Evaluating petrol engine oil deterioration through oxidation and nitration parameters by low-cost IR sensor

Abstract

For the proper working of the internal combustion engine, engine oil plays a significant role. The performance of the engine is greatly affected by oil that has degenerated. In order to determine the optimal gap between oil changes, it is crucial to measure the deterioration in the engine oil. Multiple parameters like oxidation, nitration, viscosity and so on are brought into use. One of the methods used to quantify the deterioration in the engine oil is the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The main parameters of the engine oil are distinguished by this method by utilizing Infrared (IR) absorption at different bandwidths. The two significant parameters in engine oil deterioration are oxidation and nitration. However, the limitation of the FTIR method is that it is more expensive and since it uses huge machinery, it requires a lot of area. Hence, the use of this method is not possible in the field area due to the need for space. It is this major limitation that is the motivation for proposing an inexpensive, yet handy system, using an IR sensor set up, in this paper. This system is used for measuring the transmittance of engine oil that has degenerated. For this paper, we collected random samples at various times from service stations that were specifically authorized. These samples were used in experiments based on the FTIR spectroscopy and UV spectrophotometer and the results were compared using the IR sensor setup. Investigation of the experimental results showed that monitoring oil transmittance using an IR sensor setup is possible, and a robust relationship between oxidation and nitration and the transmittance of the oil was observed. Moreover, a pattern of deterioration for a specific engine oil (SAE 5W30) which is utilized for passenger cars and light duty vehicles was also established.