Impact of oil additive characteristics on biofuel engine wear using electron microscopy and confocal microscopy

Abstract

Soot particles are produced during combustion process in the diesel engine. These particles will later exhaust into the thermosphere and part of them will contaminate the engine oil. When the lubricant is contaminated with soot, diesel engine abrasion or in a worst-case scenario lubricant starvation occurs. This situation will eventually lead into engine wear. High volume of soot also raises acid level of the area. If this state co-occurs with high temperature of the engine and volatile gases during operation, engine corrosion may also be produced. This research study the effect of additive volume on the dispersion of soot in engine oil and effect of additive on size and volume of soot which affect to mechanism of wear in metal by tribology four-ball tester, image analysis by scanning electron microscope and particle size analysis by laser diffraction technique.