Aspects of Influencing Oil Consumption in Diesel Engines for Low Emissions

Reducing the fraction of particulate emissions originating from the lube oil is an important element in the overall strategy to meet the EPA 1991/94 Heavy Duty Diesel Emissions Standards.

This paper therefore presents a report of fundamental studies to determine the influence of oil consumption on particulate emissions - analyzed into soot, fuel and lube oil fractions.

The paper further reports on studies carried out with a number of heavy duty and medium duty diesel engines with the object of reducing oil consumption mainly by means of modifications to the piston rings. Based on the results, an attempt is made to give some recommendations for piston ring designs for low oil consumption.