ILMA Compoundings January 2017 - 28

INFINEUM PERSPECTIVE:

Exploring Technology

Trends
Fuel economy improvement and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction
are undoubtedly the main drivers of
technological change in our industry.
As governments around the world
introduce and tighten CO2 emissions
legislation, vehicle manufacturers,
oil companies and additive suppliers
must collaborate on the development
of innovative and cost-efficient ways
to improve vehicle fuel economy. Here,
Infineum explores how lubricants are
evolving across different markets to
ensure they contribute toward these
requirements and deliver sufficient
hardware protection.

PASSENGER CAR
In the passenger car market, increasingly
stringent emissions regulations are having
an impact on hardware developments. The
emerging smaller, more complex systems
present a challenging environment for
engine oil, particularly as viscosities get
lower. Lubricants must keep engines cleaner longer, sustain thermal stability while
preventing oil degradation, protect both
the engine and aftertreatment technologies
and, at the same time, contribute to fuel

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JANUARY 2017

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

economy performance while protecting the
engine from wear.
The drive to improve fuel economy
means we can expect smaller, turbocharged,
gasoline direct injected engines to be
deployed more widely in all the key markets
of the world in the coming years. The latest
generation of these engines will be designed
for increased power density - making
them increasingly susceptible to low speed
pre-ignition (LSPI). Although relatively
infrequent, when LSPI does occur it can
result in damaged pistons, broken piston
rings and bent connecting rods.
Original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) can introduce engineering
solutions, such as cooled exhaust gas
recirculation, increased crevice volume and
higher ring tension, to help inhibit LSPI.
However, their cost represents a sacrifice in
on-the-road fuel economy through timid
engine management strategies, increased
weight and/or increased material costs.
At Infineum, we are conducting research
into the influence of lubricants and fuels
on the occurrence of LSPI. In addition, Infineum has been looking for ways to help
eliminate, or at least control, these unpredictable and highly undesirable events. In

Infineum's view, there is a sizable prize for
the OEMs who can use the lubricant to
maximize efficiency of the engine.
In North America, test development
continues to be the major challenge for
the new ILSAC GF-6 specification, and
industry stakeholders have acknowledged
that the first allowable use date is unlikely
to occur before the fourth quarter of
2018. This is a significant concern for
some OEMs who want to use technology
meeting the ILSAC GF-6 specifications for
their 2019 model year engines. Although
there has been significant progress with
regard to test understanding and precision
matrix work, not all tests have started,
and the ones that have are not without
concern. Differences between laboratories
is a key issue for many of the tests. The Sequence IIIH has made some good progress,
but others have lagged behind.
The Sequence IIIH is critical since
it can also be adopted to replace the
Sequence IIIF/G to allow current and
older API C and S specifications to be
maintained. The new Sequence VIE test
is also key to replace the Sequence VID,
but engine age could severely limit the
number of candidate tests, and this is
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ILMA Compoundings January 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings January 2017
