Lubricating Oil as a Major Constituent of Ship Exhaust Particles

A proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer combined with the novel CHARON (“chemical analysis of aerosol online”) aerosol inlet was used for characterization of submicrometer particulate organic matter in ship engine exhaust. Particles were sampled from diluted and cooled exhaust of a marine test bench engine that was operated on residual heavy fuel oil (HFO) and low-sulfur distillate marine gas oil (MGO), respectively. In both fuel operation modes, exhaust particle mass spectra were dominated by polycycloalkanes in the C20-to-C39 range, which are typical main constituents of lubricating oils. Exhaust particle mass spectra were closely reproduced when the engine’s lubricant oil was directly measured in aerosolized form. We report emission profiles of lubricant oil hydrocarbons as a function of their volatility and as a function of their carbon atom number. Total emissions of lubricant oil amounted to 183 and 74 mg kW–1 h–1 for HFO and MGO combustion, respectively. These values resemble typical oil loss rates of marine four-stroke trunk piston engines in which most of the lubricant is known to be lost through the combustion chamber and the tailpipe. We conclude that marine trunk piston engines are generally prone to high emissions of particles mainly composed of unburned lubricating oil.