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The effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n-hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid

Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2014.

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Other Authors: De Vaal, Philip L.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 De Vaal, Philip L.
author_browse De Vaal, Philip L.
author_facet De Vaal, Philip L.
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:16.203Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/46242 The effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n-hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid De Vaal, Philip L. Langenhoven, Jacobus UCTD Seizure load Wear testing Adsorption Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2014. Liquid fuel lubricity testing is known to be sensitive to the humidity of the surrounding atmosphere. The effect reported does however not seem to be universal for all diesel types according to available literature. This study was limited to the use of n-hexadecane as base fluid with addition of between 100 - 2000 ppm of palmitic acid (PA) as lubricity enhancer. The fuel spectrum was kept simple to allow a more fundamental approach by limiting the extent of possible chemical reactions. Both wear and seizure load testing were performed. The effect of water on both tests was found to be:  Wear and friction increased with higher soluble water content. Water therefore interferes with the action of the lubricating additive leading to decreased performance.  It is known that hydroxyl groups, from dissociative chemisorption of water, act as active sites for adsorption. It is however postulated that the associative chemisorption and/or physisorption of water interferes by either reducing the active site availability or reducing activity to ligand exchange.  No iron oxyhydroxides (FeOOH) were detected on the wear scars or tracks using Raman spectroscopy. The adsorbed water therefore likely only interact with the surface due to their low concentrations (10 ~ 50 ppm).Liquid fuel lubricity testing is known to be sensitive to the humidity of the surrounding atmosphere. The effect reported does however not seem to be universal for all diesel types according to available literature. This study was limited to the use of n-hexadecane as base fluid with addition of between 100 - 2000 ppm of palmitic acid (PA) as lubricity enhancer. The fuel spectrum was kept simple to allow a more fundamental approach by limiting the extent of possible chemical reactions. Both wear and seizure load testing were performed. The effect of water on both tests was found to be:  Wear and friction increased with higher soluble water content. Water therefore interferes with the action of the lubricating additive leading to decreased performance.  It is known that hydroxyl groups, from dissociative chemisorption of water, act as active sites for adsorption. It is however postulated that the associative chemisorption and/or physisorption of water interferes by either reducing the active site availability or reducing activity to ligand exchange.  No iron oxyhydroxides (FeOOH) were detected on the wear scars or tracks using Raman spectroscopy. The adsorbed water therefore likely only interact with the surface due to their low concentrations (10 ~ 50 ppm). For wear testing the following additional observations were made:  The electric contact resistance (ECR) took longer to increase at higher soluble water content, for all PA concentrations. The equilibrium values attained were also lower, when values were within the measurement range. This again highlights the reduced lubricity performance at higher soluble water content.  Wear scar appearance and colour were uniquely affected at each concentration of PA  Similar trends were observed at 60 °C and 80 °C. At the higher temperature:  Wear scar diameters increased.  Friction coefficients decreased and had less variance.  ECR values were similar, but took longer to increase to a steady value. For seizure load testing the following additional observations were made:  At higher water content, the oscillation-stroke on the test machine used tended to deviate more, before the actual seizure point was reached.  The effects of soluble water were more noticeable at lower PA concentrations. tm2015 Chemical Engineering MEng Unrestricted 2015-07-02T11:08:25Z 2015-07-02T11:08:25Z 2015/04/14 2014 Dissertation Langenhoven, J 2014, The effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n-hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid, MEng Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46242> A2015 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46242 en © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Seizure load
Wear testing
Adsorption
The effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n-hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid
title The effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n-hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid
title_full The effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n-hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid
title_fullStr The effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n-hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid
title_full_unstemmed The effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n-hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid
title_short The effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n-hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid
title_sort effects of humidity and soluble water content on the lubricity testing of a n hexadecane and palmitic acid test fluid
topic UCTD
Seizure load
Wear testing
Adsorption
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46242