Re: Synthetic oil information needed

[jadney@vwtype3.org (Melissa & Jim)]

>From: Toby Erkson <Toby_Erkson@ccm2.hf.intel.com>

>FYI.  I sent this off directly to Red Line last week and here is the whole 
reply
>from Roy Howell <rlhowell@ix.netcom.com>.

>Dear Toby:
>
>Red Line Synthetic lubricants provide improved heat transfer compared to
>conventional petroleum lubricants. A relative estimate of the ability of a
>lubricant to transfer heat from a metal surface can be provided by the GM
>Quenchometer Test. In this test a chromized nickel ball is heated to 1625
>deg F and cooled in the test oil to a temperature of 670 deg F. The period
>of time required to extract 955 deg F from this metal ball is referred to
>as the "Quench Time". A petroleum 20W50 lubricant was 21.6 seconds, Red
>Line 20W50 Motor Oil was 19.6 seconds (10% improvement) and Red Line 50Wt
>Race Oil was 18.6 Seconds (14% Improvement).Synthetics can improve heat
>transfer characteristics.

This is interesting, but I can't help wondering whether it really is 
responsive to our question.  The problem is that the thermal transfer 
mechanism is completely different at the elevated temperatures mentioned 
here; at high temps the rate of cooling is greatly retarded by the layer of 
vaporized material that forms at the boundary, therefore this test is more a 
measure of volatility than of heat removal.

This test really sounds like one that would be used for determining the best 
material for quenching in a hardening operation, in fact the temperatures 
are just about perfect for that.  In such an application the metallurgist 
will be looking for the material that will produce the desired cooling in 
the desired time, depending on the alloy being considered.

In our case, we are really more interested in data in the neighborhood of 
200F, say 100-300F.

Jim
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       Melissa Kepner                                    Jim Adney
       jadney@vwtype3.org              jadney@vwtype3.org
                             Laura Kepner-Adney
                             Madison, Wisconsin
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