Engine Durability, Emissions and Fuel Economy Studies with Special Boundary Lubricant Chemistry

A unique combination of boundary lubricant and surfactant chemistries has produced significant benefits in ring and bearing wear control. This chemistry is added as an engine treatment to current quality engine lubricants. Microscopic wear studies employing radioactive tracer and metal surface analysis techniques have helped define optimum chemistry for enhanced bearing and ring wear control in a running engine. These studies have also served to further our understanding of the wear protection mechanism. Results from macroscopic engine wear studies, carried out in Sequence IIIE engines/stands using modified ASTM IIIE protocols, paralleled data obtained from the radioactive wear studies. They confirmed the positive wear protection benefits of this unique chemistry. Vehicle emission evaluations using the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) for light duty vehicles with this unique chemistry showed no detrimental effects either as added pollutants or catalyst degradation. Initial fuel economy data have also indicated a substantial benefit for this chemistry, especially under engine conditions emphasizing boundary lubrication. The paper will describe and discuss the test methods employed in evaluating this unique chemistry and the relevance of the resulting data to improved engine durability, emissions and fuel economy.