TECHNOLOGY
ENGINE TESTING ROOM
To assess a lubricant's functional performance within the engine the latter
needs to be running. In the testing booths the engine itself is only the
tip of the iceberg: all service instruments are situated either above the
booth or beneath its floor eg. supply services (such as air, electricity,
fuel etc.) and discharge (exhaust gases: dispersion of kinetic energy and
generated heat).
Automatism
 The different tests that are carried out in these booths are continuous (day
and night) and last between 100 to 1000 hours. Each running engine is managed
by computers that minitor its performance, recording all information which
is later processed into statistical data. Test cycles are repeated automatically
after being set up by the operator in accordance with standard requirements
(international specifications) or according to specific customer needs (Fiat,
Volkswagen, Ford, BMW, Renault, etc.).
Simulation
 Within
the testing booths, the absence of the energy absorbed by a specific vehicle
is also compensated for by using sensors positioned on the engine, data
such as temperature, engine r.p.m power output and combustion properties is
transferred to the computers for analysis.
Rolling Road
To assess lubricant's performance under all driving conditions, a car is subjected
to simulated road tests. The car is made to travel on the rolling road, which
reproduces theoretical driving cycles as well as those sampled from existing
routes. This allows for different route types (motorway, city, mountain) to
be simulated in all respects (eg. powerful fans reproducing high motorway speeds).
Tests of this nature range from a minimum of 500 kilometers to a maximum of
30,000 kilometers.
Automatic Driver
 On
the rolling road, the car is driven by a robot that carries out command operations,
such as changing gears, accelerating, braking and so on. At the beginning
of each test period the automatic driver takes approximately 15 minutes to
adjust
its driving set up to the vehicle being tested (gearbox operation, brake
positions, clutch etc.). After this period, the automatic driver is able
to carry out
the test cycle according to computer input data, whilst simultaniously performing
the rolling road tests and documenting the results.
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