New lubes for a new decade: Lowering viscosity without increasing wear

摘要

For most of the last decade oil companies have been formulating and reformulating their heavy-duty engine oils to keep up with the changes wrought by emissions regulations. First it was exhaust gas recirculation technology. EGR caused engines to run hotter and dumped large amounts of soot into the combustion chamber. Then to further clean the air, the Environmental Protection Agency forced oil companies to drastically cut back on the sulfur in the fuel. And as if that wasn't enough, the new diesel exhaust filtration devices required oil formulations that were low in sulfated ash and phosphorous (low SAPS) oils.