Wear mechanism and wear prevention in coal-fueled diesel engines

Technical Report · Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5552551· OSTI ID:5552551

Schwalb, J A

Contamination of the lube-oil with hard abrasive particles leads to a three-body abrasive wear mechanism that highly accelerates piston ring/cylinder liner wear in coal-fueled diesel engines. One approach to reducing that wear is to modify the size and orientation of surface asperities on the cylinder to enhance the formation of a hydrodynamic film, and to provide avenues of escape for particles that would otherwise be trapped in the wear zone. Another approach is to introduce additives into the contaminated lube-oil that further enhance hydrodynamic film formation, form chemical films on the wearing surfaces, or form films on the contaminant particles. This work focuses on defining the effects of cylinder liner surface finish, various configurations of slots in the cylinder liner surface, and various additives in the contaminated lube-oil on the wear process. Wear tests were initiated in a bench apparatus using coal-ash contaminated lube-oil to test the various wear configurations. The results of these tests indicate that the formation of a hydrodynamic film between the ring and cylinder specimens is enhanced by increasing surface roughness, and by orienting the surface asperities normal to the direction of ring travel but modifications to the cylinder liner surface did not greatly reduce the wear rate. Additives to the lubricant seemed to have a much more significant effect on wear, with a dispersant additive highly accelerating the wear, while a detergent additive was able to reduce the wear almost to the rate achieved where there was no contaminant.

• Research Organization: Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States). Engine, Fuel, and Vehicle Research Div.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC21-89MC26044
• OSTI ID: 5552551
• Report Number(s): DOE/MC/26044-3048; ON: DE92001123
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
DIESEL ENGINES
WEAR
PISTONS
SURFACE PROPERTIES
ABRASION
ADDITIVES
COAL LIQUIDS
FILMS
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
LUBRICATION
WEAR RESISTANCE
ENGINES
FLUIDS
HEAT ENGINES
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
LIQUIDS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
330102* - Internal Combustion Engines- Diesel
014000 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Combustion