A New Method for the Investigation of Unburned Oil Emissions in the Raw Exhaust of SI Engines

The study of oil emission is of essential interest for the engine development of modern cars, as well as for the understanding of hydrocarbon emissions especially during cold start conditions.

A laser mass spectrometer has been used to measure single aromatic hydrocarbons in unconditioned exhaust gas of a H₂-fueled engine at stationary and transient motor operation. These compounds represent unburned oil constituents. The measurements were accompanied by FID and GC-FID measurements of hydrocarbons which represent the burned oil constituents. The total oil consumption has been determined by measuring the oil sampled by freezing and weighing. It has been concluded that only 10 % of the oil consumption via exhaust gas has burned in the cylinders.

A correlation of the emission of single oil-based components at ppb level detected with the laser mass spectrometer to the total motor oil emission has been found. Thus, the system provides an on-line method for measurement of the oil consumption.