quote:
As far as TEN being the assumed TBN starting point, ARE you sure?
No, but this is what Blackstone said was probably my starting point (it decayed to 2.5 and was deemed all but shot). I didn't have a VOA to compare it to (Mobil 1).
I'm just going by my experience with acids (in place of "acid formation") and alkilyns where if the fluid is buffered (like with sodium bicarbonate for example) you can add a butt load of acid and the stuff will never move toward neutral. Once you deplete the buffering agent ..the stuff tracks in a quasi-linear manner. That is, something with a Ph of 9 that is buffered with sodium bicarbonate will take 10 times the HCL to make it become less than 9. This is opposed to a liquid that is just adjusted to 9 Ph with SodiumHydroxide (caustic).
That is, if I was using the method that Blackstone uses to determine in my above scenereo ...and assuming a starting point of "9" ..I could remain at a TBN of 9 for xxx amount of miles ..then have it drop off rather quickly.
That's why I wonder if the TBN number decays in an "inversely proportional" manner (assuming the same operational insult) ..or expotentially (half the distance "again" 4x the decay) ..or if it has no linear component at all for xxxx amount of insult ..then decays along one of the aforementioned rates.
Blackstone's site describes it as: Scientifically speaking, the TBN is one of two "neutralization number" tests run on oils. The TAN (total acid number), which is used for hydraulic oils, is the other. The TBN measures the total basedity of an engine oil; that is, how much base (as in, a base vs. an acid) additive is in the oil to offset the deleterious effects of acids coming into the oil from combustion and other sources.
So I wonder if they just drop a Ph probe into the oil ...have it mixing (one of those magnetic thingies spinning via the magnetic force generated from the plate under the sample) and titrate acid into the solution until it reaches 7.0 Ph. I would think in a VOA that they would not see the needle head toward neutral immediately like it would in a "simple" base solution.
Just more monumental things to ponder on our quest for the Holy Grail ...
Now we can seek a new standard ....TBN "reserve" factor
[ December 30, 2003, 10:06 AM: Message edited by: Gary Allan ]