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THE Conradson carbon-residue test is the generally accepted method for predicting the relative quantities of carbon an oil will deposit in an engine. This belief arises from the fact that, although publication of results of earlier researches in this field have shown that volatility of the oil is a controlling factor, it has been assumed that in all cases volatility is measured by the carbon-residue test. The results of tests conducted by the authors, covering a period of about two years, show that no such general relationship exists when the carbon-forming characteristics of a wide variety of oils are considered. This conclusion is drawn from 50-hr. tests of a large number of commercial lubricating oils in an engine operating under fairly heavy load and at moderate speed. The authors found that the volatility of the oil is the primary factor in engine carbon-deposition, and a laboratory method was developed for indicating the total volatility of a motor oil.

IT is recognized that volumetric efficiency-and therefore specific output - can be increased by reduction in manifold temperature, pressure drops, and the like. The present investigation has been directed at the determination of the changes in volumetric efficiency which may be obtained by fuel-volatility variations. The results of this work may be summarized briefly as follows: (1) Very substantial improvement in engine performance can be obtained by taking advantage of suitable volatility increases. (2) A given degree of improvement in the distribution characteristics of a fuel can be attained by combining “front-end” and “total” volatilities in a fairly varied manner. (3) The distribution characteristics of a gasoline can be judged satisfactorily by using the amount evaporated at 158 deg. fahr.

Annually, the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) sponsors a nationwide survey of octane number requirements for current model passenger cars. In this review, based on surveys from 1965 through 1974, trends in octane number requirements reflect changes in engine design and exhaust systems to meet the legislated limits on emissions. The average requirement dropped approximately 5.5 Research octane numbers over the ten-year period with the most dramatic drop of approximately 3.0 octane numbers in 1971 when car manufacturers recommended use of 91 octane gasoline. The trends toward lower average requirements since 1971 have been determined with both leaded and unleaded fuels. Incidence of surface ignition knock and rumble was about one per cent in 1965 and tended to disappear after 1971. The average spread of octane number requirements between 10 and 90 per cent of cars satisfied increased about 2.5 numbers over the period.