16.4.16

Merits Of ZDDP Oil Treatment

By Stephen Robinson


Zinc dialkydithiophosphate is a compound usually found in lubrication engine oils. It is usually an additive that is added to the natural or synthetic oils for the purposes of lubrication to the moving parts. The STP, scientifically treated petroleum has been in production for over seventy years since their discovery in the 1940s. There are several advantages of zddp oil treatment that are above and beyond the normal oil lubricants, thus their persistent use for all those years.

The ZDDP treatment helps offer anti-wear agents that help preserve engine moving parts. It helps reduce wear and tear that would have been therefore catastrophic. At engine operation temperatures and pressure many of the engine parts would call a change every day. But with the treated oil, it has more capabilities to protect the engine for it to last long.

Oil has a basic use in an engine which is reduction of friction. Engines with less friction has a much better running, are cooler and can last long compared to a hot and poorly lubricated one. To avoid the dry starts, denser and more viscous oil is need. Oils treated with ZDDP tend to be denser since they have heavy metals in them and in turn increase viscosity making them much more preferred for motor vehicle engines.

Friction apart from generating heat, it generates sound due to vigorous vibrations from the parts in contact. These sounds are sometimes loud and unpleasant irritating to the ear. The screeching sound may cause a lot of noise and can only be reduced if not eliminated through lubrication. A good lubricated contact makes virtually no noise during the engines running.

Oil burns at a point called flush point. At this point due to heat and pressure, it is capable of bursting into a flame and burning. In order to increase both the pressure and temperature of an oil to flush, the treatment makes the oil stabilize at high temperature and avoid thermal breakdown. It also helps raise the viscosity of oil in order to avoid vaporization at very low temperatures.

Oil treated with ZDDP also happens to have corrosion inhibitors that help remove contaminants that could have found their way into the oil sump. These contaminants could cause engine failure or knocking because they could reduce oil efficiency and increase friction.

In comparison to any upcoming technology, it is proving to be expensive to wipe out the used of STI, scientifically treated petroleum. In a bid to increase efficiency and performance of the new engines, much better material composition are being made but still require oil lubrication for maximum efficiency. Therefore, it is much cheaper to keep producing the ZDDP treated oils for engine lubrication than trying to overhaul the whole engine for everyone with one.

An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the oxidation of another molecule. Oxidation in itself is a destructive chemical process that can alter oil properties including viscosity or even damaging the engine parts. The treated oils have antioxidants in their structure that help eliminate the agents that may contaminate them and prevent oxidation to the oiled metal parts.




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