Method for the analysis of lubricant basicity
OwnerPaul Thomas Reischman, Vincent M. Carey +1inventors
InventorsPaul Thomas Reischman, Vincent M. Carey, Kevin John Kelly
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method to directly measure a lubricating oil's Total Base Number (TBN) during engine operations using an infrared (“IR”) sensing device. The method measures either the actual TBN of the oil, or the TBN depletion of the oil. Either value may be determined without comparison to a reference oil. The method comprises determining the IR spectrum for the oil, pre-selecting a certain frequency range, finding the peak within that range, calculating the absorbance of the peak and determining the TBN or TBN depletion from that value.
Claims21
A method to determine the Total Base Number of a lubricant with a TBN greater than about 20 mg KOH/g comprising:
- a) Measuring the infrared spectrum of a lubricant,
- b) Locating at least one frequency range of absorbency for carbonate species within said infrared spectrum,
- c) Determining the value of absorbance for at least one peak of interest within said band frequency,
- d) Calculating said lubricant's TBN from said value of the peak absorbance from a calculated baseline.
A method to determine the Total Base Number depletion of a lubricant comprising:
- a) Measuring the infrared spectrum of a lubricant,
- b) Locating at least one frequency range of absorbance for sulfate species within said infrared spectrum,
- c) Determining the value of absorbance for at least one peak of interest within said range of frequencies,
- d) Calculating said lubricant's TBN depletion from said value of the peak absorbance from a calculated baseline.
A method to determine the Total Base Number of a lubricant comprising:
- a) Measuring the infrared spectrum of a lubricant,
- b) Locating the absorbance band frequency ranges for sulfate and carbonate species within said infrared spectrum,
- c) Determining the absorbance from a calculated baseline for at least one peak of interest for each species within said range the band,
- d) Calculating said lubricant's TBN from said value of the peak absorbance from each species.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.