TABLE OF CONTENTS The type of power or fuel supply available will influence the decision on prime mover to be used. This is often electric power, but many items of plant such as compressors, generators or works locomotives, will be powered by diesel engines, as will most of the heavy goods vehicles used in and outside the works.
The oils for these engines have several functions to perform while in use. They must provide a lubricant film between moving parts to reduce friction and wear, hold products of combustion in suspension, prevent the formation of sludges and assist in cooling the engine. Unless the lubricant chosen fulfils these conditions successfully, deposits and sludge will form with a consequent undesirable increase in wear rate and decrease in engine life.
If the effects of friction are to be minimized, a lubricant film must be maintained continuously between the moving surfaces. Two types of motion are encountered in engines, rotary and linear. A full fluid-film between moving parts is the ideal form of lubrication, but in practice, even with rotary motion, this is not always achievable. At low engine speeds, for instance, bearing lubrication can be under boundary conditions.
The linear sliding motion between pistons, piston rings and cylinder walls creates lubrication problems which are some of the most difficult to overcome in an engine. The ring is exerting a force against the cylinder wall while at the same time the ring and piston are moving in the cylinder with...
