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Rheological and Wettability Properties of Engine Oil with a Submicron Spherical Carbon Particle Lubricant Mixture

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Abstract

This study examined the physical and chemical properties of engine oil with a submicron-sized carbon particle lubricant mixture. Spherical carbon particles were added to engine oil to lower the friction and wear losses. In the current study, morphological and chemical analyses of these carbon particles were performed using field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results clearly demonstrated that these spherical particles consist of a pure carbon element. In addition, the size distribution and dispersion stability of the carbon particles in the engine oil were investigated. The results revealed that the carbon particles have a diameter in the range of 200 to 700 nm, and they maintain their suspension in the engine oil for about 240 hours without using surfactants. Rheological studies were conducted to explore the effect of carbon particles on the rheological properties of the baseline oil at different temperatures and shear rates. The viscosity measurements, at temperature ranging from 5 to 60 °C, for the baseline oil and the oil-carbon particle lubricant mixture were almost identical (less than 4 % difference). Furthermore, a wettability analysis was performed to examine the effect of carbon particles on the wetting behavior of the baseline oil on a steel substrate.

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Abbreviations

CA:

contact angle, degree

CS:

carbon spheres

s :

shear strain rate, s−1

η :

absolute viscosity of a fluid, Pa·s

τ :

shear stress, Pa

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (PR18-15EM-03) and Kuwait University General Facility (Grant No. GE 01/07). The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their corrections and helpful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait, 13060, Kuwait

    Abdullah Awad Alazemi

  2. Energy and Building Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat, Kuwait, 13109, Kuwait

    Feras Ghazi Alzubi & Abdulsalam Alhazza

  3. Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907-2100, USA

    Arthur Dysart & Vilas Ganpat Pol

Authors
  1. Abdullah Awad Alazemi
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  2. Feras Ghazi Alzubi
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  3. Abdulsalam Alhazza
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  4. Arthur Dysart
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  5. Vilas Ganpat Pol
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Correspondence to Abdullah Awad Alazemi.

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Alazemi, A.A., Alzubi, F.G., Alhazza, A. et al. Rheological and Wettability Properties of Engine Oil with a Submicron Spherical Carbon Particle Lubricant Mixture. Int.J Automot. Technol. 21, 1475–1482 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-020-0139-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-020-0139-z

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