11
Fuels & Lubes International Quarter Two 2016
“Nobody really understands Eu-
ropean passenger car specifications
outside of Europe,” said Richard van
den Bulk, OEM liaison for passenger
cars for European OEMs at Chevron
Oronite Technology B.V., based in
Rotterdam, The Netherlands. “Even in
Europe it’s hard to understand.”
He refers not only to the European
Automobile Manufacturers Associa-
tion’s (ACEA) Oil Sequences, but also
to the many original equipment manu-
facturers’ (OEMs) engine oil specifica-
tions. The complex world of European
specifications is an issue not unique to
Europe, because European cars are
plentiful in Asia.
Van den Bulk presented on the
evolution of European specifications
during the recent F+L Week confer-
ence organised by F&L Asia in Singa-
pore last March.
OEMs’ concerns
OEM specifications, like ACEA’s,
are about oil quality and protecting
the engine. Van den Bulk said that
at every OEM, there is someone in
charge of lubricants, and this person
“can have all kinds of ghosts keeping
himor her awake,” today more than
ever. These ghosts come in the formof
lower viscosity oils required to improve
lubricant fuel economy contribution,
which can cause wear when used in
the wrong engine; biofuels, which can
increase oil degradation; emissions
regulations and new engine technology
which bring new challenges. Because
of all these challenges and the demand
for extended drain, the current ACEA
specifications for engine oils are not
strict enough for most OEMs.
By “new engine technology,” van
den Bulk refers to the highly-loaded
engines, particularly the turbocharged
direct injection (TGDi) engines. He
gave an example of two different
engines, a Ford Focus Ecoboost and
a Porsche 911 Turbo. The Ford engine
has a one litre displacement and 125
horsepower, whereas the Porsche
engine has a 3.8 litre displacement
and 520 horsepower. This means that
the Ford engine has 125 horsepower
per litre, whereas the Porsche engine
has 136 horsepower per litre. Van den
Bulk showed this to illustrate that high
performance sports cars are not the
only ones with highly-loaded engines.
Today’s downsized smaller engines
are working just as hard, and so “all
need high quality, OEM-approved
oils.”
Biofuels, another of the “ghosts,”
are a challenge because they can
mean more oxidation, more corrosion,
more nitration and more sludge. Many
issues with biofuels are still being
worked out, especially in the area of
lubricant compatibility. If used with
biofuels, some lubricants can perform
poorly. Some of the new ACEA tests
are therefore designed to set require-
ments for use with biofuels.
What’s coming up with ACEA
2016?
The ACEA sequences continue to
evolve, with the 2016 sequence about
to be introduced. Keith Howard,
Lubrizol’s technical and field test
manager for China, gave an over-
view of the ACEA oil sequences and
recent changes at the conference.
The light-duty ACEA class has eight
categories, distinguished from each
other by the limits on high tempera-
ture high shear (HTHS) viscosity, total
base number (TBN) and sulphated
ash, phosphorus and sulphur content
(SAPS). Each category corresponds to
a certain type of oil appropriate for a
specific application. ACEA specifica-
tions are different from API and ILSAC
in that it includes also diesel next to
gasoline engine tests. The light-duty
categories are known as A/B and C,
while the heavy-duty categories are
known as E. The changes in ACEA 2016
mostly apply to light-duty categories.
ACEA 2016 was intended to launch
in April, but Howard shared that a
June or July date is nowmore likely.
With ACEA 2016, A1/B1 will be dropped
because “it is old and generally not
supported” by OEMs, he said. A new
category, C5, will be added. It focuses
on an HTHS viscosity window, between
2.6 and 2.9 mPa•s, and requires a
“在欧洲以外，没人能真正理解欧洲乘
用车规格，”常驻荷兰鹿特丹的Chevron
Oronite Technology B.V.欧洲整车厂乘用车
联络人Richard van den Bulk说，“即使在欧
洲，也难以理解。”
他这么说不仅是指欧洲汽车制造商协会
（ACEA）油品测试程序，也是指众多整车
厂（OEM）的发动机油规格。欧洲规格之复
杂不仅对欧洲来说是一个问题，对有着大量
欧洲车的亚洲来说也一样。
在三月份由F&L亚洲在新加坡组织的最近
一届F+L周大会上，Van den Bulk介绍了欧
洲规格的演变过程。
OEM的担忧
与ACEA规格一样，OEM规格关注油品
质量，也是以保护发动机为目的。Van den
Bulk说，每个OEM都会有人负责润滑油，而
这个人“总是会因为各种问题缠绕而不得安
宁”，今天，这种情况愈演愈烈。这些问题
可以是为了提高润滑油燃料经济性贡献而要
求更低的粘度，但如果用错则会造成发动机
磨损；生物燃料，有可能导致油品降质；排
放法规和新发动机技术，这些都会带来新的
挑战。正是由于这些挑战和对延长换油期的
要求，目前的ACEA发动机油规格对大多数
OEM来说还不够严格。
Van den Bulk提出，“新发动机技术”是
指那些高负荷发动机，特别是增压直喷
（TGDi）发动机。他举了两个不同发动机的
例子，一个是福特福克斯的Ecoboost，另一
个是保时捷911 Turbo。福特发动机的排量
为一升，125匹马力，而保时捷的发动机为
3.8升排量，520匹马力。这意味着福特的发
动机是每升125匹马力，而保时捷的发动机
为每升136匹马力。Van den Bulk以此来说
明高负荷发动机并不仅限于高性能赛车。如
今尺寸更小的发动机的工况也非常苛刻，因
此“都需要高质量的，经OEM批准的油品。”
生物燃料是另一个挑战，因为他们可能
意味着更多的氧化、更多的腐蚀，更多的氮
氧化物和更多的油泥。生物燃料相关的许
多问题还有待解决，特别是在润滑油兼容性
方面。如果与生物燃料一起使用，有些润
滑油性能可能会严重下降。因此，有一些新
的ACEA测试是针对与生物燃料一起使用而
设计的。
ACEA 2016有什么新东西？
ACEA测试程序在不断发展，其2016测
试程序也将很快推出。路博润的中国技术
