The topic for today is Engine Oil, Its the liquid that the engine drinks. I will tell you about the Engine Oil , What it is, It's properties and other things about Engine oil. Lets start with whats Engine Oil:
The basic requirement for any Engine to run is the oil which gives it the lubrication to perform the basic movement. Engine is made up of metallic parts which have a lot of friction and when the parts have to make any movement, the friction prevents the parts from doing so. The solution for this is a lubricant that decrease the friction and enhances the motion of the individual parts. The friction present between the parts convert the energy produced by engine into heat and Engine oil helps as an energy saver. Contact between moving surfaces also wears away those parts, which could lead to lower efficiency and degradation of the engine. Apart from lubricating the moving parts, the engine oil also serves as a protector from corrosion and also cleans the engine.
Engine Oil Working:
There are few engine parts involved in Oil Flow:
- Oil Pump
- Oil Filter
- Oil Supply Vents
Engine oil flows through whole engine and lubricate every part internally. All Engine oil is present at the bottom of the internal combustion engine. The function of
oil pump is to pump the oil from the bottom of the engine and then transfer it to flow through the
Oil Supply Vents which are present as small vents on the connecting rods(see
How Engine Works). The oil then fills up in the cylinders where pistons are moving. The Engine oil basically creates a thin layer of lubricant over the moving parts which prevents the direct contact between them at the time of movement. This Indirect contact reduces the friction. Even with such low friction, while in motion few minute particles of metals wears out from the engine parts and flow away with the oil. These waste particles are passed trapped inside the
oil filter which is present in the path of flow of oil. The extra oil reaches to the bottom of the engine from where it is again pumped up and the cycle goes on until the engine stops.
Since the parts are covered up with this Engine oil the chances of parts getting corroded is highly reduced and the life of the parts increases.
It's Properties??
Most of the engine oils are made up of petroleum hydrocarbons derived from crude oil and few additives which makes these oils useful. A basic and important property of engine oil is
viscosity. The viscosity of a liquid can be thought of as its "thickness" or a measure of its resistance to flow. The viscosity must be high enough to maintain a lubricating film, but low enough that the oil can flow around the engine parts under all conditions. The viscosity index is a measure of how much the oil's viscosity changes as temperature changes. A higher viscosity index indicates the viscosity changes less with temperature than a lower viscosity index.
Another property of the Engine oil is
Flash Point, It's the lowest temperature at which the oil starts burning. Since the temperature inside the engine is very very high, the oil should have high flash point otherwise the engine will burn out :). That's why the companies performs a check for minute volatile particles in the oil made and removes them so as to increase the flash point.
There are other properties which the manufacturers add on to improvise their product among the competition.
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| Range of Valvoline Engine Oils for Bikes, Cars And Trucks |
This is it about the
Engine Oils...Will come up with other interesting topics...
Happy Reading!!! :)
