Engine Lube-Oil Consumption Stakes and Benefits from Significant Blow-by Oil Mist Reduction

Nicolas Arnault; Samuel Bonne

doi:10.4271/2012-01-1617

Since many years now, environmental regulations got stricter and stricter, leading modern engines (both Gasoline and Diesel) to integrate more depollution devices, to fit new emissions limits. Moreover, the CO2 emissions regulations led also major powertrain improvements in various fields like friction reduction, weight saving, but also engine specific power implying often higher turbocharging rate, with higher temperatures and higher flow rates.

As a direct consequence, modern engines have increased the core value of the exhaust line with more complexes and fragile after treatment devices, while working conditions have ran tougher. Therefore to guaranty long term reliability for exhaust line and even making it smaller and lighter is a new objective. This is confirmed by Environmental Regulations which now requires durability threshold for depollution devices.

Lube oil, through oil consumption, has been identified as one of the main contributors of exhaust systems poisoning, which lead to abusive regenerations processes or devices size increase to avoid clogging during vehicle life. But also, lube oil is responsible for other effects like intake line fouling and is part of particulate emission sources. So understanding oil consumption and being able to control and reduce it, is a way to improve complete powertrain durability and even downsize exhaust depollution devices.

Bibliographical sources have been compiled to highlight engine oil consumption sources, as well as engine oil consumption effects on the engine. A focus has been made on blow-by gases from crankcase ventilation, highlighting their shared responsibility in those effects, especially on what can be saved or improved from significantly reducing oil mist carried in those blow-by gases.

With proposed solution of pleated coalescing media, providing high efficiency oil separation with low impact of pressure drops, significant engine improvements can be expected from a cleaner blow-by.

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Engine Lube-Oil Consumption Stakes and Benefits from Significant Blow-by Oil Mist Reduction 2012-01-1617

SAE MOBILUS