BICOL UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARRTMENT

Mechanical Engineering Laboratory 1

LESSON 9: CARBON RESIDUE TEST

MEMBERS:

Ogalesco, Paul Christian

Oridc, Kenneth A.

Oscuro, Annabel

Pielago, Mark Jovan R.

Querubin, Vicente III

OBEJECTIVE:

To determine the carbon residue of sample lubricating oils.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Demonstrate the determination of carbon residue.

DISCUSSION

If lubricating oil is heated to a high temperature in an enclosure where there is a limited supply of
air, the greater part of the oil will be distilled and there will remain a residue of carbon. The amount of
this carbon residue in lubricating oils is an indication of the extent of its decomposition when used for
high temperature lubrication.

To determine the carbon residue by Conradson apparatus, the oil sample, in the crucible, is heated
at a state rate and caused to vaporize. After ignition and further heating for a specified time, the residue
is cooled and weighed. Duplicate tests should agree within 10% if the carbon residue is about 2% or within
20% if the residue is about 0.5% (ASTMD-189).

For oils without detergency additives, carbon residue by Conradson test is a rough index of
tendency of the oil to decompose in service and to leave carbon residue on hot surfaces.
Materials and equipment:

 Meker Gas Burner

 Conradson Apparatus
 Tripod
 Wire mesh
 Chimney
 Digital balance
 Crucible tong
 Iron crucible
 Porcelain crucible
 Skidmore crucible
 stopwatch
 Nichrome wire triangle
 Asbestos cylindrical block
 SAE 10 and 30

Procedures:

1. Weigh the porcelain crucible.

2. Fill the porcelain crucible with 10g of SAE10.
3. Set up the apparatus by placing the wire triangle on top of the tripod and then the refractory
block insulator ring on top of wire triangle.
4. Place the porcelain crucible inside the skidmore crucible and then place the skidmore crucible
inside the nickel crucible.
5. Place the nickel crucible inside the insulator ring.
6. Place the carbon residue apparatus hood on top of the insulator ring.
7. Light up the h-5550 burner and place it under the tripod.
8. Start the timer and wait for the hood to produce smoke and flame.
9. Once the hood stops producing smoke and flame, record the time.
10. Wait for the crucible to cool down and then check for residue.

DATA AND RESULTS

Table 1 – Percent Carbon Residue of SAE 30 and 40

Oil Weight of Weight of Weight of Percent of Time

specification crucible (W1) lubricating oil carbon residue carbon residue
(W2) (W3) (CR%)
SAE10 21.20g 10g 5mg 0.05% 7 min, 53sec
SAE30 21.20g 10g 37.8mg 0.378% 15 min, 5sec
FINDINGS:

A special characteristic of lubricating oils is that they contain high percentage of carbon in
combined form. On heating the decompose deposits a certain amount if carbon, the deposits of such
carbon in the machine is intolerable particularly in internal combustion engines and air compressors. A
good lubricant should deposit least amount of carbon in use.

The carbon residue value of a fuel depends on the refinery processes employed in its
manufacture. SAE 10 has a 0.05% of carbon residue while SAE30 has a 0.378% residue. This implies that
after burning/combusting, different lubricants will yield different percentage carbon residue result; there
are some which has and others which has no residue. Light oils have lower value for the carbon residue
while those that are heavy oils have a higher percentage. The time required to completely burn heavy oil
is much longer compared to light oils.

COMPUTATIONS:
W3
CR% = × 100%
W2
5mg
SAE10: CR% = 1000mg × 100% = 0.05%
10g( )
1g

37.8mg
SAE30: CR% = 1000mg × 100% = 0.378%
10g( )
1g

ILLUSTRATION/SIMULATION:

CONCLUSION:

By measuring the weight if the porcelain crucible, the amount of the carbon residue can be
determined, setting it as a reference weight, pouring 10g of test oil, and measuring of weight before and
after the experiment. Errors can be made on the experiment through the transferring of the residue on
the balance to weigh. There can be some left at the crucible or in the tool used to transfer the residue.
Since it was measured in milligrams, there is a high possibility of not measured left over residue on the
crucible.
 It is very important to get the amount of residue since these residues may cause some failure in
the purpose of lubricating machine parts, thus resulting in the failure or brokerage of the engine and the
machine itself. Aside from these, carbon residues are life threatening to people since these substances
are toxic. Lubricants can be classified into grades, which are dedicated by the amount of carbon residue
formed after combustion. This provides the ground in what lubricant to be used on specific material.