Estimation of Marine Diesel Engine System Oil by Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract

It is important to know the characteristics (kinematic viscosity, water, Total Base Number, insolubles in pentane) of the system oil for the marine diesel engine operation. However, the conventional analysis for the system oil depending on the standard (such as ASTM, JIS, IP, etc) takes plenty of time, labor and cost. It doesn't always follow that the conventional analysis is the best. In order to keep a good engine operation and trouble-free, more quick analysis is required.
This paper examines the correlation between the characteristics of the 4-cycle marine diesel engine system oil in use and its infrared spectra. As the result, it is realized that we can quickly estimate the characteristics of the system oil by infrared spectra. We visualize the necessary care to be taken and problems encountered on estimating the characteristics.
And, this paper shows the feature of infrared spectra of the system oil during engine trouble (Blow-by) . We consider it from the view point of the diameter of soot particle.
Furthermore, we apply this method to the 2-cycle marine diesel engine system oil which has the increase of TBN and kinematic viscosity. These results suggest a lot of important information for engine operation, and this method is effective for estimating conditions of the system oil in a 2-cycle engine as well as a 4-cycle engine.