C,,, was the
alkalinity of the oil used, which averaged out at 4 mg.
KOH per gramme of oil for that particular usage. It
was also convenient to think of it as 4 parts per 1,OOO by
weight of oil; y was the percentage of total fuel sulphur
neutralized by sump oil and in that four-stroke direct-
injection engine amounted to 0.07 per cent as given in the
paper j f was the ratio of fuel used to oil used which in that
case was 100/0.22; Q was the correction factor depending
* !rter, K. T. 1943-44 Proc. Inst. Automobile Eng., vol. 38, p . 13,
Heaty-duty Motor Oils’.
732
on oil usage. The make-up in that engine was usually 1 pint
on a total sump fill of 16 pints giving a q ratio of 0.0625.
That figure was not recorded in the table given in the paper,
but by interpolation Q was evaluated as 1-06, taking a mean
between the lines for irregular and regular oil additions.
From Appendix I Q has thence been evaluated as 1.06.
S was the percentage sulphur in the fuel, and 1 per cent
was taken as a maximum for the purpose of that exercise.
Evaluating
100
~ = 4-13 = -9
4 - 0 * 3 5 ~ 0 . 0 7 ~ - X 1 . 0 6 1.01
0.22
At that point it had almost been recommended that the
engine be taken out of production, because that meant that
the low oil consumption of the engine caused exhaustion
of the oil additive, and increasing acidity.
The same formula was then used to check the calculation,
by reference to the statement under ‘Recommendations of
Oils and Oil-change Periods for Individual Cases’ which
said that automotive engines with oil consumption about
1 per cent of fuel consumption and using MIL-L-2104A
oils gave an indefinite oil-change period with fuels up to
1 per cent sulphur.
Inserting the same values in the formula as before except
for f, the fuel to oil usage ratio, which was now lOO/l, the
result was
~ = 4-2.85
4 - 0 . 3 5 ~ 0 . 0 7 ~1 0 0 1~. 0 6 1.01
= 1-15 parts of KOH to 1,000 parts oil
According to the paper, that minimum value was above
the 1 part required to neutralize 1 per cent sulphur in fuel,
and thence bore out the claims in respect of that type of
direct-injection four-stroke automotive engine if the oil
usage was 1 per cent of fuel.
The state of alkalinity of the sump oil with varying oil-
change periods had then to be investigated, such as 5,000
miles, 6,000 miles, etc., on the actual oil usage rate of the
engine, which was 0.22 per cent. T o do that they had
developed a formula from first principles, which agreed
closely with the data in the paper. For the cited engine that
formula simplified as follows :
Sump alkalinity in parts KOH per 1O , OO of oil, when oil
change was after N miles, was given by
4-0.00041N
Which gave allralinity 1.85 after 5,000 miles, 1.42 after
6,000 miles, 0.99 after 7,000 miles.
The critical milage was thus 7,000 and an oil change at
5,000 was quite safe with a 2,000-mile margin for insurance.
At 7,000 miles, therefore, that particular engine would reach
the limiting value of being able to neutralize the 1 per cent
sulphur in the fuel. At that time fuels showed an average
allralinity of about 0.45 and a maximum of 0-5, which, of
course, gave a much better insurance on that type of engine.
It was not worked out, but the safety margin, the milage
which could be run over and above the recommended
change period of 5,000 miles, must have been multiplied
several times.
If on the cited engine, the oil usage were 1 per cent and
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DISCUSSION
the change period 10,000 miles, in that milage 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 safe-
guard. As the authors emphasized, it was essential to change
the oil for other reasons than alkalinity level.
Mr. A. Wilson, M.Eng. (Associate Member),said that
almost ten years previously Professor Broeze and he had
presented a paper before the Institution on the subject of
‘Sulphur in Diesel Fuels’ (Broeze and Wilson 1948-49)*.
In that paper they had given quantitative information on the
effects of sulphur and recommended three possible course,
of action to cope with the problem: (1) redurnon of the
sulphur content by refinery treatment; (2) metallurgical
protection for engine parts; and (3) the use of appropriate
additive-type oils to counteract the effect of sulphur.
It was interesting to observe that desulphurization of
the higher quality Diesel fuels had become an established
process, that chromium plating of rings or liners had been
widely adopted in engines, while the authors had given a
detailed exposition on the effectiveness of additive lubricat-
ing oils in dealing with the problem of sulphur.
The point he wished to make concerned the economic
balance between the first and last of those methods : i.e. the
justification for sulphur removal in relation to the universal
use of additive oils. Treament of Diesel fuel to remove
sulphur inevitably was an expensive process and the greater
the removal the higher the cost. As had been shown in the
paper, additive oils could be used to combat sulphur and the
greater the amount of sulphur the greater the additive
consumption.
The question which arose was: How far to proceed with
desulphurization of the fud as opposed to making use of the
additive for combating the effects of sulphur 3 Both methods
were expensive and there would be an optimum from the
economic point of view.
As the paper showed, there were other very potent
reasons for employing additive oils such as inhibition of oil
oxidation, prevention of ring sticking, and maintenance of a
high degree of engine cleanliness, all of which were un-
obtainable by any other means. If those reasons alone were
accepted as being an economic justification for the use of
additive type oils in contemporary engines, then free use
of their properties for dealing with some portion of the
sulphur could be made. Considering the case of an auto-
motive-type Diesel engine using Class A fuel, experimental
work had shown that the current qualities of additive oil
could deal effectively with fuels having sulphur content of
up to 1.0 per cent in many types of Diesel engine. In the
engines most sensitive to fuel, using those additive oils,
that level might be reduced in extreme cases to 0.5 per cent
with some margin in hand. There would appear to be no
* Broeze’J. J., and Wilson, A . 1948-49 Proc. Automobile Division
I.Mech.E., p . 1.28, ‘Sulphur in Diesel Fuels’.
 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS : THEIR SELECTION AND UTILIZATION
point, therefore, in taking the expensive desulphurization
process beyond that level. The additive was already in the
oil, and full economic use should be made of it.
Mr. I. F. Hay, A.I.E.E., said that he had a particular
interest in additive oils and two-cycle engines. He felt sure
that the work at the Thornton Research Centre had been
most accurately carried out but in his experience there
seemed to be a lack of accurate information generally upon
the use of lubricating oils in two-cycle engines.
He wished to ask whether the wear rates, or alkalinity
rates quoted, were for the loop scavenge type of two-cycle
engine or whether they were for uniflow engines.
The reference to swirl in the combustion chambers pro-
ducing increased wear gave rise to the interpretation that
extended passage of the gas across the film of lubricating oil
produced a considerably higher rate of acid absorption.
Loop scavenge engines would appear to have the longest
path for the gas and would be expected to have the greater
absorption rate of acidity. He would welcome the authors’
comments on that.
There seemed to be no reference to temperature in the
paper, and he wondered what was the relation there. The
previous speaker had referred to load, and presumably that
had ?a close bearing on the temperature. He wondered
whether it would be possible to have something which would
correlate the temperature of the cylinder walls and the rate
of absorption of acid by the oil.
Mr. G. K. Martlew (Associate Member), speaking as an
engine manufacturer, said that the paper made an im-
portant contribution to the knowledge of what happened
under service conditions.
One of the remarks made in the opening paragraph had
served to emphasize a difference in approach to lubrication
problems. In Britain it had been usual to make engines run
on whatever types of lubricant were currently available in
the areas of the world in which it was hoped to sell them.
By contrast, it would appear that in the United States of
America the oil companies were expected to produce new
lubricants with improved properties to suit the needs of
engine manufacturers as they arose. Presumably, the oil
suppliers then ensured that a suitable lubricant was available
in whatever countries the engine manufacturer could sell
his products.
. With regard to the use of Caterpillar engines in stan-
dardized tests, he had never been convinced that oils which
gave good results in those test units would necessarily be
those most suitable for the high-speed direct-injection
engines in which he was interested. He would like the
authors’ assurance on that point. He would also like to
remind them that when American engine manufacturers
had been in trouble with high sulphur content in fuels some
years previously, British engines had not suffered anything
like the same effects.
He was surprised that the addition of a fresh charge of
heavy-duty oil did not clean up the piston-ring grooves.
The removal of deposits from other areas was attributed to
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733
mechanical rubbing action and he would have thought that
that applied also to the movement of the rings in their
grooves. Surely, if the reason given at the close of the
section on ‘What Happens to the Piston as the Alkalinity
is Neutralized’ were-the full story, some cleaning up -of the
grooves should have occurred.
It had been noted that the results given in Figs. 5 and 6
were the means of runs under different conditions of
lubricant viscosity and jacket temperature. He would be
glad if the authors would give details of the individual
effects of those variables.
It had been stated in the paper that the oil circulation
rate appeared to be independent of engine speed. From the
context it seemed that circulation rate was expressed in
units of volume flow in a given time and, if that were so,
some additional explanation of the results would be wel-
come. Surely, the quantity of oil passing through the ring
belt depended largely on the engine speed and not oli
time alone. Perhaps the test conditions affected the results
recorded and he wondered whether the authors considered
that their observations in general were directly applicable to
automotive engines, and whether they could explain further
the differences in the conversion ratio values shown for
various engine types.
Mr. A. Towle, M.Sc. (Eng.) (Member), said that the
paper had developed a new line of thought as to the
time at which it was desirable to make oil changes, but he
wished to utter a word of warning to those oil users and
possibly to some of the smaller oil companies also who might
be tempted, as a result of the paper, to regard alkalinity as
the only feature covering the performance of an oil. It
clearly was not so and it was, of course, possible to have an
oil of high alkalinity level, made, for example, by the
addition of caustic soda to the base oil, which would be
extremely corrosive in service. That example was not so
ludicrous as it sounded, as he had recently found out when
investigating a series of complaints on almost new engines
suffering from badly corroded bearings. Trouble had arisen
due to failure of the engine manufacturers to rinse out the
engine castings after caustic washing. The oil had had a
high alkalinity vahe. Equally it was possible to have an
oil of low measured-alkalinity level which would perform
well in service.
Referring to Fig. 2, he was not sure that the authors
had proved their point that piston cleanlinesswas dependent
on the alkalinity level, since piston cleanliness had only
followed the expected pattern when diluting any heavy-duty
oil with straight oil, and other features than alkalinity might
by that method prove to be equally important.
The figures given for oil flow to the piston of 0.1 pint per
hr. seemed to be widely at variance with the general theme
of the paper by Dykes (1957)*, which appeared to prove
that the actual oil consumption was the difference between
the extremely large amounts of oil passed up the piston
and those coming down. Dykes had mentioned a ratio of
* Dykes, P. K.1957 Proc. I.Mech.E., vol. 1 7 1 , ~413,
. ‘An Investiga-
tion into the Mechanism of Oil Loss Past Pistons’.
134
something like 75,000 : 1 between the total amount of oil
going up the piston and the actual oil consumption.
As a practical engineer ignorant of the inner mysteries of
modern alchemy, he confessed that the association between
base and acid number was always beyond his comprehen-
sion, but it was undoubtedly true that some oils with
comparatively high base numbers also had high acid
numbers according to the test procedure. Whilst during
running, those oils might have retained some base number,
in his experience they showed appreciable increase in acid
number, as compared with some other oils having lower
initial base number. He wanted to ask the authors whether
they had any justification for presuming that the presence
of a final base number was more important than a low
increase in acid number.
He would stress the dangers of indiscriminatelyadopting
a base number as a measure of an oil’s effectiveness. The
chemical backroom boys told him that the results given by
certain methods of measuring base number were’greatly
influenced by the presence, or otherwise, of zinc which was
present in a wide variety of good quality oils. He would
welcome comment from the authors on the application of
their theories to oils containing zinc compounds.
Mr. J. G. Withers, B.Sc. (Member), said that like
Mr. Towle, he was a little worried about adding straight
oil to detergent oil, because it seemed to be begging the
question. In fairness to the authors, however, it must be
said that they had started adding the straight oil to the
detergent oil at the 14th period, whereas the sudden dis-
continuity in the detergency curve occurred at the 19th
period. It would have been much more conclusive had they
not found it necessary to use that expedient.
The authors stated that the neutralization of all oils
occurred at roughly the same rate. Mr. Arter, however, had
raised a question as to whether the critical level of alkalinity
was the same for all oils. He thought that the authors’
findings had related to a limited range of additives.
He had been rather disappointed that the alkalinity
titrations had not been carried on into the acid region. It
seemed a pity to break them short at zero alkalinity as it
looked as if the authors did not like the look of the results
beyond zero.
As far as wear was concerned, Figs. 8 and 9 showed that
as an additive oil was used in an engine its wear-reducing
properties diminished, more or less in a progressive manner
with no sign of a sudden change at any particular level of
alkalinity or acidity, as was the case with the detergency
situation. While not necessarily disagreeing with the
authors’ conclusions, he did not feel that they had given
proof that wear was a function of alkalinity. Strange as it
might seem, there appeared to be a much better correlation
between detergency and alkalinity than between wear and
alkalinity.
Another feature concerning the larger engines, usually
with separate cylinder lubrication, was that it was common
experience that that type of residual fuel could give much
higher rates of wear than a distillate fuel with exactly the
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DISCUSSION
same sulphur content, even though the residual fuel was
centrifuged many times to remove the adventitious ash.
There was, however, evidence that the highly alkaline type
of lubricant prevented wear in those circumstances. He
subscribed to the theory of Dr. Lyn that the residual-type
fuels left behind them some hard carbonaceous particles,
which could scratch the surfaces and cause high wear rates.
Special cylinder lubricants did, however, give remarkable
reductions in wear when using residual fuels and seemed
to be able to deal with that situation very readily indeed. It
appeared, therefore, that other factors than merely the
prevention of corrosion governed the wear reduction
imparted by additives. It was possible that the additives
reduced the hardness of the particles or, as was more likely,
that the additives dispersed them so that they remained in
the wearing zone for the shortest possible time. He would
be glad to have the authors’ views on that.
M r . P. E. B. Vaile (Associate Member), made particular
reference to Fig. 14.and its implications in so far as the
current system of approving heavy-duty lubricating oils,
against the United States and United Kingdom military
specifications MIL-L-2 104A and DEF/2101.A, was con-
cerned. Fig. 14 indicated that for a given sulphur coptent,
there would be a minimum alkalinity requirement dependent
on the oil consumption in order to ensure optimum engine
cleanliness and anti-wear characteristics. Furthermore, as
was to be expected, those curves indicated that under such
a given set of conditions an engine having low oil con-
sumption characteristics would require an oil of relatively
high alkalinity for satisfactory operation.
The Caterpillar L-1 engine test procedure, as used in the
MIL-L-2104A and DEF/2101.A specifications, operated
under the fixed set of conditions as just described and,
what was important, it had a very low oil consumption of
approximately 0.15 per cent of the fuel Consumption, com-
pared with the average figure of 1 per cent quoted by the
authors as being representative of automotive operation.
Therefore, if the authors’ hypothesis were followed to
its logical conclusion, that meant that for satisfactory results
to be obtained on the L-1 test, more emphasis would have
to be placed on alkalinity and less on dispersive properties
than would appear necessary for average automotive opera-
tion; furthermore, that discrepancy would probably become
greater as the fuel sulphur content increased.
Thus it was necessary to ask whether, in the authors’
opinion, the Caterpillar L-1 test over-emphasized the im-
portance of alkalinity in relation to automotive operation in
practice. Or it might be argued by the military authorities
or the industrial users that the L-1 test provided a good
margin of safety from the effects of acidic combustion
products. However, all that assumed that the authors’
hypothesis concerning alkalinity was correct and he felt
that that was somewhat over-emphasized.
Although he appreciated that that paper was chiefly con-
cerned with alkalinity, he was left with the impression that
the authors considered the dispersive properties of a heavy-
duty oil were of minor importance in relation to alkalinity.
 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS : THEIR SELECTION AND UTILIZATION
For example, he noticed that previous speakers had also
raised a similar point, in Fig. 2 almost as soon as the
alkalinity of the oil reached zero, the piston cleanliness was
no better than that obtained when using the base oil. That
meant either that if there was any dispersive power left it
was completely ineffective or that by coincidence the dis-
persive power had decreased at approximately the same time
as the decrease in alkalinity, in which case all the effect
shown was not entirely due to lack of alkalinity.
He also wished to inquire whether the make-up with
straight mineral oil from period 14 onwards (in Fig. 2) had
been considerable, since in addition to reducing alkalinity
that could also reduce the dispersive properties of the oil.
Finally, that emphasis on alkalinity did not account for
the considerable synergistic effect that certain additive
combinations displayed, whereby either of, say, two
individual detergent additives did not produce such good
engine cleanliness when used individually at a given con-
centration as when combined at the same concentration. It
was felt in such instances that that synergistic effect was
related to the dispersive aspect.
The authors’views on the relative importance of alkalinity
and dispersive properties of additives would be interesting.
Mr. T.0. Hunt (Leeds) (read by Mr. A. E. Harrison
(Associate Member)), said that the paper provided further
evidence of the tremendous amount of research work which
the major oil companies had carried out during the past ten
to fifteen years in connexion with heavy-duty lubricating
oils, in an endeavour to find the solution to some of the
many operating problems encountered with the lubrication
of high-speed, compression-ignition oil engines, the
majority of which manifested themselves on the working
parts of such engines, in particular the pistons.
It was significant that too much responsibility had been
either placed on, or assumed by, those organizations to
provide an answer to those problems, instead of the engine
and piston manufacturers working to that end by way of
design which offered very considerable scope for improving
engine efficiency and life. Whilst the results of that work
had made a most valuable contribution to the Diesel-engine
industry, in his opinion a great -dealof responsibility rested
either with the manufacturers of the engines or pistons, or
with the user-operator, as many of the faults which heavy-
duty oils were expected to remedy were due to the following
factors :
(1) Water jacket operating temperatures too low, due
to over-cooling or operation of the engine either idling or
on light load over long periods.
(2) Cylinder bore and liner distortion due to either
mechanical or thermal stressing problems (or both). That
fault was frequently observed in both new and recon-
ditioned engines, and whilst the amount of distortion
might not be sufficient to produce piston seizure under
normal operating conditions, it was nevertheless respon-
sible for blowby, lubricating oil contamination, piston
lacquering, ring sticking, and scuffing problems.
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735
(3) Pistons which flexed over the ring belt when sub-
jected 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 tem-
peratures 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 tem-
peratures, 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 fifty-
fifty 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. (410-
413.6 deg. F.) as the maximum temperature for the top
grooves of a piston where an engine was using I.C.E. lubri-
cating oil, and 230-235 deg. C. (426-455 deg. F.) for a Sup-
plement 1 heavy-duty type oil. However, instances have
been observed showing temperatures of the order of 260-
265 deg. C. (500-509 deg. F.) for the top groove zone with-
out 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 reach-
ing the top-ring groove. A cold clearance of less than 0.002-
in. per in. of diameter was often permissible with a well-
designed 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 com-
panies.
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
sticking, scuffing, and groove wear, for which the oil com-
panies 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 mecha-
nical 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 tem-
peratures 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 con-
siderable improvement in engine and piston design, there
was always a definite case for advocating the use of deter-
gent-type lubricating oils, regardless of piston operating
temperatures, with a view to increasing engine efficiency
and life, particularly by means of cleanliness.
Mr. John Hughes (Chester), speaking as a modern
alchemist, attempted to clarify a widespread confusion about
acid numbers and base numbers. On the face of it, it seemed
very puzzling that an oil could have both an acid and a base
number. What it could not have, however, was both a strong
acid number and a base number.
The explanation was that when a base number was
measured it was titrated with a strong acid. That was what
the engine did to the oil; it pushed acid into it. When an
acid number or a neutralization value was measured, all
sorts of very weak organic acids were measured, many of
them the product of oil oxidation and none of which were
corrosive to rings, etc. In general,.of course, they would
not react with the base, and, therefore, there was really no
anomaly in having both an acid and a base number in one
sample.
One speaker had suggested that the authors did not like
the look of results going beyond zero. Such results had, in
fact, been looked at. If the value of strong acid number
were accepted and called a negative base number, a quite
reasonable continuity of the curve below zero was obtained.
In view of the general effects of oil consumption, however,
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DISCUSSION
the slopes of the curves were usually fairly small by that
time, and very high strong acid numbers were not built up.
One other factor which slightly complicated the issue was
that strong acids which were produced in oils could absorb
on to the carbon particles which were already in the oil; and
that made their presence rather difficult to detect and to
measure accurately.
Mr. A. S. Freeman (Sunbury-on-Thames) said that
he would like to ask a question concerning the technique of
measuring the alkalinity. The authors had stated that the
standard methods given in the literature had been found to
require modification. He wondered in what respects those
standard methods had been considered by them to be
deficient, inadequate, or in error. He would like to know
the modifications which they had considered to be necessary
for that purpose and to hear, if possible, some details of the
modifications which they had introduced.
Mr. S. Bairstow (Littleover, Derby) said that as a
representative of a user, he would like to believe all that
the paper had set out to show, but he could not find proof
of all the conclusions which had been reached. It was not
a matter of questioning whether alkalinity, when properly
controlled, might be beneficial and, if it persisted through-
out the useful life of the oil, might be an advantage. It was
rather that the alkalinity of the additive, to which the paper
referred, seemed to be synonymous with additive content;
and in all the results low alkalinity was not shown to mean
anything more than a high additive depletion.
It was not, therefore, surprising to find that when the
alkalinity fell below the prescribed value the engine condi-
tion was similar to that obtaining when operating on a
straight mineral oil.
There were, however, many detergent oils in which there
was no relation between alkalinity and additive content for
which there would be a satisfactory engine condition even
in the presence of acidity. The authors had, in fact, given
their guarded blessing to the MIL-L-2104A, Supplement 1
and Series I1 tests as yardsticks of engine performance, and
many oils passing those tests had no alkalinity.
So far as the two aspects of alkalinity in the paper were
concerned, it could hardly be disputed that if a heavy-duty
additive which had an alkalinity depleting in proportion to
the actual effective dispersive additive content were used,
a very convenient means of checking additive content and
controlling oil condition would be obtained.
A fluorescent additive or one with another easily measured
chemical or physical property would have a similar advan-
tage and it would not be necessary to determine rather un-
reliable sulphated ashes on oils extremely difficult to filter.
It was the effect of the alkalinity itself which the paper did
not seem to reveal, and he wanted to know whether the
authors had any results which would show for heavy-duty
oils of the same detergency level, one set alkaline and the
other not, which gave the better engine condition originally
 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS: THEIR SELECTION AND UTILIZATION
and later at the various stages of increasing additive
depletion.
In his view the principal confusion about the significance
of the investigation arose mainly from three statements in
the paper. One was that one of the properties imposed or
conferred upon a mineral oil by the presence of heavy-duty
Communications
Dr. F. T. Barwell, B.Sc. (Eng.), Wh.Sc. (Member),wrote
that although the authors had recognized that the oil f ilm
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 oxida-
tion stability could be maintained at adequate levels during
an engine run provided that the original oil was well for-
mulated. 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 organo-
metallic 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 dis-
persancy or oxidation stability were, of course, excluded and
it was for that reason that the words ‘with particular refer-
ence 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 con-
cerned, 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
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137
additives was alkalinity. That was not generally true, but
it was true of special additives.
The other two, which tended to be ambiguous, were its
title and the statement in the paper claimingthat it described
work which had shown how additive depletion was related
to engine design and operating conditions.
A fiuther point of importance to those concerned with
the operation of test procedures was the nature of the sulphur
contained in the fuel. In their conclusions the authors had
emphasized the predominant importance of fuel sulphur
throughput. He wondered whether they had based that
ratio on the equivalent amount of elemental sulphur per
unit of fuel or whether it had differed for different classes
of fuel depending on the manner in which the sulphur was
chemically combined therewith.
Major C. H. Davies (Associate Member)wrote that it
was already generally agreed that all Diesel-engine lubri-
cants, including the heavy-duty types, required a minimum
level of alkalinity. The. really urgent research requirement
was to find methods for controlling this necessary alkalinity
level, so that greater standardization in practice could be
secured.
than those of the caterpillar tests. It was suggested that
discussion of the merits of those tests was irrelevant to the
paper.
Mr. Arter’s observations concerning acid and base
numbers had been well answered in Mr. Hughes’s contribu-
tion. The number of engine hours devoted to the work
described in the paper would be between 5,000 and 10,000,
about half of which had been run with the specific object of
obtaining data on the subject, and the remainder primarily
for other purposes, but had provided data which could be
used. Not all the data could be included in the paper. The
additive depletion rate had been found to be proportional
to the fuel throughput, irrespective of the load factor or of
the rate of production of insolubles. It seemed that depletion
caused by absorption of the additive by insoluble particles
was of minor importance in most circumstances.
In reply to Mr. Martland, they had used alkalinity as a
measure, not of detergency as such, but of the general ability
of an oil to keep the piston clean in normal circumstances.
In their experience, both alkalinity and detergency or
dispersive power were required. They were glad to note
Mr. Martland‘s application of those principles set out in
their paper. One of the objects of the paper had been to
encourage such applications.
They were in complete agreement with the views
expressed by Mr. Wilson.
738 AUTHORS’ REPLY

Table 5. (Fig. 5)
a Piston cleanliness merit ratings 10 = clean.

Fuel sulphur content, percentage weight . 0.2 1 *o 1.8

Additive concentration. .
oil Viscosity, seconds Redwood 1 at
140 deg. F.

b End-of-test alkalinity concentrations, mg. of caustic potash per gramme.

~

Fuel sulphur content, percentage weight .1 0.2 I 1 .o I 1.8

. . . .I co I I I I I I I I I I I
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I 1 (l:g1 1
Additive concentration. Cr c2 c3 co c
1 cz c
3 co c
1 c2 c
3

Oil viscosity, seconds Redwood 1 at 1.30 2.84 6.00 0.60 2.19 543 0-16 132 4.70
140 deg. F. ;:1 1.36 2.96 6.18 0.76 2.39 5.36
260 1.41 2.84 6.04 080 225 5.46 ::4: 44;
~~

Co Straight mineral oil.

Table 6. (Fig. 6) In reply to Mr. Hay the two-stroke engines whose

a Piston cleanliness merit ratings 10 = clean. depletion rates had been investigated had all been uniflow
scavenged, and they regretted that they had no information
Oil viscosity, ” on loop-scavenged engines. No significant effect of tem-
seconds Redwood peratures on depletion rate in a four-stroke engine could be
1 at 140 deg. F. . 170 detected, although coolant temperatures from 20 to 85
Additive concentra-
tion
Jacket Fuel
A1
- Az ’ A3
- -- A1 A2
- A3
- I deg. C. had been used.
Mr. Martlew had commented on the absence of cleaning
out of the ring grooves by mechanical action when a fresh
tempera- flow, charge of heavy-duty oil was used. However, the rings very
ture, 02. per
rarely touched the backs of the grooves, and it was the
deg. C. mn.
deposits on the backs which contributed most to the visual

40 1 ;:;:1 1 1 I I I
1.00 4.03
405
6.78
7.49
8.41
8.65
8-26 4.32 7.17
8.82 4.70 8.05
9.00 4.74 824
8.58
8.50
8.38
‘dirtiness’ impression. Tables 5 and 6 gave the details of
the individual effects of the variables requested by Mr.

I 8:; 1 1 1 I 1 1
Martlew.
3.73 8.29 954 3.54 7.29 9.35 Mr. Martlew expected the oil circulation rate to the ring
3.68 8.70 9.29 4.15 8.02 9.09
85 4.13 9.16 9.69 4.02 9.24 9.47 belt zone to increase with speed. So did they, and it was
~~ ~
with some surprise that they had observed the results that
b End-of-test alkalinity concentrations, mg. of caustic potash per it was approximately independent of speed, and that was
gramme. obtained both for gasoline and for Diesel engines, using
different methods of calculation. One possibility was that,
Oil viscosity, provided the speed was not too high, the amount of oil
seconds Redwood splashed on to the lower cylinder walls by the big-end
1 at 140 deg. F. . 65 170
bearing would be approximately constant in a given time.
Additive concentra- I 1 I I At higher speeds the greater frequency of splashing would
tion A1 A2 A3 A2 A3
-- - -- - be counteracted by the shorter duration of each individual
Jacket Fuel splash. If a constant proportion of the oil passed the rings,
tempera- flow, then the effective oil circulation rate would be constant.
--re, 02. per
deg. C. min. However, as those rates were not measured directly it was
possible that the apparent independence of speed was due
1 .oo 0 0.61 158 0 0.64 2.07 to errors made in the assumptions on which the calculations
40 0.75 0 0.81 2.34 0 0.93 2.30
0.50 0 1.07 258 0 1.15 258 were based.
They considered their results to apply to automotive
1 .oo 0 0.78 1.92 0 0.77 2.28 Diesel engines, as a single-cylinder version of one such
85 0.78 0 0.64 2.22 0 0.83 233
0.50 0 1.11 2.59 0 0 81 2.78 engine had been used extensivelyin the laboratory work and,
, L
- furthermore, field experience had confirmed the laboratory
findings. They provisionally attributed the differences in
A1 Straight mineral oil.

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 DIESEL ENGINE LUBRICANTS: THEIR SELECTION AND UTILIZATION
conversion ratio for different engine types to differences in
the degree of turbulence and mixing in the cylinder. The
greater the degree of mixing, the more acids would enter the
oil. It was not yet possible to explain differences in greater
detail. They agreed with Mr. Towle that the alkalinity
criterion should not be applied indiscriminately to oils con-
taining all sorts of different additives. They also agreed with
Mr. Towle in his comment on Fig. 2 considered in isolation,
but the general conclusions concerning the importance of
alkalinity was backed by the results of numerous other tests,
for example, as shown in Fig. 4. The oil circulation rates
quoted in the paper might seem very small compared with
rates of oil flow past the piston rings quoted by Dr, Dykes.
However, they understood Dr. Dykes’s conclusions in the
sense that, during one period of the stroke, oil was passing
the compression rings at the high rates quoted but that,
during another part of the stroke, thc same oil was returning
past the rings in the other direction. Thus there seemed to
be a reservoir of oil in the upper cylinder zone, as illustrated
in Fig. 7 of the paper. That oil was passing the rings at the
very high instantaneous rates quoted by Dr. Dykes, but the
same oil was constantly passing backward and forward. The
low circulation rates given in the paper were the net rates
of interchange between the oil in the crankcase and the oil
in the upper cylinder zone. They had been confirmed in
regard to order of magnitude by a completely merent
method which did not involve additive depletion (Edgar
1957)*. Mr. Towle’s questions on ‘alchemy’ had been
answered by Mr. Hughes.
In reply to Mr. Withers the question of titrations in the
acid zone had been answered by Mr. Hughes. They had not
set out to show that wear was a function of alkalinity, but to
show that corrosive wear could be controlled at a low level
provided that there was sufficient alkalinity arising from
additives of certain types. If the alkalinity was less than the
critical value, wear was sometimes high and sometimes
low, but that did not affect the validity of the conclusion as
stated above.
Mr. Withers had cited the success of additive oils in
reducing wear in separately lubricated engines burning
residual fuel as evidence that neutralization was not the
only process by which additives reduced wear. He had
suggested that the additive might modify or disperse the
abrasive particles produced by combustion of residual fuels.
That might be true, but it seemed unlikely, as the organic
part of the additive molecule, which would supply dis-
persancy, did not appear to be important so far as the anti-
wear properties of those oils were concerned. Almost any-
thing containing enough metal, of the appropriate type and
in a form suitable to react with the acids of combustion,
would reduce wear in those circumstances. It might be
argued that acids formed by combustion of the fuel pro-
moted the formation of ‘hard carbon’ which was abrasive.
Neutralization of the acid by alkaline additives would be
supposed to prevent the formation of that ‘hard carbon’.
* Edgar, 3. A. 1957 Conference on Lubrication and Wear, October,
Paper No. 2, ‘Control of Wear in Piston Engines’ (I.Mech.E.,
London).
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739
However, they saw no reason why the acids should not
promote corrosive wear directly without the intervention of
‘hard carbon’. *AsSir Isaac Newton had said in Prim*$tb
‘We are to admit no more causes of natural things than such
as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances’.
Thus they preferred the simpler direct hypothesis that
highly alkaline marine oils reduced wear by neutraiizhg
acids of combustion which would otherwise promote
corrosive wear. One possible resolution of the difference
between distillate and residual fuels lay in considering the
abrasive and corrosive wear processes as multiplicative and
not additive. That was obviously true in the extreme case
of the cylinder above the ring travel, where the corrosive
conditions were very similar to the adjacent part of the
cylinder within the ring travel, but where there was no wear
because there was no mechanical action. If abrasive and
corrosive wear were multiplicative, as there was reason to
believe, then anythmg which reduced corrosive wear would
reduce the total wear in the same proportion. Wear measure-
ments with residual fuels in fact showed that additives
reduced the wear rate in about the same ratio as they did
for a distillate fuel of the same sulphur content although the
wear levels were about twice as high for the residual fuel as
for the distillate. The simplest hypothesis was therefore that
wear was reduced by the same mechanism in both cases, i.e.
neutralization of corrosive acids by the additive in the oil.
In reply to Mr. Vaile, the point concerning the caterpillar
tests had already been covered. Concerning the relative
importance of alkalinity and dispersancy, the emphasis was
on a simple practical test to determine whether an oil was
fit for further service or not. The authors’ opinion was that
allralinity was the best test for that purpose for the oils with
which they had dealt, and the theoretical explanation which
they advanced was that both alkalinity and dispersancy
were necessary, that dispersancy was usually adequate, and
that the limiting factor was therefore alkalinity in most cases.
In reply to Mr. Freeman the modifications made to the
standard titration techniques depended on the particular
additives used. Such modifications did not affect the
principle of the measurement, but were concerned solely
with the techniques necessary to give accurate results in
unfavourable circumstances.
In reply to Mr. Bairstow, low alkalinity might mean either
a high degree of depletion or a low initial additive concen-
tration, and they considered that the results given in the
paper indicated that allralinity might be used as a criterion
of the suitability of an oil for service whether it was a used
oil or a fresh oil, always provided that the additive was of a
certain class. The fact that alkalinity might be used in that
way, whether the oil was new or old, depleted or diluted,
was very convenient and alone made possible the system of
recommending oils for service, the basis of which had been
described in the paper. It was difficultto see how a fluorescent
additive would help, as the fluorescence would presumably
be attached to the organic part of the additive molecule,
which would not always accompany the inorganic part. They
felt that they had indeed shown how additive depletion
was related to engine dcsign and operating conditions.
740 AUTHORS’ REPLY
In reply to Dr. Barwell, engine temperatures, as measured
by coolant temperature under constant load and speed con-
ditions, had no sigruficant effect on depletion rates within
the range studied. Pistons were slightly cleaner at low jacket
temperatures (40 deg. C.) than at a higher jacket tem-
peratures (80 deg. C.) with straight mineral oils, but slightly
dirtier with oils containing moderately high concentrations
of additive. Those effects were so small that they were of no
practical importance. The engine used in the experiments
reported in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 8 was a Petter AV2 twin-
cylinder engine, that for Figs. 5, 6, 11, and 12 was a
Gardner lL2ILW single-cylinder engine, and that for
Fig. 9 was a Petter AV1 single-cylinder oil test engine.
There was no evidence to suggest that the wide range of
conversion factors was attributable to differences in piston
operating temperatures. A factor which is considered more
likely to be of importance was the degree of swirl or tur-
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bulence in the cylinder. There was no evidence that the
origin of the sulphur in the fuel was of importance, and the
conversion ratios were based on the equivalent amount of
elemental sulphur per unit of fuel.
In reply to Major Davies, the trend of the discussion
provided sufficient evidence that the conclusions were not
immediately obvious. They had stated that Diesel engine
lubricants required a minimum level of alkalinity; they had
suggested numerical values for that minimum level, and
had offered a method of predicting what the alkalinity of
the used oil would be in given circumstances. The engine
user was thereby enabled to ensure that the alkalinity level
would be adequate for the conditions under which he would
use the oil. To the best of their knowledge there had been
no published information of that kind when they had
started on that programme of work some years earlier.