Abstract:
The quality and properties of engine oil play a crucial role in the case of efficiency of
car motors where such oil is involved in lubrication and cooling of internal
combustion of engines. The thermal properties of engine oil are the key parameters
when selecting engine oil for a vehicle. The objective of this research work was to
compare the effect of fullerene-C60 (99.5%) nano-particles on the thermal properties
of 10W30, 20W40, and 20W50 CALTEX red engine oil. In this study, the effect of
nano-particle concentration 0.01 wt% on different grades of engine oils was examined
at different temperature values (30 – 120 ℃). The nano-fluid was prepared using the
two-step direct mixing method. A magnetic stirrer (40 ℃/200 rpm) and an
ultrasonicator (Rocker, SONER 210H, AC, 220V, 50Hz) were used to distribute the
nano-particles uniformly in the base fluids. The thermal properties, namely, thermal
conductivity, thermal diffusivity and volumetric heat capacity of the base fluids and
nano-fluids, were measured using the Flucon LAMBDA thermal conductivity meter
(TECHNE UCAL 400+ dry-block calibrator, Germany) while the flash point was
measured using the flash point tester (Anton Paar PMA500, Germany). It was
concluded that a considerable enhancement of the flash point can be observed.
However, the other thermal properties were not shown such enhancements.
