Synopsis (B.

Tech Project)
Development of New Approaches to Study
Wear and Energy Saving of Engine Oils
The ability of crankcase oils to improve fuel economy is critical in vehicles worldwide. As a
result several fuel economy engine tests exist in the industry. In Europe, the M111E fuel
economy engine test is used to quantify the fuel economy performance of oils with
Association des Constructeurs Europeens dAutomobiles (ACEA). In North America and
other regions, the Sequence VI B fuel economy engine test is used to quantify the fuel
economy performance of oils with International Lubricant Standardization Approval
Committee (ILSAC). These tests are long duration tests and time consuming and also these
test consider only fuel economy effects of the lubricants under test. Other methods measured
the engine liner wear by gauging the bore diameter of liner at different point before and after
wear. The change in dimension gave the amount of wear. Such measurement is accurate for
long duration test where the honed layer of the liner is removed.
This project proposes a new method of evaluating the engine liner wear and fuel economy
with short duration tests. In short duration tests honing depth is not removed when a small
amount of wear occurs. A single cylinder air cooled variable speed petrol engine was used to
test the lubricating oil wear characteristics and fuel efficiency by using firing test method.
The engine was connected to an alternator and a resistance bank for loading. A kistler make
pressure sensor was put in the cylinder head in order to measure the pressure rise in the
cylinder. A kistler made crank angle encoder was used to find the crank angle with 1
revolution. Fuel flow rate was measured using a load cell and air flow rate was measured
using an air flow meter. The test was conducted on the engine for a period of 10 hours,
comprising of 4 stages with each stage being for 2 hours each. In each stage first two hours
were used to stabilize the engine and readings were taken in the next thirty minutes at
intervals of five minutes, such that six readings were recorded. Three lubricating oil samples
comprising of commercial oil, base oil mixed with iron oxide nanoparticles, and base oil
mixed with titanium oxide nanoparticles were tested on the test setup. SAE 10W-30 was used
as base oil in this test. The nanoparticles, titanium oxide and iron oxide were mixed
separately with ethylene glycol, which acts as solvent and also prevent the nanoparticles from
oxidizing in air. Nanoparticles solution was prepared by mixing 1% nanoparticles and 99%
ethylene glycol by weight. This solution was then dispersed in the base oil. Each lubricant
comprised of 90% base oil and 10% additive solution. In other words, the lubricant
containing nanoparticles was composed of 0.1% nanoparticles, 9.9% ethylene glycol and
90% base oil.
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After completion of all the stages the engine was shutdown and the surface roughness test of
the cylinder liner was done using MITUTOYO Surface Roughness Tester SJ 301 in order to
estimate cylinder liner wear. A rough surface consists of peaks and valleys, during the tests
the valleys will be unaffected whereas the peaks are worn out thus changing the roughness
profile. Surface roughness test was done before starting the test as a benchmark and then
again after ten hours. The difference in values between these curves represents the material
worn out from the profile parallel to the cylinder liner axis for sampling length. The surface
roughness tests were conducted at top ring reversal point (TRRP) and the selected zone over
which the readings are taken lies within 1. This is done in order to maintain the repeatability
of the readings. TRRP was selected for surface roughness test because at this point the

lubrication regime is boundary lubrication and maximum wear of the liner takes place at this
point.
Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) were
calculated using fuel flow rate and brake power. The brake specific fuel consumption will be
direct analogy of wear reduction; the reduction in wear will show reduction in fuel
consumption. Friction mean effective pressure will be direct analogy with the surface
roughness of the liner, that is, lesser the surface roughness value, lesser will be the friction
mean effective pressure and hence, it will result in more fuel economy of the engine.
In order to validate the result, inertia test and temperature test was also performed on the
three oil samples. In inertia test, the engine was made to run on each sample at the rated
speed (i.e. 3000 rpm) using wide open throttle. Upon reaching rated speed, it was allowed to
stabilize and then the engine was stopped by switching off the ignition. The time taken by the
engine to stop completely was recorded. Also the time taken by the engine to drop to 2500
rpm and 1500 rpm was recorded. The above procedure will be repeated for the remaining two
oil samples. The sample, for which the time taken by the engine to stop will be more, will
show better lubricating characteristics, since the friction inside the cylinder will be reduced.
The Temperature test is based on the temperature variation at different locations on fins
outside the cylinder liner. Twelve thermocouples were used for this test, with 4
thermocouples on three sides each of the liner. The 20 channel Agilent measurement
instrument was used for displaying the temperature of the thermocouples. At every 10
seconds the temperature readings were recorded. The sample taking maximum time for the
temperature rise of 100 C to 120 C showed better lubrication and produced minimum
friction inside the liner and hence, heat produced due to friction was less.
From the experiments it was found that the sample with Iron Oxide nanoparticles performed
better during the ten hours test for all the four stages, than the sample with Titanium Oxide
nanoparticles and also the commercial oil. Both the nanoparticles showed better fuel
economy and more reduction in friction than the commercial oil. This can be attributed to the
fact that nanoparticles were embedded in the honed layer of the cylinder liner and due to their
spherical shape, they acted like the balls of bearing which provided rolling action between the
cylinder liner and piston ring assembly. This contributed to the reduction in friction inside the
cylinder and hence, improved the fuel economy of the engine. Surface roughness test also
showed that there was a reduction in the wear inside the cylinder liner for Iron Oxide
nanoparticles sample as compared to Titanium Oxide nanoparticles sample. The sample
containing nanoparticles showed reduction in wear as compared to the commercial oil
sample. The inertia test method also proved the same conclusion as the other test methods. It
showed there was an increase in time for the engine to stop after the ignition was switched
off; for Iron Oxide nanoparticles sample. Commercial oil took the highest time when
compared with the other two samples. The time taken for the temperature rise, during the
temperature test, was also less for commercial oil which showed that the commercial oil
produced more friction and hence, more wear of the engine liner. Iron Oxide sample showed
the highest time for temperature rise, signifying that the friction produced was less and also
resulted in fuel economy improvement as well as reduction in liner wear. Thus, 0.1% Iron
Oxide nanoparticles sample gave the best result in terms of friction mean effective pressure
and fuel economy when compared to 0.1% Titanium Oxide nanoparticles sample and fully
formulated commercial oil.