Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils, Vol. 41, No.6, 2005

ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE 25 STATE SCIENTIFIC-RESEARCH INSTITUTE THE BASIC TASK IN CHEMMOTOLOGY V. L. Lashkhi and N. N. Grishin

UDC 621.43

Chemmotology is a relatively young applied sciences of great practical importance. As a new scientific direction, it was formed in the mid-60s. Its position among other applied sciences is defined by the Papok triad. According to this triad, the objects of investigation in chemmotology are: 1) production technologies for fuel and lubricant materials (FLM); 2) construction of machines and mechanisms; 3) operating regimes for these machines and mechanisms (Fig. 1). In the diagram in Fig. 1, the requirements for the quality level of FLM to ensure the given reliability of machines and mechanisms and preserve their process characteristics in the conditions of use are examined, i.e., the three directions can be implemented based on their close correlation. In reality, specialists in chemmotology are primarily concerned with problems of developing FLM of the required quality level, i.e., the first direction, and the order of technical maintenance of the machines and mechanisms are regulated based on the results of these developments. Optimization of the design of the process, i.e., the second direction, is of secondary importance; it is usually realized when it is impossible to attain a positive result by selecting the FLM. The first direction can be described in detail with the flow chart shown in Fig. 2. In this flow chart, factors of intake capacity and compatibility of bases and additives as the fundamental components of fuels and lubricants are important. However, regardless of the type of direction realized for solving each concrete problem, the fundamental task of chemmotology is to establish stable quantitative correlations between the quality of FLM and the reliability of the technology in which they are used. The existence of these correlations must be evaluated by the degree of adequacy of the quality of FLM for ensuring the required reliability and process characteristics of machines and mechanisms by regulating the required quality level, eliminating malfunctions during operation of the technology, and determining the negative consequences when this level drops below the acceptable level. The fundamental problem is the basis for solving special problems that arise in practice and are to some degree its derivatives. Any secondary problems usually appear in the form of different kinds of optimization variants. For example, in developing new lubricants that satisfy the requirements of future technology, their ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 25 State Scientific-Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 6, pp. 6 – 8, November – December, 2005. 0009-3092/05/4106–0429 © 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

429

Operation

Technology

FLM

D ev FL elo M pm en of qu the t or al ity corr sele le esp ctio ve l ond n in g

2

1

of

n co

n sig ls de n ia in tio ter a ge lec an se n m Ch and ctio u str

of

Chemmotology

Fig. 1. Three constituents of chemmotology: 1-3) research directions.

quality is considered at the same time as the process characteristics of the machines and mechanisms, in replacement based on the actual state, simultaneously with their throughput, and in unification, with their cost, etc. Without making systematic, scientifically substantiated attempts to solve the basic problem, it is impossible to productively solve any of the special problems. For successfully solving the basic problem, the results of evaluating the quality of FLM should not be abstract. It is necessary to be able to compare them in some form with the technology reliability indexes. In other words, the quality of FLM should change each time in accordance with the status of the machines and mechanisms. In this statement of the problem, FLM should be considered as a design element for the given aggregate. For an objective comparison with the technology reliability indexes, the quality indexes of FLM must be calculated by analogy with the longevity or strength of any part of this technology. For successfully solving the basic problem, it is necessary to constantly accumulate the corresponding knowledge. The effectiveness of this knowledge is real in studying the concrete problems on the scientific and not on the engineering level, since the latter excludes formation of its own theoretical base for any science. Unfortunately, most of the urgent chemmotological problems continue to be solved on the engineering level. The situation is aggravated by the fact that to facilitate processing, the experimental data are usually processed within each stage of development of FLM or its constituent part without correlating the generalizations obtained with the data on the state of the technology. The progressive evolution of chemmotology, which would create favorable premises for solving its basic problem, will only be ensured by the obligatory applied direction of the research conducted, i.e., with constant correlation with the state of the technology. Chemmotological studies should essentially differ in formulation 430

Study of the effectiveness of additives (components)

Development of FLM production technology

quality of FLM

Evaluation of the

Ensuring reliability of technology with consideration of conditions of its use

Chemmotology

Study of the behavior of bases (dispersion media)

Fig. 2. Details of the first research direction.

from chemical, physical, and physicochemical research, fact-inding without technical analysis of the results obtained is typical. Systematically ignoring the conditions required for solving the basic chemmotological problem will bring this science to a state of stagnation, taking away the prospect of further successful evolution. To correct these assumptions, it is necessary to focus serious attention on the character of the formulation and conduct of current research, which only remotely resembles scientific research at present, in all of its practical importance. Isolation of the basic problem of chemmotology is not an artificial end in itself but is used by management to concentrate efforts in the main research direction. Satisfying this condition will allow strengthening the assumptions of chemmotology and increasing its importance among the other applied sciences.

431