Editorial

Citation

Taylor, J. (2001), "Editorial", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 53 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilt.2001.01853faa.001

Editorial

We are pleased to present four papers in this issue that hopefully will promote some thought and discussion amongst our readers.

Associate Professor Doctor Kaleli of Yildiz Teknik Üniversitesi in Istanbul, Turkey reports on his work investigating the effects of phosphorus on catalytic converters and related exhaust emissions. His conclusions in comparing phosphorus containing and phosphorus free oils confirm that contamination of the catalyst occurs with the phosphorus containing oil with a resultant deterioration in catalyst performance. The level of phosphorus in the two oils is not provided and it would have been interesting to know if the phosphorus containing oil would have been accepted as a "low phosphorus" oil by the auto makers.

Assuming that the phosphorus is in the ZDDP component of the oil then what will be the long term need for this component? The future is likely to bring us camshaft free engines and presumably a removal of the high wear, high pressure, tappet related tribology problems. Will ZDDP and its phosphorus actually be needed in future engine oils?

Doctor Mukherjee of the Indian School of Mines illustrates in his article how specific lubricant consumption figures can be beneficially used for individual pieces of machinery. Quite often attempts are make to reduce lubricant costs by extending drain intervals but this is usually done without understanding the actual costs related to an individual machine. Doctor Mukherjee's paper will provoke some thought amongst those involved in ensuring the most economical use of their lubricants.

Associate Professor Jerry C.T. Su of the National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology and Assistant Professor K.N. Lie of the Far East College, Taiwan, ROC present the results of work done on hybrid journal bearings. They describe various conclusions reached in investigating different oil feed methods and their performance in terms of hydrostatic and hydrodynamic load carrying. Their work demonstrates the high significance of the rotational effect.

Finally in this issue we have a slightly different type of paper. Roy Morledge and Frank Jackson present an argument for the more widespread use of biodegradable oils. Statistics from within the UK are used as a typical background situation showing the extent of mineral oil based pollutions. The authors present a case showing that the biodegradable oils, usually considered expensive, are viable if a true life cycle analysis is used.

As always, readers' constructive comments on the views and conclusions reached by our authors will be welcomed.

John Taylor