Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Lubricating properties of fuel oils : quantification of lubricity

Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2022.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: De Vaal, Philip L.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2023
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613502930157568
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 © 2022 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, 2022.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/89698
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:10.603Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/89698 Lubricating properties of fuel oils : quantification of lubricity De Vaal, Philip L. u13121261@tuks.co.za Thobejane, Trinity Fuel oils Friction Wear Lubricity Oxygen Asphaltenes UCTD Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2022. Asphaltenes are components of heavy fuel oils with complex aromatic structures containing heteroatoms (N, O, S) and metals (V, Fe, Ni) and contribute to the high viscosity of heavy fuel oils. Fuel oils are passed through pumps, filters, nozzles and other equipment before such fuel oils reach the burner section and therefore require good lubricating properties. In the recent past, several users of fuel oils have been experiencing problems such as blockages in the fuel oil filters and injector nozzles, increased wear and failures of pumps and, in some cases, decreased calorific efficiency of combustion. The high frequency reciprocating rig (HFRR) lubricity tester (method ISO 12156-1) was used to perform lubricity tests on fuel oil samples at different temperatures and atmospheric conditions to obtain a better understanding of the friction and wear behaviour of fuel oils. Three fuel oil samples with different asphaltene concentrations were selected for this purpose. These fuel oils were namely: a light cycle oil (LFO), a medium wax-blend oil (MFO) and a crude-derived heavy fuel oil (HFO). In an attempt to understand the role of oxygen as a contributing cause of the problems experienced with fuel oils at different temperatures, two atmospheres (i.e. oxygen-rich (atmospheric air) and inert (nitrogen)) were used to perform the lubricity tests. Results indicate that the presence of asphaltenes changes the viscosity behaviour of fuel oils, which, in turn affects the lubricity behaviour. LFO with no asphaltenes (solid particles only) has little impact on the coefficient of friction and wear from 60 to 115 °C. MFO containing high molecular weight paraffin (wax), low concentrations of asphaltenes and solid particles results in a more stable fuel oil, resulting in less friction and wear and good high temperature performance. HFO containing high concentrations of asphaltenes and solid particles results in very high coefficient of friction (COF) and severe abrasive wear at high temperatures. At low and moderate temperatures, unfiltered HFO performs comparable to filtered HFO without asphaltenes and solid particles. Key performance indicators like the wear scar diameter on the ball as well as the wear track on the test ball, showed unexpected results indicating that temperature and atmospheric conditions contribute to the friction and wear behaviour of the fuel oils, but that composition of each of these fuel oils played a significant role. For MFO, at high temperatures, wear increases drastically under nitrogen atmosphere when compared with oxygen-rich atmosphere. For HFO, the high concentration of asphaltenes content results in minimal change in the COF and wear with a change in environmental atmosphere. The poor lubricity of HFO is predominantly due to the asphaltenes and solid particles in HFO. Sasol, grant number SAP 127/20 GT Chemical Engineering MEng Unrestricted 2023-02-20T11:06:17Z 2023-02-20T11:06:17Z 2023-04-26 2022 Dissertation * A2023 https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/89698 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.21864243.v1 https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.22123247 en © 2022 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 Fuel oils
Friction
Wear
Lubricity
Oxygen
Asphaltenes
UCTD
Lubricating properties of fuel oils : quantification of lubricity
title Lubricating properties of fuel oils : quantification of lubricity
title_full Lubricating properties of fuel oils : quantification of lubricity
title_fullStr Lubricating properties of fuel oils : quantification of lubricity
title_full_unstemmed Lubricating properties of fuel oils : quantification of lubricity
title_short Lubricating properties of fuel oils : quantification of lubricity
title_sort lubricating properties of fuel oils quantification of lubricity
topic Fuel oils
Friction
Wear
Lubricity
Oxygen
Asphaltenes
UCTD
url https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/89698
https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.22123247