The Influence of an On Line Oil Recycler on Oil Quality with Oil Age from a Low Emission DI Diesel Engine

A method of cleaning lubricating oil on line was investigated using a fine bypass particulate filter followed by an infrared heater, to remove water and light diesel fractions in the oil. The impact of this oil recycler with 1 micron fine bypass filter on oil quality was investigated over a 72 hour oil age. Comparisons tests were undertaken without and with the recycler on a Euro 2 Perkins Phaser 180Ti 6 cylinder 6 litre turbo-charged inter-cooled DI diesel engine. The tests were carried out at 2000rpm and 100kW with 473 Nm load. A stop start test cycle was used with a cold start each time and a typical test period of 2 hours. The results showed that the oil quality in this low emission engine test was extremely good. The on line recycler achieved improvements in the oil quality. With the recycler, the carbon accumulation rate in the oil was reduced by 78%. The carbon removal rate by the recycler was 0.40 g/hr. The wear metals in the oil were significantly reduced. Typically, the iron was reduced by 67%. The fuel dilution in the oil was removed using the recycler. The oil recycler also reduced the lubricating oil consumption by 21% and the fuel consumption by 0.7% over the test period.