UNIT-3

FUELS AND LUBRICANTS

Fuels:
Fuel is any combustible substance containing carbon as the major constituent.
This on proper burning gives large amount of heat that can be economically used for
domestic and industrial purposes. In short, any source of heat energy is known as fuel.

Eg: Wood, coal, coke, petrol, LPG, CNG

During the process of combustion of a fuel, the atoms of carbon, hydrogen, etc.,
combine with oxygen simultaneously liberating heat at a rapid rate.

Fuel + O2 → products + heat

Analysis of coal:

The composition of coal varies widely. Hence, the quality of a coal is ascertained
by the following two types of analysis:

• The proximate analysis

• The ultimate analysis

Proximate analysis:

It is called ‘proximate’ because the data collected vary with the procedure
adopted. It is an empirical but an important analysis dealing with the determination of:
moisture content, volatile matter, ash content, fixed carbon.

Determination of moisture content in coal:

Typical range is 0.5 to 10%. It is the loss in weight of coal caused by heating a
weighed quantity of coal sample for one hour at 105°C.

𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙

% 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 = × 100
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦

Moisture:

• Increases heat loss, due to evaporation and superheating of vapour.

 • Helps, to a limit, in binding fines.
• Aids radiation heat transfer.

Determination of volatile matter (V.M) in coal:

It is the loss in weight of moisture free powdered coal when heated in a crucible
fitted with cover in a muffle furnace at 950°C for 7 minutes.

𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙

% 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙 = × 100
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛

Volatile Matters are the methane, hydrocarbons, hydrogen and carbon monoxide,
and incombustible gases like carbon dioxide and nitrogen found in coal. Typical range
of volatile matter is 20 to 35%. Volatile matter:

• Proportionately increases flame length, and helps in easier ignition of coal.

• Sets minimum limit on the furnace height and volume.
• Influences secondary air requirement and distribution aspects.
• Influences secondary oil support.

Determination of ash in coal:

Ash is an impurity that will not burn. Typical range is 5 to 40%. It is the weight
of residue obtained after burning a known weight of coal in an open crucible in the
presence of air at 750°C for 30 minutes.

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑

% 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙 = × 100
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛

Ash:

• Reduces handling and burning capacity.

• Increases handling costs.
• Affects combustion efficiency and boiler efficiency.
• Causes clinkering and slagging.
Determination of fixed carbon:

Fixed Carbon is the solid fuel left in the furnace after volatile matter is distilled
off. It consists mostly of carbon but also contains some hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur and
nitrogen not driven off with the gases. Fixed carbon gives a rough estimate of heating
value of coal. It is determined indirectly by deducting the sum total of moisture, volatile
matter and ash percentage from 100.

% of fixed carbon in coal = 100 - % (moisture + V.M. + ash)

Ultimate analysis:

• It refers to the determination of weight % of C, H, N, O and S of pure, dry coal.

• This analysis gives the elementary and ultimate constituents of coal.
• This analysis is essential for calculating heat balances in any process for which
coal is employed as a fuel.
• It is useful to the designing of coal burning equipment and auxiliaries.

Determination of carbon and hydrogen in coal:

A known amount of coal is burnt in presence of oxygen thereby converting

carbon and hydrogen of coal into:

i. CO2 (C + O2 → CO2) and

ii. H2O (H2 + 1/2O2 → H2O) respectively.

The products of combustion, CO2 and H2O, are passing over weighed tubes of
anhydrous CaCl2 and KOH. They absorb H2O and CO2 respectively.

CaCl2 + 2H2O → CaCl2 + 2H2O

2KOH + CO2 → K2CO3 + H2O

The increase in the weight of CaCl2 tube represents the weight of water formed.

The increase in the weight of KOH tube represents the weight of CO2 formed.
Determination of nitrogen:

This is done by Kjeldhal’s method. A known amount of powdered coal is heated

with conc. sulphuric acid in the presence of K2SO4 and CuSO4 in a long necked,
Kjeldhal’s flask. This converts nitrogen of coal to ammonium sulphate. When the clear
solution is obtained (i.e., the whole of nitrogen is converted into ammonium sulphate).
It is heated with 50% NaOH solution and the following reaction occurs.

(NH4)2SO4 + 2NaOH → Na2SO4 + 2NH3 + H2O

The ammonia thus formed is distilled over and is absorbed in a known quantity of
standard 0.1N H2SO4 solution. The volume of unused 0.1N H2SO4 is then determined
by titrating against standard NaOH solution. Thus, the amount of acid neutralized by
liberated ammonia from coal is determined. Then, the % of nitrogen in the coal sample
is calculated as,

14 × 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑑 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 × 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦

% 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙 = × 100
1000𝑥

Significance: Presence of nitrogen decreases the calorific value of the coal. However,
when coal is carbonized, its N2 and H2 combine and form NH3. Ammonia is recovered
as (NH4)2SO4, a valuable fertilizer.

Determination of sulphur in coal:

A known amount of coal is burnt completely in Bomb calorimeter in presence of

oxygen. Ash thus obtained contains sulphur of coal as sulphate which is extracted with
dil. HCl. The acid extract is then treated with BaCl2 solution to precipitate sulphate as
BaSO4. The precipitate is filtered, washed, dried and weighed.

Significance: It increases the calorific value of the coal, yet it has the following
undesirable effect. The oxidation products of sulphur (SO2, SO3) especially in presence
of moisture forms sulphuric acid which corrodes the equipment and pollutes the
atmosphere.

Determination of oxygen in coal:

It is calculated indirectly as
 % of oxygen in coal = 100 - % (C + H + N + S + ash)

Significance: The less the oxygen content, the better is the coal. As the oxygen content
increases, its moisture holding capacity also increases.

Carbonisation:

When bituminous coal is heated strongly in absence of air, the volatile matter
escapes out and a white, dense, lustrous, strong, porous and coherent mass is left which
is called metallurgical coke. This process is called carbonisation.

Depending upon the temperature used for carbonisation, it is classified as:

• Low Temperature Carbonisation (LTC) done at 500-700°C

• High Temperature Carbonisation (HTC) done at 900-1300°C

Manufacture of metallurgical coke (Otto Hoffmann’s method):

Description of oven: The oven consists of a number of narrow silica chambers, each
about 10-12m long, 3-4m tall and 0.4-0.45m wide, erected side by side with vertical
flues between them to form a sort of battery. Each chamber has a hole at the top to
introduce the charge, a gas off take and a refractory lined cast iron door at each end for
coke discharge. The oven works on heat regenerative principle, i.e., the waste gas
produced during carbonisation is utilised for heating. The ovens are charged from the
top and closed to restrict the entry of air.
Working: finely powdered, crushed coal is introduced through the charging hole at the
top of the chambers which are then tightly closed at both ends to cut off the supply of
air. The ovens are heated to 1200°C by burning producer gas. The air required for the
combustion of the fuel is preheated in regenerators flanking the retorts. When the flue
gases leave their required heat to one generator, the other generator is used for
preheating the incoming air. The cycle goes on and the heating is continued until all the
volatile matter has escaped. It takes nearly 18 hours for carbonisation of a charge. The
heating of air alone is required if the fuel gas is coal gas which has a high calorific value.
If the fuel is producer gas or blast furnace gas, both air and fuel need to be preheated as
they have low calorific value. When the carbonisation is over, the red hot coke is pushed
out into truck by a massive ram. It is the quenched by spraying water. Alternatively, the
red hot coke may be placed in a chamber and cooled by sending inert gases from boilers.
The inert gases are then circulated to boilers where they generate steam. This method is
known as dry quenching. The dry quenched coke is cleaner, drier, stronger and contains
lesser dust than the wet quenched. The yield is about 70%.

Recovery of by-products:

The gas coming out of the retort is known as coke oven gas. This consists of tar,
ammonia, moisture, aromatic hydrocarbons (naphthalene, benzene), H2S, etc. It can be
used as a fuel after removing coal tar and ammonia.
Recovery of tar: The coke oven gas is first passed through a tower in which liquid
ammonia is sprayed. Tar and dust get collected in a tank below. This is heated by a
steam coil to recover back the ammonia sprayed.

Recovery of ammonia: The coke oven gas is passed through another tower in which
water is sprayed. Gaseous ammonia goes into solution as NH4OH.

Recovery of naphthalene: After removing ammonia, the remaining gases are led through
another tower where water is sprayed at low temperature when naphthalene gets
condensed.

Recovery of benzene: The resultant gas from the previous step is sprayed with petroleum
whereby benzene and its homologues can be recovered.

Recovery of H2S: The gases are then passed through a purifier, packed with moist Fe2O3.
H2S is retained here.

Fe2O3 + 3 H2S → Fe2S3 + 3H2O

When all the Fe2O3 is converted into Fe2S3, the purifier on exposure to the atmosphere,
regenerates Fe2O3 as

Fe2S3 + 4O2 → 2FeO + 3SO2

4FeO + O2 → 2 Fe2O3

Advantages:

• Valuable by products like ammonia, benzene are obtained

• Heating is done by producer gas
• The carbonisation time is low

Characteristics of metallurgical coke:

The most important industrial fuel is the metallurgical coke. This is used in the
metallurgical industry, especially in the blast furnace. A good metallurgical coke must
have the following requirements:
 • Purity: Low moisture and ash content are desirable in metallurgical coke. It must
contain minimum percentage of phosphorous and sulphur.
• Porosity: High porosity is desirable in furnace coke to obtain high rate of
combustion.
• Strength: The coke should be hard and strong to withstand pressure of ore, flux
etc. in the furnace.
• Size: Metallurgical coke must be uniform and medium size.
• Calorific value: This should be high.
• Combustibility: It should burn easily.
• Reactivity: It refers to its ability to react with O2, CO2, steam and air. The
metallurgical coke must have low reactivity.
• Cost: It must be cheap and readily available.

Petroleum:

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring dark, greenish brown, viscous oil
formed under the crust of earth, on shore or off shore. Chemically it is a mixture of
various hydrocarbons with small amount of oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur compounds.
The average composition of crude petroleum is

C = 80-87%, H = 11-15%, S = 0.1-3.5%, (N+O) = 0.1-0.5%

Classification:

• Paraffinic base type crude oil-composed of the saturated hydrocarbons from CH4
to C35H72 and a little of naphthalenes and aromatics. Eg: Pennsylvanian and Gulf
coast oil.
• Asphaltic base type crude oil-contains mainly cycloparaffins or naphthalenes
with smallest amount of paraffins and aromatic hydrocarbons. Eg: Californian
oil.
• Mixed base type crude oil-contains both paraffinic and aromatic hydrocarbons.
Eg: Mexican oil.
Diesel:

When crude oil is fractionally distilled, diesel oil is obtained in the temperature
range of 250-320°C. It is a mixture having C15H32 to C18H38 hydrocarbons. Its calorific
value is 11000 kcal/kg. It is used as a very good fuel in CI engines. Its antiknock value
can be improved by doping with isoamyl nitrate.

Manufacture of synthetic petrol (Bergius process):

This process was first proposed by Bergius in Germany. It consists of converting

low grade coal such as bituminous coal into liquid and gaseous fuels by hydrogenating
them in presence of iron oxide as catalyst. The raw materials used in the process are
coal dust, heavy oil and nickel oleate or tin oleate. A coal paste is prepared by mixing
coal dust with heavy oil and catalyst. It is then pumped into the converted where the
paste is heated to 450°C under 200-250 atmosphere in the presence of hydrogen.

The reaction products mainly contain mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons.

Coal dust suspended in heavy oil + H2 450 °C Mixture of hydrocarbons

Condensation
Crude Oil
Since the reaction is exothermic, the vapours leaving the converters are condensed in
the condenser to give synthetic petroleum or crude oil.

The crude oil is then fractionally distilled to give – petrol, middle oil, heavy oil

Middle oil is again hydrogenated in presence of solid catalyst to produce more amount
of petroleum. Heavy oil is used for making paste with fresh coal dust which is required
for this process.

Knocking:

In an internal combustion engine, a mixture of gasoline (petroleum) vapour and

air is used as a fuel. After the initiation of the combustion reaction by spark in the
cylinder, the flame should spread rapidly and smoothly through the gaseous mixture;
thereby the expanding gas drives the piston down the cylinder. The ratio of the gaseous
volume in the cylinder at the end of the suction stroke to the volume at the end of
compression stroke of the piston is known as the compression ratio. The efficiency of
an internal combustion engine increases with the compression ratio.

“Knocking is a kind of explosion due to rapid pressure rise occurring in an IC engine”.

However, successful high compression ratio is dependent on the nature of the

constituents present in the gasoline used. In certain circumstances, due to the presence
of some constituents in the gasoline used, the rate of oxidation becomes so great that
the last portion of the fuel air mixture gets ignited instantaneously producing an
explosive violence known as knocking. The knocking results in loss of efficiency, since
this ultimately decreases the compression ratio. The tendency of fuel constituents to
knock is in the following order:

Straight chain paraffins > Branched chain paraffins > Olefins > Cycloparaffins >
Aromatics

Octane number:

The most common way of expressing the knocking characteristic of a

combustion engine fuel is octane number. It has been found that n-heptane,
3−CH2−CH2−CH2−CH2−CH2−CH3, knocks very badly and hence, its antiknock value
has been arbitrarily given zero. On the other hand, iso-octane (2,2,4 –trimethylpentane)

gives very little knocking, so its antiknock value has been given as 100. Greater the
octane number, greater is the resistance to knocking.

Definition: The percentage of iso-octane present in a mixture of iso-octane and n-

heptane which matches the fuel under test in knocking characteristics is known as
octane number or octane rating.

Cetane number:

In a diesel engine, the fuel is exploded not by a spark but by the application of
heat and pressure. Diesel engine fuels consist of longer chain hydrocarbons than internal
combustion engine fuels. In other words, hydrocarbon molecules in a diesel fuel should
be as far as possible the straight chain ones, with a minimum admixture of aromatics
and side chain hydrocarbon molecules. Cetane number is introduced to express the
knocking characteristics of diesel. Cetane (C16H34) has a very short ignition delay and
hence its cetane number is taken as 100. On the other hand, 2-methyl naphthalene has
a long ignition delay and hence its cetane number is taken as zero.

Definition: The percentage of cetane present in a mixture of cetane and 2-methyl

naphthalene which has the same ignition delay as the fuel under test is known as cetane
number. The cetane number decreases as:

Straight chain paraffins > Cycloparaffins > Olefins > Branched paraffins > Aromatics

Thus, an oil of high octane number has a low cetane number and vice-versa.

Power alcohol:

When ethyl alcohol is used as fuel in internal combustion engine, it is called as

power alcohol. Generally, ethyl alcohol is used as its 5-25% mixture with petrol.
Advantages:

• Ethyl alcohol has good antiknocking property and its octane number is 90, while
the octane number of petrol is about is 65. Therefore, addition of ethyl alcohol
increases the octane number of petrol.
• Alcohol has property of absorbing any traces of water if present in petrol.
• If specially designed engine with higher compression ratio is used, then
disadvantage of lower Calorific value of ethyl alcohol can be overcome.
• Ethyl alcohol contains ‘O’ atoms, which helps for complete combustion of power
alcohol and the polluting emissions of CO, hydrocarbon, particulates are reduced
largely.
• Use of ethyl alcohol in petrol reduces our dependence on foreign countries for
petrol and saves foreign considerably.
• Power alcohol is cheaper than petrol.

Disadvantages:

• Ethyl alcohol has calorific value 7000cal/gm much lower than calorific value of
petrol 11500cal/gm. Use of power alcohol reduces power output upto 35%.
• Ethyl alcohol has high surface tension and its atomisation, especially at lower
temperature, is difficult causing starting trouble.
• Ethyl alcohol may undergo oxidation reaction to form acetic acid, which
corrodes engine parts.
• As ethyl alcohol contains ‘O’ atoms, the amount of air requires for complete
combustion of power alcohol is lesser and therefore carburettor and engine need
to be modified, when only ethyl alcohol is used as fuel.

Biodiesel:

A fuel derived from organic oils, such as vegetable oil, rather than petroleum.
Biodiesel’s use and production are increasing. It’s typically used for aircraft, vehicles
and as heating oil.
 Vegetable oils comprise of 90−95% triglycerides with small amount of
diglycerides, free fatty acids, phospholipids, etc. The viscosity of vegetable oils is
higher and their molecular weights are in the range of 600 to 900, which are about 3
times higher than those of the diesel fuels.

Problems in using vegetable oils directly:

• As the viscosity of vegetable oils are high, atomization is very poor and hence
inefficient mixing of oil with air leads to incomplete combustion.
• Oxidation and Thermal polymerization of vegetable oils cause deposit
formation.
• Their high velocity and consequent high flash point lead to more deposit
formation.

Manufacture: Trans-esterification (or) Alcoholysis:

The above problems are overcome by reducing the viscosity of the vegetable oils
by the process known as trans-esterification or alcoholysis. Alcoholysis is nothing but
displacement of alcohol from an ester by another alcohol.

It involves treatment of vegetable oil (sunflower oil, palm oil, soyabean oil,
mustard oil, etc.) with excess of methanol in the presence of catalyst to give mono ethyl
esters of long chain fatty acid and glycerine. It is allowed to stand for some time and
glycerine is separated.
Methyl esters of fatty acids, thus formed, are called “Bio-diesel”. Bio diesel is defined
as mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or fats.

Advantages:

• It can be produced from renewable, domestic resources.

• Biodiesel is energy efficient (The total fossil fuel energy efficiency of biodiesel
is 320% vs. 83% for petroleum diesel).
• It can be used directly in most diesel engine applications.
• It can reduce global warming and tailpipe emissions (−41%).
• It is nontoxic and biodegradable.
• It is a good solvent and may clean out fuel line and tank sediments. (Note that
this may result in fuel filter clogging during initial use).

Limitations:

• It contains approximately 8% less energy per gallon.

• It generally has a higher cloud and pour point (will freeze at a higher temp) than
conventional diesel.
• It is not compatible with some hose and gasket materials, which may cause them
to soften, degrade, and rupture.
• It is not compatible with some metals and plastics.
• It may increase nitrogen oxide emissions.

Lubricants:

The resistance offered by a fixed or moving surface to the free movement of

another surface which is in close proximity is known as friction. This resistance is
developed due to the interlocking of irregularities of the moving surface. Even polished
surfaces also have irregularities. This friction causes a lot of wear and tear of moving
parts in machineries. Friction also reduces the efficiency of the machine because a large
amount of heat is produced due to friction which affects the parts of the machines.

Definition: In order to minimize the frictional effects, chemical substances are

introduced in between the moving surfaces. These chemical substances are known as
lubricants. The process of reducing friction between two moving surfaces with respect
to one another by introducing lubricant between them is called lubrication.

Characteristics of a good lubricant:

A good lubricant

• Should not undergo any oxidation, reduction, decomposition at high

temperatures.
• Should not corrode the machine parts.
• Should have high oiliness, viscosity index and aniline point.
• Should have higher flash and fire points than the operating temperature.

Classification of lubricants:

Lubricants can be broadly classified, on the basis of their physical state as

follows:

i. Liquid lubricants or lubricating oils

E.g., Vegetable oils-olive oil, palm oil, castor oil
Animal oils-whale oil, lard oil, tallow oil
Mineral oil-petroleum fractions
Synthetic oils-silicones, polyglycol ethers, fluolubes
ii. Semi-solid lubricants
E.g., greases, vaselines
iii. Solid lubricants
E.g., graphite, molybdenum disulphide, mica, chalk, talc, etc.
iv. Emulsions
Oil in water type. E.g., cutting emulsions
Water in oil type. E.g., cooling liquids

Properties of lubricants:

1. Viscosity: It is a measure of the resistance offered by a liquid/fluid to its own

flow. Viscosity measurements are based on time in seconds for a give quantity
 of oil to pass through a standard orifice (small hole) under a given set of
conditions. Viscosity of a lubricant oil can be determined by
• Redwood method
• Engler method
• Saybolt method
• U-tube method

Viscosity is the most important single property of any lubricating oil, because it
is the main determinant of the operating characteristics of the lubricant.

• If the viscosity of the oil is too low, a liquid oil film cannot be maintained
between two moving surfaces. Consequently, excessive wear will take
place.
• If the viscosity is too high, excessive friction will result.
2. Viscosity index (V.I): Viscosity of the liquid decreases with increase in
temperature. The rate of change of viscosity of an oil with temperature is
measured by an arbitrary scale, known as viscosity index. It is defined as the
average decrease in viscosity per degree rise of temperature between 100 and
210F.
• A good lubricating oil should not change its viscosity much with change
in temperature (high V.I).
• If the viscosity of oil falls rapidly with the increase of temperature, it has
low V.I.
3. Flash and fire point:
Flash point is the lowest temperature at which the lubricating oil gives off
enough vapours that ignite for moment when a small flame is brought near it.
Fire point is the lowest temperature at which the vapours of the lubricating
oil burn continuously for at least five seconds when a tiny flame is brought near
it.
• In most of the cases the fire points are 5-40° higher than the flash points.
• Flash point is an indication of the vaporisation of the oil lubricants.
 • A good lubricant oil of high flash and fire point is essential for machines
working at high temperature.
• A good lubricant oil must have flash point at least above the temperature
at which it is to be used. This safeguards against risks of fire during its
transport and storage of the lubricating oil.
4. Cloud and pour point:
As petroleum oil is cooled under specified conditions, it gets cloudy at
first and then solidifies. The temperature at which a cloudy or hazy appearance
is noticed is called cloud point of the oil. On cooling the oil, the impurities
present in the oil crystallise out and the oil becomes turbid. The cloud point is
useful to fix the lowest possible temperature up to which a machine can be
operated without any risk of jamming.
The temperature at which the oil will pour or flow when cooled is known
as pour point. It is also the temperature at which an oil will no longer flow from
a standard test tube. For lubricating oils, the pour point has a greater significance.
It determines the suitability of a lubricant for low temperature installations.
Hence, it is essential for fixing the lowest temperature up to which the flow of
lubricant is reliable.
A good lubricant must have low cloud point and pour point. Pour point of a
lubricant can be lowered by
• Lowering the viscosity of the oil
• Dewaxing
• Adding suitable chemical called pour point depressant. E.g., Paraflow
(polyalkylbenzene) can lower the pour point by as much as 50F.
5. Oiliness: Oiliness if a lubricant is a measure of its capacity to stick to the surface
of the machine parts under heavy load or pressure.
Lubricating oil with poor oiliness will be easily squeezed out when machines
work under heavy load. Hence, a good lubricating oil should have good oiliness.
6. Aniline point: It is defined as the minimum equilibrium solution temperature
for equal volume of aniline and oil sample.
 • Aniline point gives an indication of the possible deterioration of oil on
contact with rubber sealings, packing, etc.
• A higher aniline point means lower % of aromatic hydrocarbons and the
oil is good. This is because the aromatic hydrocarbons present in the oil
may dissolve synthetic rubber and hence the oil may be deteriorated
during rubber sealing and packings.
• The oil with lower aniline point is not desirable.
7. Neutralisation number: It is defined as the number of milligrams of KOH
required to neutralise the free acids in 1g of the oil.
• A lubricating oil should possess acid value less than oil.
• Values greater than oil indicates that oil has been oxidised. This will
consequently lead to corrosion, besides gum and sludge formation.
8. Saponification number: It is defined as the number of milligrams of KOH
required to saponify 1g of the oil. This is calculated using the formula,
x × 28.05
Saponification number =
weight of lubricating oil
Where x is the difference between KOH and 0.5N HCl.
• Mineral oils do not saponify at all, but animal and vegetable oils do.
• Hence, this test helps to ascertain whether the oil under reference is
animal and vegetable oil or mineral oil or a compounded oil containing
mineral and vegetable oils.
9. Iodine value: It is the number of milligrams of iodine absorbed by 1g of the oil.
• The degree of unsaturation of oils and fats is reported in terms of iodine
value.
• It is used to determine the extent of contamination in any specific oil.
10. Emulsification: It is the property of oils to get intimately mixed with water,
forming a mixture called emulsion.
• Certain oils form emulsion with water easily.
• Emulsions have a tendency to collect dirt, dust, grit and foreign matter,
thereby causing abrasion and wearing out of the lubricated parts of the
machinery.
 • A good lubricating oil should form an emulsion with water, which breaks
off quickly.
• A good lubricant should have a low steam emulsion number.

Mechanism of lubricants:

There are mainly three types of mechanism of lubrication. They are:

• Fluid film or thick film or hydrodynamic lubrication

• Thin film or boundary lubrication
• Extreme pressure lubrication

Hydrodynamic lubrication:

In this lubrication, two moving surfaces are separated from each other by a thick
film of lubricating oil of thickness around 1000Å. Hence, it prevents the direct contact
between these rubbing surfaces and welding of junctions generally does not occur.

This happens because, the lubricating oil covers the irregularities of the sliding
surfaces and forms a thick layer in between them. Hence, there is no direct contact
between the material surfaces. Actually, the shaft floats in the lubricant. Thus,
practically there is no wear.

The resistance to movement of moving parts only due to the internal resistance
between the particles of the lubricant moving over each other. Based on this principle,
the lubricant chosen should have low viscosity.

Boundary lubrication:
 This type of lubrication is done when a thick fluid film cannot be maintained
between the two moving surfaces so that direct metal to metal contact is possible. This
happens when:

• The viscosity of the oil is low

• The load is very high
• The speed of the movement is very low
• A shaft starts moving from rest

Under such conditions, the lubricant should be adsorbed physically or chemically on

both the metallic surfaces. These adsorbed lubricant layers avoid the direct metal to
metal contact. The coefficient of friction in these cases is around 0.1.

In this boundary lubrication, the metal surfaces are closer to each other. But still
they are well separated by the lubricant. The property of the oil which enhances the
adsorption and maintenance of the thin film is called oiliness. High viscosity index,
resistance to heat and oxidation, good oiliness ND POUR POINT re some of the good
qualities of boundary lubricants.

Extreme pressure lubrication:

When the moving surfaces are under very high pressure and speed, the lubricants
may decompose or vaporise and they may not stick on the surfaces because high local
temperature is produced. In order to meet these extreme pressure conditions, special
additives called extreme pressure additives are added to the mineral oils. Extreme
pressure additives are compounds having active groups such as:
 • Chlorine (chlorinated esters)
• Sulphur (sulphurised oils)
• Phosphorus (tricresyl phosphate)

At high temperatures, they react with metal giving surface layers like metal chlorides,
sulphides or phosphides. These surface layers have high melting point and serve as good
lubricant under extreme pressure and temperature conditions.

Applications of lubricants:

• Lubricants are primarily used to reduce the friction between two moving
surfaces.
• Rust and corrosion inhibitors.
• Used in the soap and paint industries.
• Liquid lubricants are used in medicines.
• Lubricants are also used as cutting fluid in cutting, grinding, drilling of metals.
• Used as anti-wear, antioxidants, and antifoaming agents.
• In automotive industry-engine oil, automatic transmission fluid, gearbox fluid.
• In marine and aviation