SynLube™
Lube-4-Life®
INTRODUCTION
Some of the most common questions that we receive about SynLube™ Lube-4-Life® Products are:
 | How it works? |
| How it saves FUEL? |
| Why is not everybody using it already? |
This publication will explain the first two questions through education on how
Conventional Gasoline or Diesel Piston Engine works, and where the FUEL that you put into
your tank goes.
Once you understand engine operation utilization of the FUEL you will have greater
appreciation for function of a lubricant in the operation of all Engines.
Then you will be introduced to Sol Lubrication and how it differs from
conventional Liquid Oil Lubrication through short course on Sol Tribology.
FUEL
Fuel is the second highest expense in vehicle operation amounting to
about 18 to 25% of total life costs (TLC). (Depreciation is the highest vehicle
expense)
Here the value of
SynLube™
Synthetic Super Lubricants can be easily
demonstrated.
Use of
SynLube
Lube-4-Life® in Engines typically
saves about 5% to 8% of fuel.
Use of
SynLube
Lube-4-Life® in Transmissions and
Differentials typically reduces fuel consumption by another 2 to 9%.
In a vehicle where
SynLube
Lube-4-Life® is used in all
lubricated powertrain systems fuel consumption is typically reduced by 7 to 14%.
Considering that typical driver spends over $8,117 for fuel during the
life of the vehicle, this 7 to 14% fuel cost reduction represents saving of $568 to $1136
over the 12 year life of the vehicle, or about $47 to $94 annually. This is more than
enough to pay for initial installation of all necessary
SynLube™ Synthetic
Super Lubricants in a typical vehicle.
If however you have operated a heavy duty long haul truck over the same
period (1990-2002) that used on the average 17,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually, than
the fuel saving would have been about $850 per year.
The above costs were calculated on historical costs for vehicles
purchased in 1990 and used for 12 years through 2002. For that period the average cost per
gallon of unleaded gasoline in USA was about $1.47 per US Gallon. Today the unleaded
regular grade of gasoline averages over $2.00 per US Gallon, and the cost of diesel fuel
has also doubled.
If you apply the above averages to a vehicle that is purchased today in
2005 and kept for 15 years in service (which is possible due to improvement in engine
technology and emission control systems), then the future expected costs are $13, 804 for
fuel, which in vehicle used with
SynLube
Lube-4-Life® will on average save
$1,380 in fuel costs or again about $92 per year.
If however you operate a heavy duty long haul truck that uses on the
average 17,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually, than the fuel saving will be currently
about $1,700 per year.
In almost all applications the cost of initial installation of
SynLube Lube-4-Life® is more than paid for by the saving in energy consumption, which
can be seen in reduced fuel consumption and therefore less money spent on fuel.
Where
does the energy saving comes from?
The explanation is simple, the less energy you consume to move or
operate a given mechanism, the less power you need to drive it, which in turn means that
in a vehicle you need to burn less fuel to do the same work.
One of the unique properties of
SynLube™ Synthetic Super Lubricants is the reduction of effective friction and therefore less energy is
needed to move a mechanism under a load.
Consider this, sophisticated computer simulations show, that you can
improve mileage by over 0.5 MPG just by reducing continuous power consumption by a half
horsepower.
This is why more and more accessories are being powered by electric
motors, so there is no constant drag of mechanically driven pumps for intermittent devices
or fans for cooling that are not required most of the time.
In a conventional engine there are two systems that continuously
consume energy, and where the use of
SynLube
Lube-4-Life® can substantially
help:
Cylinder Bore - Piston
Cylinder Bore - Piston Rings
Main Bearings
Connecting Rod Bearings
Valve Train
Oil Pump
We will now discus each of these in
detail.
Where does the Fuel go?
Have you ever given any thought to
where does the fuel go, or what happens to it in your car?
Although there are millions of drivers and thousands of mechanics, only
small fraction of them knows or can answer this question about Fuel.
There however is no reason why
you should not know or understand what happens to it.
First of all you know that when there is no Gasoline in the gas
tank that the car stops, therefore fuel is necessary for engine operation. Gasoline
contains virtually hundreds of different chemicals, the major proportion of which are
known as Hydrocarbons.
Hydrocarbons are chemical compounds consisting solely of Hydrogen
and Carbon atoms.
The second component that you need to make the car go is Air.
You may know from experience that if the Air Filter is dirty or
clogged that the car does not run as well or is impossible to start. Likewise if you plug
up the Air Intake the engine will stop. Therefore Air is also necessary for
engine operation.
The Air that we breathe and the Air that is also used in
the automobile engine is a mixture (by volume) of:
| 21% Oxygen
(O2)
|
| 78% Nitrogen (N2)
|
| 1% of other gases.
|
More precise composition is shown in table
below:
However, only the Oxygen in the Air
supports the combustion process of Gasoline.
Combustion is a rapid burning of fuel and it
generates vast amount of heat in a very short time.
Combustion occurs only if there
is proper ratio of Air and Fuel.
This proper or ideal ratio is called "Stoichiometric"
Air/Fuel Ratio and is scientifically expressed by Greek letter Lambda = l .
If there is exactly correct amount of Air and
Fuel in the mix the Lambda is equal to one
( l = 1 ).
If there is more Fuel than this
"ideal" ratio requires, or in other words there is an excess of fuel, the
Air/Fuel mix is said to be "richer" or "rich" and Lambda
is less than one ( l < 1 ).
If there is not enough Fuel that the
"ideal" ratio requires, or insufficient fuel, or in other words that mean the
same thing an Air excess, the Air/Fuel mix is said to be "leaner"
or "lean" and the Lambda is more than one ( l > 1 ).
In case of Gasoline or Diesel Fuel the
"Stoichiometric" Air/Fuel ratio is 14.5 : 1 by Weight.
That is one pound of Gasoline requires
fourteen and half pounds of Air to burn completely.
Of course it is pretty difficult to imagine 14.5
pounds of Air, so imagine this:
one gallon of Gasoline requires as much as 1,200 cubic feet or approximately 9,000
gallons of Air to burn completely.
The "richer" (excess Fuel)
or "leaner" (excess Air) the Air/Fuel mixture is, the harder it is to
ignite and the slower is the combustion process. At the "upper" (too much
Fuel) and "lower" (too much Air) ignition limits, the mixture is no longer
ignitable and the engine stops.
If the Air/Fuel mixture is ideal the automotive engine
produces only Carbon Dioxide (gas), Water vapor (steam) and heat as a result of its
"complete" combustion process.
The chemical reactions that occur during
combustion of any hydrocarbon fuel are as follows:
For Carbon component: C + O2
= CO2
For Hydrogen component: 2H2
+ O2 = 2H2O
Unfortunately due to rapid revolution of the typical engine and less
then ideal mixing of Fuel and Air, the actual combustion in typical engine is far from
perfect. As a result we have Air Pollution, Smog, and laws that insist on
"clean" exhaust from modern vehicles.
Since combustion and complete burning in conventional engines is
difficult to achieve, engineers have for over 30 years resorted to "after-treatment"
hence we now have catalytic converters, unleaded fuel, low sulfur fuel, etc.
In an automotive engine it is the heat that is important. It is the
heat that is used to generate useful power. The heat in turn is converted in the engine to
mechanical power output, which is then used to propel the car
Since it is currently very
difficult to precisely monitor the Air/Fuel mixture for a proper ratio "before"
it enters the engine, the Air/Fuel ratio is monitored after the combustion process in the
exhaust system by monitoring the Oxygen content in the exhaust stream.
The device that is used for this
monitoring is a special electrode that generates low voltage in 0.05 to 1.0 Volt range.
This device is called "Exhaust Oxygen Sensor" or "Lambda Sensor".
If there is exactly correct amount of Air and
Fuel in the mix the Lambda is equal to one
( l = 1 ) and the sensor output is in
0.45 to 0.55 Volt range.
If there is more Fuel than this
"ideal" ratio requires, or in other words there is an excess of fuel, the
Air/Fuel mix is said to be "richer" or "rich" and Lambda
is less than one ( l < 1 ) the
sensor output is higher and up to 1 Volt.
If there is not enough Fuel that the
"ideal" ratio requires, or insufficient fuel, or in other words that mean the
same thing an Air excess, the Air/Fuel mix is said to be "leaner"
or "lean" and the Lambda is more than one ( l > 1 ) and the sensor output is lower and can be as low as 0.05 Volt.
This sensor output is used in modern
computer controlled engines with fuel injection to time the duration of fuel injection and
thus continuously adjust the Air/Fuel mixture as the engine operates up to several times
per second.
This in turn minimizes the fuel consumption
and minimizes the exhaust emissions of pollutants such as CO (Carbon-Monoxide), HC
(Unburned Hydrocarbons) and NOx (Nitrides of Oxygen = major smog forming component).
The Spark Ignition Engine
The spark ignition four stroke
engine that was first devised by Nikolaus Otto in Germany in 1876 is the type of power
plant that is used in majority of motor vehicles today.
The Otto engine is an internal combustion engine, which converts the
chemical energy contained in the fuel (usually Gasoline) into a kinetic energy by
burning it (rapid oxidation).
The energy conversion is carried out by combustion of the hydrocarbons
in the Fuel. There is one important thing to understand about the hydrocarbon fuel,
such as Gasoline, in reference to combustion. That is, it is the energy stored in
the chemical bond within the hydrocarbons themselves that is released when these compounds
burn in the presence of Oxygen inside the combustion chamber. This released energy
is Heat.
The internal combustion engine is therefore a Heat Engine, and
it is the Heat inside the engine that is converted into a useful kinetic rotary
motion by mechanical means.
The combustion process in the Otto engine is initiated by electric
spark within the combustion chamber after the Air/Fuel mixture was compressed.
Engine Components
The picture below shows some key components of the Spark Ignition Engine:
Principle of Operation
In the spark ignition engine an
Air/Fuel mixture is formed outside the combustion chamber. This mixture is
generated in a Carburetor or by means of Fuel Injection, but in either case
the final Air/Fuel mixture is fed into the Cylinder, through the Intake,
past the Inlet Valve. The mixture is then Compressed and subsequently Ignited
by the Spark Plug. The combustion of ignitable Air/Fuel mixture is initiated
(Ignited) by an Electric Spark and burnt inside a working Cylinder.
The combustion Heat given off increases the pressure of the
pre-compressed gasses. This after-combustion pressure is typically 400 to 700 PSI, which
is much higher than the pre-combustion pressure of 95 to 155 PSI. (PSI = Pounds per Square
Inch)
This high pressure produces mechanical work by forcing the Piston
down and via Pin and Con Rod causes the Crankshaft to turn.
After each Power Stroke the burnt gases are expelled by the Piston's
upward motion and discharged into the atmosphere past the Outlet Valve through Exhaust
tract.
The Four Stroke Principle
The exchange of gas in the 4-stroke spark ignition engine is controlled
by Valves, which open or close the Inlet and Outlet ports of the Cylinder,
depending on the position of the Piston and the Crankshaft. The opening and
closing period of the Valves is in turn operated by Camshaft, which turns at
one half the speed of Crankshaft.
The four strokes
of a working cycle are:
1. Suction or Intake stroke
2. Compression
3. Combustion or Power stroke (Work)
4. Exhaust
First stroke:
SUCTION
· Inlet Valve: OPEN
· Outlet Valve: CLOSED
· Piston Movement: DOWN
· Combustion NONE
The downward movement of the Piston increases the volume of the
combustion chamber, enabling a fresh Air/Fuel mixture to be sucked past the open Inlet
Valve into the Cylinder.
Second stroke:
COMPRESSION
· Inlet Valve: CLOSED
· Outlet Valve: CLOSED
· Piston Movement: UP
· Combustion NONE
The upward moving Piston reduces the volume of the combustion chamber
thereby compressing the Air/Fuel mixture. The compression factor is approximately from 6
to 14, according to the type and design of the engine. The final compression pressure is
from 85 to 190 PSI.
Third stroke: POWER
· Inlet Valve: CLOSED
· Outlet Valve: CLOSED
· Piston Movement: DOWN
· Combustion YES
The compressed Air/Fuel mixture is Ignited by the Electric
Spark at the Spark Plug electrode gap. As the mixture is rapidly burnt its
temperature also rapidly increases, typically to about 5,000°
F to 6,000° F. As a result the pressure in the Cylinder
rises to between 400 to 600 PSI.
The pressure of the combustion gasses drives the Piston
downwards in the Cylinder and by means of the Con Rod (Connecting Rod),
produces rotary movement of the Crankshaft.
Fourth stroke:
EXHAUST
· Inlet Valve: CLOSED
· Outlet Valve: OPEN
· Piston Movement: UP
· Combustion NONE
The upward moving Piston reduces the volume of the combustion
chamber, whereby the burnt gases (exhaust) are expelled through the open Outlet Valve
and through the Exhaust tract to the atmosphere.
In practice on most engines an Exhaust Muffler or a Silencer
is used to dissipate a high kinetic energy that is present in the exhaust gases and which
would otherwise cause uncomfortably loud noise.
In other applications the exhaust gasses are expanded in a high-speed
turbine (Turbocharger) and the recovered energy is used for supercharging of the Intake
with Air/Fuel mixture at higher than atmospheric pressure (Turbo Boost). This method is
frequently used in high performance cars and high altitude piston engine aircraft.
The stroke cycle repeats itself after the Fourth stroke. In the actual
cycles of the internal combustion engine the opening times of the Valves are synchronized
to the movement of the Piston and to the rotation of the Crankshaft by the
use of Camshaft(s), Push Rods and or Rockers.
Each cycle of the four strokes employs two rotations of the Crankshaft
and one rotation of the Camshaft(s).
Typical engine idles at about 900 RPM, that is 450 cycles occur in
every minute of operation.
In actual operation most engines operate in 2,000 to 4,500 RPM range. On the other hand,
a high performance racing engines develop peak power at between 10,000 to up to 15,000
RPM.
Efficiency of the Engine
The
efficiency of the engine depends to a large extend upon the following criteria:
| · Compression
|
| · Combustion Process
|
| · Air/Fuel Mixture
|
| · Mechanical Design
|
| · Lubrication
|
Compression
The higher the Compression Ratio or the pre-compression
pressure, then the higher is the thermal efficiency of the internal combustion engine.
This results in a better fuel usage and more power is developed while less fuel is
consumed. The maximum compression is however limited by the Octane Rating of the Gasoline
that will be used. The higher the Octane Rating the higher the compression can be.
Unfortunately, higher Octane Gasoline costs more to produce than low
Octane Gasoline. Therefore the increase in fuel efficiency can be offset by increase in
fuel costs.
The Compression Ratio is based on the mechanical design of the engine
and is expressed as:
Where:
e = Compression Ratio
Vh = Cylinder swept Volume
Vc = Combustion space Volume of Cylinder
Even more important than Compression Ratio is the actual
pre-compression pressure also called Final Compression Pressure. Although its value
can be also described and figured out mathematically, it is always substantially less than
the mathematical result. The actual Final Compression Pressure can be reliably
obtained only by a measurement with a special tool, the Compression Tester.
It is however important to know what the Final Compression Pressure
should be for the particular engine. This specification can be usually found in a "Shop
Manual" for the particular engine. The difference between the measured and
specified values for the Final Compression Pressure determines the "Sealing
Quality" of the combustion chamber.
The quality of the combustion chamber sealing by means of the Piston
Rings and the Valves is a measure of the condition of the engine. Lubricant can
also affect the quality of the sealing between the Rings and the Cylinder
bore.
When the Final Compression Pressure is too high on a used
engine, it usually means that the combustion chamber and the piston crown have excessive
amounts of carbon deposits that have been formed due to any of the following:
| incomplete
combustion
|
| use of poor quality fuel
|
| use of poor quality lubricant
|
If the Final Compression Pressure is too low on a used engine, it usually
means that the engine has any of the following problems:
| has excessive
amount of cylinder wear (due to poor lubrication)
|
| has sticking piston rings (poor lubricant)
|
| has burned exhaust valves (poor fuel or incorrect ignition timing)
|
| has damaged cylinder head gasket
|
| has sticking intake or exhaust valves (poor lubricant)
|
Combustion Process
For the quality of the combustion process it is of prime importance
that the fuel mixes intimately with the air, so that it can be burnt as completely as
possible. It is important that the flame front progresses spatially and in regular form
during the power stroke, until the whole mixture has been burnt. The combustion process is
considerably influenced by the point in the combustion chamber at which the mixture is
ignited, and by the mixture ratio as well as the manner in which it is fed into the
combustion chamber.
Combustion is optimal and the efficiency of the engine is at its best
when the residual gases contain no unburned fuel and as little of Oxygen as
possible. The Hydrocarbons are broken up during the combustion into their
constituent parts, they are Hydrogen and Carbon. On complete combustion the Carbon
and Hydrogen burn to form Carbon Dioxide and Water vapor. When the
combustion is incomplete the exhaust gases also contain other undesirable constituents.
Air/Fuel Mixture
The Specific Fuel Consumption of an engine is defined as the amount of
energy produced per given amount of fuel consumed in the combustion process. The amount of
fuel is quoted in grams or kilograms and the amount of energy produced in Kilo-Watt-Hours
or Horsepower per hour.
Internal combustion engines can consume as little as 300 grams per kWh
or as much as 1,200 grams per kWh.
In general the Specific Fuel Consumption is at its greatest
(least efficient) when the engine is subjected to low loads, such as idle. This is because
the ratio between the idling losses (due to friction, leaks, and poor fuel distribution)
and the brake horsepower is the most unfavorable.
Most engines have the lowest Specific Fuel Consumption at
three-quarter load, which is at 75% of the maximum power output and at about 2,000 RPM.
The Specific Fuel Consumption of engine is for the most part
dependent on the mixture ratio of the Air/Fuel mixture. Consumption is at its lowest with
an Air/Fuel Ratio of approximately 15 pounds of Air to one pound of Fuel.
This means that 10,000 gallons of Air are needed to burn one gallon of Gasoline.
Mechanical Design
The mechanical design of the internal combustion engine has not changed
since its conception in 1876, mainly because it works. The problem is, that it has been
invented long before there was thorough understanding of thermodynamics or of the chemical
reactions during combustion process. Further cheap and plentiful fuel -- Gasoline
was easily available and until few years ago there was no concern with conservation or
pollution.
As a result the internal combustion engine is an energy efficiency
dinosaur that refuses to die.
To give you some idea why that is so, let’s consider this:
Gasoline contains about 42 to 43.5 Mega-Joules of energy in one
Kilogram that is equal to about 18,060 to 18,705 Btu per pound.
The pie chart on next page will show you where all that energy that is
available in Gasoline goes:
Power Output
It may amaze you to know that only a quarter of the energy that is
available in the Gasoline is converted into useful kinetic energy at the crankshaft. The
rest or 75% is dissipated into the environment mostly as Heat.
With millions of motor vehicles in operation at any given moment on the
Earth, just imagine what that does for "Global Warming"!
Cooling
The 30% of the energy that is available in the Gasoline is used to Heat
up the ambient Air, either directly, as is the case with Air-Cooled Engines, or indirectly
as is the case with Liquid or Water Cooled Engines.
The reason why this waste is necessary is because the internal
combustion engine is a Heat Engine, that is, Heat is produced by it. If the Heat can not
be removed as quickly as it is produced the materials (Metals and Plastics) from which the
engine is made would literally melt.
On highly efficient engine designs the losses through cooling system
may be reduced to as low as 20%. This is achieved through the use of much more expensive
materials that can be safely operated at higher temperatures without damage. The
disadvantage of such designs is their high cost as compared to conventional designs and
also the higher operating temperature causes the lubricant to deteriorate much more
rapidly.
For every increase of 8° C to 10° C (12° F to 18°
F) the oxidation rate of lubricant doubles and therefore the life of lubricant is cut in
half. As a result motor oil must be changed twice as often, or else much more expensive
synthetic lubricant must be used.
This is where there exists a great potential for new engine designs
that are specifically designed to use
SynLube
Lube-4-Life® as engine lubricant --
they can be safely operated at continuous temperatures of up to 350°
F ( 175°C ). By contrast conventional petroleum lubricants cause problems at temperatures
exceeding 195°F ( 90°C ). The increase in operating temperatures of specially designed
engines can reduce the Cooling Losses from 30% down to 10%. This would almost
double the power that is available for propulsion.
Exhaust
Just as is the case with Cooling, another 30% of energy is lost
as Heat in the Exhaust gases. This is another area of great waste.
In some more racy engine designs as much as 35% of energy is lost in
the exhaust and it is quite often enough to make the exhaust pipes glow red hot under full
power output.
Some of this energy can be recovered with the use of exhaust driven
turbo, output of which is usually used to drive another turbine that is used to
supercharge the intake Air/Fuel mix
There is no reason, other than cost of the equipment, why this waste
heat energy could not be used to drive electric generators, air conditioner compressors or
other accessories either directly or through the use of mini "Steam Engines".
However no manufacturer has yet designed any vehicle or engine system that fully utilizes
all this Exhaust energy.
Pumping
Pumping Losses amount to 5% of the energy that is available in the Gasoline.
They comprise of the power that is used to suck the Air/Fuel mix into the engine, the
power that is used to Compress the Air/Fuel mix, the power that is used to circulate the
coolant and the power that is used to pump the motor oil in the engine.
Not much can be done about Pumping Losses, they are all important to
the engine operation. The power that is used to circulate engine coolant can be eliminated
by changing the engine design from Water Cooled to Air-Cooled.
Some of the Oil Pump Pumping Loss can be reduced by the use of lower
viscosity lubricants and especially with the use of lubricants with high Viscosity
Index.
Oil Pump
In a typical automobile the oil pump circulates about 4 gallons of oil
every minute while pressurizing it to at least 40 PSI. At temperature of 200° F typical
SAE 30 Petroleum Motor Oil has Kinematic Viscosity of 10 Centistokes (cP). With Oil this
calculates to be equivalent to a power consumption of .11 HP. However with
SynLube Lube-4-Life® the Kinematic Viscosity will be at least 20 Centistokes (this is
beneficial because higher viscosity allows for better oil film formation and reduction of
wear), however due to different physical properties (Specific Gravity, Viscosity
Compensation Factor and Lohms) the actual power consumption will be only .10 HP or about
10% less, while the lubricant flow will be 5% greater (greater lubricant flow increases
engine component cooling and improves filtration rate).
This small decrease of .01 HP in power required to drive the oil pump
and to circulate the oil translates to about $81 in fuel savings over the 12 year life of
the vehicle. Saving only $6.75 annually on fuel may not be very significant, but over the
years it adds up and it helps to pay for the use of SynLube™
Super Lubricants.
In large diesel truck and some racing engines the oil pump may consume
as much as 1/2 HP and therefore the use of
SynLube Lube-4-Life® will contribute to a greater savings. Also keep in mind that this power
consumption is based on engine at normal operating temperature and with oil sump
temperature of 190°F (88°C), in cold engine with cold oil the power consumption may be
as much as eight times higher with conventional petroleum motor oil, but only three
times higher with SynLube
Lube-4-Life®, this is because SynLube Super Lubricants are much less viscous and flow
easily at low temperatures down to -50°F (-45°C). Petroleum motor oil, however, will be solid
at about -30°F (-34°C).
Friction
Friction Losses in the engine account for 10% to as much as 15% of
the energy that is available in Gasoline. In really inefficient engine designs the Mechanical
Friction Losses can be as much as 20%.
The Mechanical Friction Losses
consist of following:
| Friction between Pistons and Cylinder
bore
|
| Friction between Piston Rings and Cylinder bore
|
| Friction between Connecting Rod Bearings and
Crankshaft Pin and Piston Pin
|
| Friction between Main Bearings and Crankshaft
|
| Power consumption in the Valve Train (Camshaft,
Cam Lobes, Valve Springs, etc.)
|
The above pie chart shows the distribution of the Mechanical
Friction Losses in a typical engine.
Before we discuss each of the above systems, it is important to
introduce another concept, the different types of Lubrication Contact and their effect on Friction
Coefficient and Wear. They are:
Solid Contact
Boundary Lubrication
Mixed Lubrication
Hydrodynamic Lubrication
Stribeck Curve
The relationship of different lubrication regimes can be expressed
graphically and it is called the
"Stribeck Curve". The graph below shows the relationship between the Friction
Coefficient and Sliding Speed. However Oil Viscosity and Load also have
an effect and can be expressed by formula:
Friction
Coefficient = ( Oil Viscosity * Velocity ) / Load
Solid Contact
· Velocity NONE
· Friction MAXIMUM
· Wear NONE
· Separation NONE
Solid Contact is a stationary condition where there is intimate contact
between two surfaces. They are interlocked by the surface roughness on each. The Friction
Coefficient is at its maximum. The value of this condition is expressed as Static
Coefficient of Friction. It is also called "Stiction", because the
two surfaces literally stick to each other. The higher is the Static Coefficient of
Friction or Stiction the more force it requires to move the two surfaces in
relation to each other. Because there is no movement, there is no Wear. Because the
two surfaces are stationary and interlocked by the surface roughness there is no Separation
between the two surfaces.
Boundary Lubrication
· Velocity LOW
· Friction HIGH
· Wear HIGH
· Separation Less than Surface
Roughness
Boundary Lubrication occurs when there is slow movement and when the
two bearing surfaces are no longer interlocked but also not completely separated. The
peaks of the surface roughness hit each other and as a consequence high Friction
and high Wear results. Such lubrication condition exists during start-up.
Mixed Lubrication
· Velocity MODERATE
·
Mixed Lubrication
· Velocity MODERATE
· Friction MODERATE and rapidly
Decreasing
· Wear LOW
· Separation Equal to Surface
Roughness
Mixed Lubrication occurs when lubricant film is so thin or load so high
that the lubricant can not completely separate the two bearing surfaces. Some minimal
surface roughness contact occurs and this causes low Wear. As the Separation
distance between the two bearing surfaces increases the Friction Coefficient
rapidly decreases.
Hydrodynamic Lubrication
· Velocity HIGH
· Friction LOW
· Wear NONE
· Separation More than Surface
Roughness
Hydrodynamic Lubrication occurs when the bearing surfaces are
completely separated by an oil film that is thicker than the surface roughness. Under such
condition the Friction is low and is affected only by the Viscosity of the
Oil. Because there is no contact between the bearing surfaces there is no Wear.
As the sliding velocity is increasing the Oil Viscosity causes slight increase in
the Coefficient of Friction
.
What makes SynLube Lube-4-Life™different ?
Now that you understand the terms and functions of conventional liquid oil lubrication,
you are ready for advanced lesson in Tribology – Sol Lubrication.
Sol
Lubrication
· Velocity NONE to HIGH
· Friction LOW
· Wear NONE
· Separation More than Surface
Roughness
Sol Lubrication occurs when the bearing surfaces are completely
separated by an oil film that contains colloidal particles which are larger in diameter
than the surface roughness. Under such condition the Friction is low and is
affected only by the Viscosity of the Sol. Because there is no contact between the bearing
surfaces there is no Wear. As the sliding velocity is increasing the Sol Viscosity
causes slight increase in the Coefficient of Friction.
Why is Sol Lubrication such
Important Concept ?
On an overall basis, friction uses up, or wastes, a substantial amount
of the energy generated by mankind, while a large amount of productive capacity is devoted
to replacing objects made useless by wear.
Tribology is therefore receiving increasing attention, as it has become
evident that the waste of resources resulting from high friction and wear is very great (more than 6% of the Gross National
Product [GNP]).
Your per Capita annual share of Friction & Wear wasted GNP is
about $1,400.00!
Correspondingly, the potential savings offered by improved tribological
knowledge are also great.
Unfortunately, the background of most engineers and designers in this
important area is seriously deficient.
For example:
The average mechanical engineer has had less than two hours of
instruction on wear as part of his university study.
While few engineers and designers understand the "Stribeck
Curve" the knowledge and understanding of
Sol Lubrication is very rare.
Key Points comparison
between conventional and Sol Lubrication.
Stribeck Curve for Conventional Liquid Petroleum Oil Lubricant
Key Features:
| High Friction resistance to movement at start up "Stiction"
associated with sharp drop in Friction Coefficient, possibly causing
"Stick-Slip" effect during high load slow motion starts |
| High Friction Coefficient and high wear during "Boundary
Lubrication" regime |
| Sharp drop in Friction Coefficient in Mixed Lubrication regime |
| Increasing Friction Coefficient in Hydrodynamic Lubrication regime |
Stribeck Curve for SynLube™ Lubricant
(Oil Lubricant curve from above shown for comparison)
Key Features:
| Much lower start up Friction Coefficient with no
"Stick-Slip" effect |
| Gradual decline in Friction Coefficient to minimum friction point |
| Gradual increase in Friction Coefficient from minimum friction point |
Pistons & Rings
The Friction that results from contact between the Cylinder
bore and Pistons with Piston Rings accounts for 61% of Mechanical
Frictional Losses or about 6.1% of the total energy in Gasoline.
Obviously this is very significant, not only because lot of energy is
consumed, but because high Wear rate also results.
Because Boundary Lubrication condition exists at the ends of
stroke, some metal-to-metal contact results and this causes excessive Wear
of Cylinder at the ring contact area at TDC (Top-Dead-Center).
When engine is lubricated with
SynLube Lube-4-Life® the special Metal Conditioners that are contained in SynLube Lube-4-Life® reduce the Friction Coefficient during Boundary
Lubrication to about one half.
At the same time the Colloidal Solid Lubricants that are also contained in SynLube Lube-4-Life® reduce or even totally eliminate the Boundary Lubrication
regime.
Additionally the Graphite Colloids protect the Cylinder
and Piston from seizure and surface damage during high temperature and high load
operating conditions.
SynLube™ also improves the
quality of sealing so that Final Compression Pressure is increased and blow-by
gasses are reduced.
All of the above factors contribute to significantly reduced Wear
and to the Energy Efficiency for which SynLube™
Synthetic Super Lubricants are famous.
Bearings
The Main Bearings and Con Rod Bearings together account
for 31% of the Mechanical Frictional Losses or for about for 3.1% of the energy use
that is available from Gasoline.
Because all these bearings are Plain Bearings they are subject
to Sliding Friction and therefore a high Wear during start-up.
In a well-designed engine these bearings operate under Hydrodynamic
Lubrication practically all of the time, except when engine is being started or when
oil flow is interrupted.
Although the start-up condition accounts for only few seconds, it
results in 75% to 90% of the bearing Wear.
Here again
SynLube
Lube-4-Life® significantly
contributes to Friction reduction and to the elimination of start-up Wear,
because it replaces the Boundary Lubrication regime with Sol Lubrication.
This is because the Solid Lubricant Colloids that are contained in SynLube Lube-4-Life®separate the bearing surfaces when engine is at rest and also during
the start-up, and therefore eliminate the initial metal-to-metal contact which causes the high
Friction end excessive Wear.
The Moly Colloids that are contained in
SynLube Lube-4-Life® increase the Bearing Load Capacity by up to 25%, while at
the same time they contribute to reduction of Wear.
The PTFE Colloids that are contained in
SynLube Lube-4-Life® reduce the Bearing Clearances, which in turn lower the
lubricant side leakage rate. This brings onset of the favorable Hydrodynamic
Lubrication regime at lower rotational speeds and results in better fuel efficiency
and less Wear. Reduced clearances also reduce vibration and noise
generation, SynLube Lube-4-Life® lubricated mechanisms therefore run noticeably quieter sometimes up
to several Decibels.
Valve Train
In typical engine Valve Train accounts for about 8% of Mechanical
Losses or about .8% of the energy consumption. Not all loses in the Valve Train are
however frictional. this is because Valve Springs absorb some of the energy as they
are being compressed during the engine operation.
Typical Valve Train requires about 60 lbf/s of torque to turn, this in
turn is about 1/10 horsepower consumed at 6,000 RPM. Our research shows that use of SynLube™
reduces the torque required to turn the same valve train to about 3/4 of the original
value. This in turn requires .025 less horsepower at 6,000 RPM. Although the fuel saving
associated with this torque reduction is only .02 MPG, over the life of the vehicle it
adds up to fuel saving of $162. However much more significant may be the increase in the
service life of valve train drive components, such as gears, timing chains or timing
belts.
Proof:
On LANCIA/FIAT 1.5 Liter L4 test engines a typical timing belt lasts
68,000 to 80,000 miles before failure, that is why the manufacturer recommends replacement
every 52,500 miles.
The plastic timing belt is not a lubricated part, but it has to
transfer power to the valve train that consumes .08 HP at 3,000 RPM (The average life
RPM's for this engine design).
When the same engine is lubricated with SynLube™
the power transfer through the timing belt is reduced by .02 HP which in turn makes the
belt last twice as long.
This is because reduction of power transfer to one half of original
value makes the mechanism last four times longer, therefore reduction of power to 3/4 of
original value makes the mechanism last twice as long.
In actual use test of 50 vehicles that were driven 120,000 miles each,
not one timing belt failed on any of the 10 SynLube™
lubricated cars, while failure rate on the 20 Petroleum Lubricated cars was 100% by 98,000
miles, and the failure rate on the other 20 cars lubricated by other synthetics was 60% by
end of the test.
The test was conducted from 1986 to 1991 by M.I.K. AUTOMOTIVE, INC. in
North Hollywood, California on 1985, 1986 and 1987 model year BERTONE X1/9 automobiles.
1987 BERTONE X1/9
Another Proof:
Another engine durability test was conducted by
MIROX Corporation
from February 1996 to February 1998 on KIA Sephia with 1.8 Liter (Mazda) DOHC engine
lubricated with API SH/ ILSAC GF-3* version of
SynLube Lube-4-Life® and utilizing SynLube™
Micro-glass™ oil filter.
Following are
the highlights of the test:
| No oil or oil filter change for 100,000 miles. ( from 7,500
to 107,500 miles) |
| SynLube™ Lube-4-Life® Motor Oil has been re-processed and
re-installed @ 107,500 miles and oil filter replaced. |
| No deterioration of engine performance. |
| No deterioration of fuel mileage gain (as
compared to OEM oil). |
| No measurable wear of either Intake or Exhaust Cam @ 115,000
miles. |
| No visible wear of Timing Belt @ 115,000 miles (OEM recommends replacement every 50,000 miles). |
| No deterioration of Catalytic Converter efficiency or Emission System Performance. |
*(
SynLube
Lube-4-Life® version GF-3 / CH-4
has been in production since December 3, 1997 and replaces previous formulations. It
satisfies ILSAC GF-3 requirements scheduled for year 2000 and also a new API
CH-4 requirements for low emission diesel applications in 1998 model and later
commercial vehicles).
1996 KIA
Sephia test car.
How to save more fuel
dollars
If you are currently using a "Premium" gasoline in
your vehicle, you should know that since October 1988 when the SAE Automotive Gasolines
Standard J312 went into effect, virtually all automobiles sold in the USA do not
require gasoline that is any better than "Regular Unleaded".
The only cars for which manufacturers still specify "Premium
Hi-Octane Gasoline" are European cars such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and some
models of Mercedes Benz.
Research shows that most 1971 and later model vehicles that are
designed to use Unleaded Gasoline run fine and perform satisfactorily with Gasoline that
has Antiknock Index of 87.
The "Antiknock Index" is displayed on all gasoline
fuel pumps in the USA on 2.5" x 2.5" yellow sticker with black borders, and is
defined as: AI = ( RON + MON ) /2, where RON is a specific laboratory fuel
test that determines a Research Octane Number and MON is an engine
laboratory test that determines a Motor Octane Number.
A study conducted in 1988 has shown that 90% of all cars were satisfied
with 87 AI Gasoline (Regular Unleaded) and only 5% of all cars required 89 AI Gasoline
(This is the grade that is between Regular and Premium and which is named differently by
each oil company, as there is no industry wide accepted standard for the grade name). Only
few pre-1970 high performance cars required 92 AI or higher Gasoline.
Therefore if you are driving a recent model car and if you are
currently using a Premium Gasoline you are spending more money than you should. This fact
has been recently confirmed and documented in a 1993 report from General Motors R&D
Center. Their final conclusion is: "motorists who use premium gasoline to
improve their vehicle's performance are simply wasting their money". Worse still, GM
says that premium fuels are likely to cause higher hydrocarbon mass emissions, hence more
air pollution.
However the above GM research was done on new model cars, and it is a
well-known fact that as cars get older and as internal carbon deposits form on pistons
crowns, inside the combustion chambers and on valves the "Octane Appetite"
of engine usually increases, sometimes by as much as 5 AI numbers. Therefore engines that
run perfectly well when new on Regular Gasoline may after many thousands of miles require
the use of Premium Gasoline to avoid ping and engine knock.
Here however the use of SynLube™
Super Lubricants since new makes all the difference. Every engine no matter how
well made, always uses some oil. Small amounts of lubricant will always pass around the
piston rings and around the valve seals. Conventional petroleum lubricants eventually burn
off in the combustion process, but because they contain some heavy hydrocarbon molecules
the combustion is not always complete and hard carbon deposits are formed on piston
crowns, inside the combustion chamber and especially on the intake valves. This deposit
process is very slow in modern engines that are using premium lubricants and unleaded
gasoline, however over 100,000 miles the accumulated deposits may be quite substantial and
seriously affect the engine performance and the vehicle driveability.
Because
SynLube
Lube-4-Life® contains sub-micronic
solid particles of Graphite and Moly that do not burn at
temperature at which conventional liquid petroleum lubricants burn off, they eventually
over period of many thousand miles form a very thin deposit layer on the piston crowns,
combustion chambers, and intake valves. This fine coating that has high lubricity and
resists to high temperatures of up to 1200° F (650° C), while it prevents the attachment
of hard carbon molecules and therefore the formation of heavy deposits. That is why SynLube™ lubricated engines run and perform so much
better, when they have in excess of 100,000 miles of use, and when they are compared to
identical engines that were maintained with conventional petroleum lubricants.
More
"hot" tips on how to save on fuel
One thing that you may not realize when you are buying Gasoline or
Diesel Fuel is that you are getting a different amount of fuel each time when you are
buying it!
You may think that the Gallon meters on pumps in the USA or Liter
meters on pumps in Canada are accurate, and you will be correct.
After all you are charged the posted price, so how is it possible that
you are not getting the same amount of fuel each time you buy it?
The answer is simple -- temperature!
What has temperature to do with fuel?
It causes it to expend when heated and to contract when cooled, and not
just by a bit but by a quite a lot!
You may know that most substances and especially fluids expand when
heated, when you put one quart of water into a calibrated glass column and heat it there
will be more than one quart when hot. The specification that makes cold and hot water the
same is its weight. One pound of cold water will still weigh one pound when hot.
The same applies to liquid fuel such as Gasoline and Diesel Fuel,
except that it expands much more rapidly than water.
The scientific specification for the expression of how sensitive is a
substance's expansion to its temperature is called the Cubic Thermal Expansion
Coefficient. It is defined as the increase in unit volume of a body for a rise in
temperature of 1°C (1.8°F).
The symbol used to identify Cubic Thermal Expansion Coefficient
is lower case Greek letter Gamma = g
The formula that expresses Cubic Thermal Expansion is:
Vt = Vo (1+g t)
Where:
Vt = Volume at t° C
Vo = Volume at 0° C
t = Temperature in ° C
In a table below are listed Coefficients of Cubic Expansion for some
common substances that are of interest:
Substance |
g |
Alcohol |
.0011 |
Benzene |
.00125 |
Gasoline |
.001 |
Mercury |
.00018 |
Paraffin Oil |
.000764 |
Petroleum |
.001 |
Water |
.00018 |
Interesting you may think, but unless you are a math wizard or a
scientist the above table may have little meaning to you, so let's explain it by in common
language and by an example.
Most likely you are familiar with a Mercury Thermometer.
Chemists, meteorologists, and doctors have used such instrument for centuries.
It is mercury filled glass bulb connected to small glass tube to which
a calibrated scale is attached. As temperature rises, the mercury expands and the silver
colored mercury can be seen to climb up in the tube and thus indicating on the calibrated
scale the temperature to which the bulb is exposed.
If you refer back to the previous table you will notice that Mercury
has exactly the same Cubic Expansion Coefficient as Water that is g
= .00018 for both of them.
What does this mean?
Well, if you pour a gallon of Water or a Mercury into a calibrated
column at 0° C (32° F) and then
heat it to 100° C (212° F), the
fluid will expand and you will have more of it. How much more?
It is easy to figure out with the Cubic Expansion Formula:
V
100 = V0 (1 +
(.00018 * 100)) = 1 * ( 1 + .018 ) = 1.018 Gallons = 1 Gallon and 2.3 Ounces
Therefore you will gain 2.3 Fluid Ounces in Volume by heating
the fluid by 100° C (212° F),
however the Weight of the fluid will be the same, because you still have the same
amount of it.
Although the Expansion in this example is 1.8% per 100° C (212° F), it is not very significant
if you are dealing with an inexpensive fluid like Water, but it is very significant if you
are selling expensive fluid like Mercury. That is why nobody will sell you Mercury by Volume,
and why it is always sold by Weight.
Now what all of this has to do with
Gasoline or Diesel Fuel?
The Expansion Coefficient for Petroleum and Gasoline is g = .001, for either of them.
That is more than five times greater when compared to Water or
Mercury.
Statistically the difference between the overnight low and the daytime
high temperature is about 11° C to 17°
C (20° F to 30° F). Although the
fuel is stored in under ground tanks, they are just few feet under the gas station's
driveway, which is from black asphalt or dark concrete. If this surface is exposed to
direct sun rays during summer the underground fuel temperature can be much hotter than the
ambient air temperature. On the other hand, at about 4 AM when the ground temperature is
at its lowest point, likewise the underground fuel temperature will be lowest.
From the above discussion it should be obvious by now that if you buy
fuel on a hot and sunny summer day you will get lot less fuel (by Weight) in a
Gallon than when you are buying it during cold winter before sunrise.
Even on the same day, when temperature can vary by as much as 30°
F (17° C), it will make a difference.
How much of a difference? Let’s use our Formula again:
Vth = Vtc (1 + g * (th-tc)) Ţ V
32 = V15 ( 1
+ .001 * (32-15)) = V32 = 1* (1 + .001 *17) = 1.017
What this means is that if you buy 10 Gallons of fuel in the morning
you get the same amount of fuel as when you buy 10.17 Gallons during afternoon. You can
save 1.7% on your fuel costs just by getting into a habit of buying your gasoline early in
the morning, instead of in the afternoon.
At a current price of $2.199 per Gallon you pay $21.99 in the morning
for a fuel that will cost you $22.36 in the afternoon.
You can save 37˘.
Saving 37 cents each
time you buy 10 gallons of fuel may not sound too significant,
but it translates to saving of more than $232 over the life of your vehicle.
And of course the more per Gallon the
fuel costs, the more money you'll save.
Now perhaps we can answer the third most common question:
| Why is not everybody using it already? |
There are several reasons:
First very few consumers or even auto mechanics, know what you have just learned in the
previous section, if they knew they would perhaps consider using SynLube Lube-4-Life® in their
vehicles.
Secondly although many automotive engineers are aware of SynLube Lube-4-Life® products
and of the benefits they offer they are unlikely to specify them as OEM equipment, since
they prolong the service life of all vehicles. That is an undesirable effect since
economic well being of EVERY major automobile manufacturer depends and is measured by how
many vehicles were sold in LAST 10 Days!
Any product that significantly extends the service life of any vehicle above what is
currently acceptable service life is undesirable, because it seriously undercuts future
sales and profit potential.
Thirdly it is very difficult for small company like SynLube,
Inc. to combat huge advertising expenditures by Major Oil Companies.
For example:
In 1999 Pennzoil-Quaker State spent over $40 million to promote the
idea of 3,000-mile oil change.
Yet General Motors specifies 5,000 to 7,500 mile oil change intervals,
and in vehicles equipped with "Oil Life Monitor" it is not unusual to
see 9,000 miles before the electronic gizmo indicates need to change Motor Oil.
Another example:
In 1999 Mobil has spent over $4 million to support their Mobil 1 show
car in the NASCAR circuit racing and
although #12 Jeremy Mayfield car NEVER won a single race in 1999 (he finally won
only two minor races in 2000), Mobil 1 which has consistently been beaten
by cars lubricated with Petroleum Motor Oils is advertised as "NOTHING
OUTPERFORMS MOBIL 1", apparently their advertising agency personnel
NEVER went to the races.
So the final answer is perhaps that of ultimate benefit
WHO DOES NOT Benefit from use of SynLube,
and why?
| Automotive Manufacturer = Vehicles LAST LONGER = Lost Sales |
| Oil Companies = Their Petroleum Products ARE OBSOLETE = No Sales |
| Quick Oil Changes = You will not come back quickly = Lost Sales |
| Auto Mechanics = You will not come back often = Lost Sales |
Because ALL of the above will loose business, i.e. their profit source, if you install
SynLube Lube-4-Life®
into you vehicle you can not be surprised that they will not recommend it, or encourage
you to use it.
YOU, the Vehicle owner, are the ONLY person who will benefit
from the use of SynLube
Lube-4-Life® in you Vehicle.
YOU WILL SAVE:
| TIME - over 49
hours not wasted on oil changes over typical vehicle life |
| MONEY - over
$600.00 saved on oil costs, over $500 saved on FUEL |
| ENVIRONMENT - No
dangerous used waster oil generated. |
And of course you will make you vehicle run much better and more efficiently for much
longer.
It is estimated that average vehicle owner would save over $5,200 if he or she
kept the current vehicle for just one year longer than he or she normally would, before
trading to another NEW vehicle. The saving on trade-up on used vehicle ranges from $800 to
$2,700.
That is a lot of MONEY that you DO NOT have to spend, and SynLube Lube-4-Life® makes it
possible!
And of course DO NOT forget your Transmission, Differential(s) and especially the
Cooling System, they need to be protected with SynLube™
products too if you want your vehicle to LAST FOREVER!
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