Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Determining the Total Base Number of Engine Oils Using Potentiometric Titration

  • SUBSTANCES ANALYSIS
  • Published:
Inorganic Materials Aims and scope

Abstract

A brief review of the methods for determining the total base number (TBN) of engine oils is presented. This integral parameter characterizes the total content of basic impurities (additives) in terms of the amount of potassium hydroxides in one gram of engine oil (mg KOH/g). Spent engine oils are usually titrated by hydrochloric acid in a nonaqueous medium under controlled indicator electrode potential. It is revealed that the same technique can be successfully used in the analysis of commercial (fresh) oils. The titration curves are registered with an indicator glass electrode. The TBN values for fresh and spent engine oils are determined with approximately the same convergence (Sr < 2%). To check the compatibility of the determined TBN values, the limits of repeatability and reproducibility specified in GOST (State Standard) 11362-96 are used. Using the M-10G2 grade oil as an example, different variants of potentiometric titration are compared, the corresponding metrological characteristics are determined, and recommendations for testing laboratories are developed. The titration of oil to a certain fixed potential recommended by GOST 11362-96 results in underestimated TBN values as to compared to other variants used for revealing the equivalence point and leads to worsening of the reproducibility upon using weighed sample portions with different weights. It is recommended to determine TBN values for fresh or spent engine oils by means of potentiometric titration a using the three-tangent method. The accuracy of the obtained results is checked by the standard method of additives (spike recovery test), the error of determination being less than 15% (rel). It is shown by using Shewhart control charts that the metrological characteristics of the repeatability and reproducibility are stable, but the results of analysis for reference samples often are beyond the warning limits, especially for the samples of spent oil. Promising directions of further studies are proposed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Novikov, E.A. and Kiryukhin, M.V., Analysis of oils during its use: an uncharted territory, Analitika, 2015, no. 3 (22), pp. 36–47.

  2. Myalo, O.V., Myalo, V.V., and Keruchenko, L.S., The experimental diagnostics of high-alkaline motor oils by the “drop sample” method, Vestn. Omsk. Agrar. Univ., 2018, no. 4 (32), pp. 66–76.

  3. Rozbakh, O.V., Quality control efficiency in oil analysis, Omsk. Nauchn. Vestn., 2006, no. 1, pp. 119–120.

  4. Vereshchagin, V.I., Runda, M.M., Koval’skii, B.I., and Bezborodov, Yu.N., Metody kontrolya i rezul’taty issledovaniya motornykh masel dvigatelei vnutrennego sgoraniya v usloviyakh dlitel’nogo khraneniya i ekspluatatsii (Control Methods and the Results of Motor Oil Analysis for Long-Term Storage and Operation of Internal Combustion Engines), Krasnoyarsk: Sib. Fed. Univ., 2016.

  5. Fitch, J. and Troyer, D., Oil Analysis Basics, Tulsa, OK: Noria, 2010, 2nd ed.

    Google Scholar 

  6. ISO 6618:1997: Petroleum Products and Lubricants—Determination of Acid or Base Number—Color-Indicator Titration Method, Geneva: Int. Stand. Org., 1997.

  7. Laushkin, A.V. and Khaziev, A.A., Theoretical aspects of changing TBN of motor oil during the automobile transport exploitation, Transp. Transp. Sooruzh., Ekol., 2014, no. 1, pp. 88–94.

  8. GOST (State Standard) 30050-93 (ISO 3771-77): Petroleum Products. Total Base Number. Perchloric Acid Potentiometric Titration Method, Moscow: Standartinform, 1995.

  9. GOST (State Standard) 11362-96: Petroleum Products and Lubricants. Neutralization Number. Potentiometric Titration Method, Moscow: Standartinform, 1997.

  10. ASTM D4739-17: Standard Test Method for Base Number Determination by Potentiometric Hydrochloric Acid Titration, West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM Int., 2017. https://doi.org/10.1520/D4739-17

  11. Determination of Total Base Number (TBN) according to ASTM D2896/ISO 3771, Xylem, 2019. https://www.ysi.com. Accessed July 14, 2020.

  12. Determination of the total base number in petroleum products, Metrohm Appl. Bull., 2017. https://metrohm-russia.ru/specials/thermometric/1360597_AB-405_1_ EN.pdf. Accessed July 12, 2020.

  13. Fox, M.V., Pawlak, Z., and Picken, D.J., Acid-base determination of lubricating oils, Tribol. Int., 1991, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 335–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-679X(91)90003-R

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Dong, J., van de Voort, F.R., Yaylayan, V., et al., Determination of total base number (TBN) in lubricating oils by mid-FTIR spectroscopy, Lubr. Eng., 2001, vol. 57, no. 11, pp. 24–30.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Martalov, A.S., Bratkov, A.A., and Samoshenkov, D.V., Determination of basic number of mineral engine oils with IR-spectroscopy using, Neftepererab. Neftekhim., 2007, no. 7, pp. 49–50.

  16. Vershinin, V.I., Group formation and choice of standard substances in the determination of total concentrations of similar compounds as total indices, J. Anal. Chem., 2017, vol. 72, no. 9, pp. 947–956. https://doi.org/10.1134/s1061934817090131

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. GOST (State Standard) 8581-78: Motor Oils for Motor and Tractor Diesel Engines. Specifications, Moscow: Izd. Standartov, 2011.

  18. ISO 7870-2:2013: Control Charts—Part 2: Shewhart Control Charts, Geneva: Int. Stand. Org., 2013.

  19. Harvey, D., Modern Analytical Chemistry: Textbook, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000, ch. 9.

    Google Scholar 

  20. ISO 6619:1988: Petroleum Products and Lubricants—Neutralization Number—Potentiometric Titration Method, Geneva: Int. Stand. Org., 1988.

  21. Vershinin, V.I., Total indices as a tool to estimate sum content of similar analytes. Review, Talanta, 2015, vol. 131, no. 1, pp. 293–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2014.07.102

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Vershinin, V.I., Opredelenie summarnogo soderzhaniya odnotipnykh veshchestv (teoriya integral’nykh pokazatelei) (Determination of Total Content of Similar Substances: Theory of Integral Indices), Omsk: Omsk. Gos. Univ., 2016.

Download references

Funding

The results presented in this paper have been obtained under the financial support of Omsk State University within the scope of the project “Development of Methods for Structural-Group Analysis of Objects of Complex Composition without Separation into Components.”

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Omsk State University, 644077, Omsk, Russia

    A. S. Chikunova & V. I. Vershinin

Authors
  1. A. S. Chikunova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. V. I. Vershinin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. I. Vershinin.

Additional information

Translated by O. Polyakov

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chikunova, A.S., Vershinin, V.I. Determining the Total Base Number of Engine Oils Using Potentiometric Titration. Inorg Mater 57, 1440–1446 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S002016852114003X

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S002016852114003X

Keywords:

Search

Navigation