Management Board

Unconfirmed Minutes from the last Management Board meeting, held on 10th July 2008, are now available to CEC Working Group members on the CEC Web Site.  

TDG-L-100 – Turbo Deposits Test

Read on for a synopsis of the test development with the conclusions established so far.

• the Group has developed an oil misting technique which is repeatable
• the Group has developed an oil mist separation technique which is repeatable
• the Group has established that the characteristics of the fine mist are similar to those measured in OM646, OM611 engines and ACEA’s requirement
• the Group has developed a technique for evaluating turbo performance loss which is repeatable
• the Group does not know if the mist production and separation techniques are representative of engine production and separation techniques (no field reference data with which to compare).
• The Group understands that location of deposits is critical and influences performance drop per amount of deposit (therefore it is better to have a performance test than a deposit test)
• the Group understands that all misting, separation and deposit phenomena are oil sensitive.
• APL has devised mist generation and separation systems that have overcome all of the issues experienced in the early development phase
• There are many different designs of separators, each with their own characteristics and having different levels of influence on droplet size and amount. Future legislation encourages more sophisticated systems with finer droplet size.
• The amount and ranking of the mist post separator varies with the engine operating point.
• An optical technique has been sourced to characterise mist size distribution and amount
• The Group is now in a position to characterise the behaviour of real engines and oils and the rig.

An Information Day for TDG-L-100 Group Members will take place, before planning further development work. At least two new reference oils are needed, with known field performance (one good and one bad). ATIEL and ATC representatives have produced a detailed guidance document for ACEA on all the information that is required about these new reference oils. The Group and its SDG Liaison Officer will decide on how many more reference oils will be required to establish good statistics for the rig.

SG-L-101 – OM501 Bore Polishing and Piston Cleanliness Test

Further analysis of results is taking place and investigations continue.
Thus, the test cannot yet be accepted into CEC. The Group is also being asked to look at the possibility of adding a sludge parameter to the test.

SG-F-098 – DW10 Test

Original sponsoring companies have agreed to use funds raised by the sales of licences for this test for further development work within the Surveillance Group. This is instead of having their share of this income returned to them.

The Group is looking for a non-doped poor fuel that is more representative of the market place and is also an additional step towards improving the repeatability of the test. The Group will keep the Management Board informed about what additional testing they are doing and will ensure agreement between original sponsors for all additional tests paid for with their funds. Additionally, the Chairman of the Group will liaise with the CEC Secretariat about quotes for testing and payments to be made.

Sponsored Groups Additional Testing at Surveillance stage

Original sponsors within a Surveillance Group can agree further work, using the funds received by CEC from sales of licences to use the sponsored test, providing it has been agreed by the Board that these funds are due to be returned to the original sponsors.  

It may be that a Surveillance Group will develop a tender for the business, so that the best and most economic choice of test laboratory can be made.  A tender process is likely to slow down the progress of any additional testing, so it must be the choice of all the original sponsors as to whether a tender process is used.  Original sponsors in the Group can jointly decide on the test laboratory without it.

SG-L-078 – VW TDi

The statistical analysis on TBN for fresh and used oils has been provided for RL/206. The Group will look at the data and make some recommendations.

Test Monitoring

Five out of ten Groups are operational on the new TMA system.  

The other five are at various stages of testing.  Whilst the technical data from the original RSI Test Monitoring system has translated well with the new software, there have been problems with the information held about personnel and companies.  This has become apparent whilst working towards an integration of the TMA site with the main CEC Web Site in order to streamline the administration and user access to both sites.  The resultant streamlining process has started and will eventually ensure that the right people have access to the right information and test types and that laboratory records are not duplicated.  The support for rationalisation, as well as to individual users has been much more than was anticipated.  

Test Methods

Archive copies of previous versions of CEC Test Methods are available and can be provided to Groups / SDG Liaison Officers upon request.

Precision Targets should be published in Section 11 of every Test Method.  SDG and Working Group Chairmen are in the process of assisting the Secretariat to ensure that these are all available and are located in Section 11 for easy access.  

Draft Biodiesel Specification Proposal for CEC Engine Tests

We recommend that all CEC Group Members and participants review the presentation available to them about biodiesel and CEC reference fuels.

Log in to the CEC Web Site and look at the News Zone for instructions how to access it.

Proposal to Update or Replace Obsolete L-33 Biodegradability Test

A proposal has been received to modify and update this old obsolete method in a new CEC Working Group, for the purpose of testing industrial, outboard motor and hydraulic oils.

A Template and Terms of Reference are in the process of being drawn up for consideration by the CEC Board in September.

CEC Help Desk

Help is available from Lyn, Barry and Monique. See the CEC Web Site for details: www.cectests.org

New Biodiesel Lubricant Test Proposal

A Template and Terms of Reference are being agreed within Industry Groups for a new biodiesel lubricant test using the OM646 LA engine, with support from Daimler.