ENGINEERING BULLETIN
X-1R DIESEL SYSTEM CLEANER, THE WHY QUESTION ANSWERED
Nigel McKenzie
In various countries around the world there has been a slow but steady move from Diesel to low sulphur diesel (Sulphur @ 500ppm) and now to ultra-low sulphur diesel (Sulphur @ 50ppm), this has created a lot of problems and rumours in the market place, specifically, the fear that ULSD has a lower lubricity and cetane rating, which could affect pre-2007 diesel engines and fuel systems. The Sulphur in the Diesel acts as a lubricant and does not burn, instead it enters the atmosphere as Sulphur Dioxide and ends up as acid rain.
JUST WHAT DO THOSE LETTER MEAN
- Nigel McKenzie
Recently I was in the process of buying a new car, the performance figures for the car that I was interested in were quoted as 150PS. Being a bit old school I was wondering what this meant and how it related to HP or BHP or kW or WHP. This got me thinking, just what do these initials mean and from where do they come.
HOW AN OCTANE BOOSTER ACTUALLY WORKS
- Nigel McKenzie
Here’s how the octane thing works. In normal combustion in an engine with high octane gasoline the flame is initiated at the sparkplug, and the flame-front spreads evenly across the combustion chamber burning up the air-fuel mixture. As the flame-front spreads, the air-fuel mixture ahead of it gets much hotter for two reasons. First it’s heated by the radiant heat from the flame-front (like standing in front of a fire), and second, its pressure is rising and that produces heat (like the end of a bicycle pump getting hot when you pump up a tire – or the reverse of the cold feeling when you let the air out of a tire).
THE TIMKEN TEST
- Nigel McKenzie
Recently I have been asked about the “pressure machine” that is used at trade shows and on various infomercials (including some of ours). The machine is called the Timken Test Machine and is used to determine the “Measurement of Extreme-Pressure Properties of Lubricating Fluids” Timken stopped manufacturing these machines and most are now made by the FALEX corporation and thus they are sometimes called a Falex Machines or the Falex Test.
SULPHUR IN IFO
- Nigel McKenzie
Harold, In response to the tech question regarding sulphur in IFO, please enjoy the following response. In regards to your question – what happens to the sulfur? When high sulfur heavy fuel oil is combusted either in an engine or a furnace without additives present, the sulfur ends up as a mixture of sulfur oxides. These oxides are sulfur dioxide (SO2) and sulfur trioxide (SO3), the ratio of the two being largely dependent on how much vanadium is present in the heavy oil. SO2 is considered an undesirable pollutant in that when released into the atmosphere it can ultimately produce acid rain, but it’s not particularly harmful to the engine or furnace.
X-1R GREASE, A BRIEF OUTLINE
- Nigel McKenzie
The X-1R Corporation has a number of greases that are available for marketing/sale these are as follows; 1. Guardian Grease, this is a Lithium based grease and in as much is pretty cheap and unspectacular. Applications for this type of grease would be for the like of wheel bearings etc. 2. All Temperature Grease (ATG), this is a polyurea based grease and has a range of applications,
TERMINOLOGY AND INFORMATION REGARDING FUELS OILS IN AN INDUSTRIAL SETTING
- Nigel McKenzie
Various grades of fuel are referred to by different names depending on the terminology of the supplier. Gas oil or LFO is used in some smaller engines or those operated in environmentally-sensitive areas. This grade of fuel is marketed under various names including gas oil, bunker gas oil and marine gas oil. Such a fuel is a light distillate with a clear and bright appearance. It is a clean fuel in that it does not contain any residual fuel components.
THE ROLE OF BLOW-BY IN THE FORMATION OF SLUDGE
- Nigel McKenzie
A recent exchange of e-mails have lead to believe that there is still some miss-understanding about the formation of sludge in engines. Whilst the role of blow-by in the formation of sludge was discussed briefly in a previous engineering bulletin (dated 20-10-08) it is probably appropriate to briefly revisit the subject.
JUST WHAT DO THOSE NUMBERS ON AN OIL MEAN
- Nigel McKenzie
Taken from a site known as the Oil Bible. Just what do those numbers on an oil-can mean? What is a 10W30 and is it better for me to use a 0W30 instead. Both of the numbers refer to the viscosity of the oil, with the W standing for Winter and not weight although you will see me confuse the two later in this message. The first number is the viscosity of the oil at Zero degrees Fahrenheit (-18˚C) the second is the viscosity of the oil at 210 degrees Fahrenheit (100˚C). In other words at the temperatures that water freezes and boils.
FORMATION OF SLUDGE IN THE ENGINE
- Nigel McKenzie
Thousands of car owners in recent months have been hit with an expensive engine repair, one that can cost $5,000 or more. Numerous late-model piston engines from many manufacturers have suffered from failures due to oil sludge contamination. These problems happen when fine engine oil passages become clogged with sludge, and often result in catastrophic failure of the engine.
