24th International Colloquium Tribology - January 2024 251 The Effects of Applying the Tribological Compound TZ NIOD Philipp Harrer 1 , Dmitrii Svetov 2 , Patrick Eisner 3 , Maximilian Lackner 4 , Erich Markl 5 1 UAS Technikum Wien, Industrial Engineering, Vienna, Austria 2 Dmitrii Svetov www.tribo.at, Vienna, Austria 3 UAS Technikum Wien, Industrial Engineering, Vienna, Austria 4 UAS Technikum Wien, Industrial Engineering, Vienna, Austria 5 UAS Technikum Wien, Industrial Engineering, Vienna, Austria 1. Introduction Tribology’s economic and technical relevance in terms of energy loss, material deterioration and waste has long been accepted and has recently been augmented with sustainable viewpoints such as environmental awareness, longer life of device, reducing waste and enhancing the quality of life. Due to the vast potential and relevance in various sectors, improvements in the field of tribology remain of high importance. [1] One potential contributor could be TZ NIOD [2], which is a tribological compound which shall be applied to moving parts with the goal of reducing friction, energy consumption, renewing worn out surfaces, increasing the service life of the entire device, reducing the temperature, reducing the coefficient of friction as well as reducing the rate of wear. It consists of a complex mixture of silicate material powder, specifically serpentinite, which uses oil or grease as a transport medium to reach worn surface and highly loaded friction points. These particles allegedly react with the material under the influence of temperature and pressure creating a modified surface layer. The aim is to analyse the effects of TZ NIOD on tribo-systems and devices it is applied to. In order to determine the effect of TZ NIOD a literature review covering tribology, tribometry, wear, common methods of reducing wear as well as nanoparticles was conducted. Additionally, empirical analyses were performed in alignment with the tribological test chain consisting of model tests aligned on the test procedure of the commonly applied pin-on-disc tribometer with the goal of analysing the effect of TZ NIOD on a material level of simplified tribo-systems. Followed by an empirical analysis consisting of machinery tests analysing the effects of an application of TZ NIOD on piston compressors. These analyses consisted of temperature and power consumption measurements during various modes of operation of the compressor and different modes of applying TZ NIOD to the compressor. The projects were sponsored by Dmitrii Svetov (www.tribo.at) who is the appointed European general representative for TZ NIOD. Dmitrii Svetov is the responsible and qualified representative to distribute TZ NIOD for all of Europe. 2. Tribological Compound - TZ NIOD TZ NIOD [2] is a novel agent to improve properties of friction partners. TZ NIOD is a complex mixture of silicate material powder with particle sizes ranging from 5 to 50 micrometers. The basis of TZ NIOD is made up of finely distributed and divided particles of Serpentinite. It consists of nanoparticles which must be dispersed in oil or grease and the intensity of its penetration into the material surface is proportional to the pressure and temperature of contact zones. 2.1 Claimed Benefits of TZ NIOD The sponsor [2] claims that the nanoparticles of TZ NIOD accumulate in worn areas of contact zones of tribo-systems due to the higher surfaces roughness. Thus, the oil and grease act as a transporting agent of the TZ NIOD particles to the areas of highest wear. The increased friction, temperature and higher pressure, due to wear, stimulate the penetration of TZ NIOD particles into the contact surface resulting in a mending and self-healing effect. This self-healing effect results in a restoration of the friction partners of the tribo-system and shall have the following positive effects. • reduce the coefficient of friction • reduce energy losses due to friction • lower temperature increases due to friction • higher resistance against wear • ability to operate tribo-systems without lubrication for short periods of time 2.2 Working Principles of TZ NIOD An application of TZ NIOD is performed directly on the device during its operation and consist of three phases [3]. In phase one, finely dispersed TZ NIOD particles are transported to the areas of wear via the oil and grease it is dispersed in. The particles abrasive effect polishes the contact areas due to the hardness of the silicate material, which removes oxide layers from the metal and react under the influence of temperature and pressure. In the second phase, the activated TZ NIOD particles formed in the contact zone result in a modified surface layer with increased hardness and higher resistance against wear. The process of phase 2 continues until the entire surface of the contact area is saturated with TZ NIOD particle. Since the metal structure is saturated with TZ NIOD at the end of Phase 2 the lubricant containing the remaining finely dispersed and grinded TZ NIOD can be removed from the tribological system and replaced by a fresh lubricant. The third phase, referred to as “running-in”, continues after the removal of the lubricant containing TZ NIOD. The device must continue to operate while the TZ NIOD particles embedded in the metal structure continue to positively influence the metallic structure of the device. 3. Empirical Analyses To test the effect of TZ NIOD on real equipment in a machinery test, TZ NIOD was applied to the crank case and the cylinder head of more than 40-year-old used piston air compressors. The pressure in the pressure vessel and filling time, the 252 24th International Colloquium Tribology - January 2024 The Effects of Applying the Tribological Compound TZ NIOD power consumption of the motor, as well as the temperature of the cylinder head were recorded in the initial state (before applying TZ NIOD), directly after an application of TZ NIOD as well as after a running-in phase consisting of 100 hours of standard discontinuous operation at a utilization rate of roughly 60%. The application of TZ NIOD on the piston air compressor, consisted of the following four stages: 1. Removing the initial oil from the device. 2. Filling the TZ NIOD - Oil mixture in the proper ratio into the oil pan of the device. 3. Application Phase: continuous operation for 40 minutes while exposing the cylinder head to TZ NIOD for 20 minutes, followed by the device’s standard discontinuous operation for 3 hours and 20 minutes. 4. Running-In Phase: replacing the TZ NIOD-Oil mixture with fresh lubrication followed by 100 hours of the devices standard discontinuous operating mode. 3.1 Results of TZ NIOD applied to the Piston Air Compressor During the empirical analysis TZ NIOD was applied to a piston air compressor in operation without the need of disassembling the compressor or modifying components. The application resulted in a down time of only 60 minutes. It was observed that the pressure over time characteristic of the compressor improved noticeably, see Figure 1. A clear difference between the characteristic after running-in (blue line in Figure 1) can be noticed compared to the initial state (black line in Figure 1) and the state directly after applying TZ NIOD (green line in Figure 1) Figure 1: Pressure-Time Diagram of initial, after application and after running-in Further, the application of TZ NIOD positively affected the filling time and the power consumption, as compared in Table 1. The average power consumption of each filling cycle during a typical discontinuous operating mode for filling the pressure vessel was reduced by 20.7 Wh, which represents a reduction of 7.8 percent. The average time to fill the pressure vessel was shortened by 3.9 seconds, which represents a reduction of 5.1 percent. Table 1: Result of Filling the Pressure Vessel after Running-In with TZ NIOD Unit Initial After Applying TZ NIOD Difference Avg. Time for Filling [sec] 80.30 76.37 -3.93 ( -5.1%) Avg. Power Consumption [Wh] 38.24 35.47 -2.77 (-7.8%) The course of the power consumption while filling the pressure vessel is illustrated in Figure 2. The power consumption after running-in with TZ NIOD is represented by the blue graphs in Figure 2. The blue graphs are noticeably lower than the graphs of the initial state, represented in black. Figure 2: Detail of Power Consumption filling the Pressure Vessel after running-in with TZ NIOD 4. Conclusion The results of the empirical analyses conclude that TZ NIOD is capable of unfolding its positive effects when applied to devices in operation and within the specified operating condition of the device. An application of TZ NIOD must be tailored to the specific device. The application of TZ NIOD on the piston air compressor resulted in a total down time of only 60 minutes. Overall, it can be concluded that the positive effects of TZ NIOD, on the device it is applied to, comprise of lowering the power consumption by 7.8%, increasing the efficiency by lowering the filling time of the pressure vessel by 5.1%. This indicates that the worn-out surfaces of the device were regenerated which contributed to decreasing the temperature in operation and increasing the devices service life. References [1] J. P. Davim, Progress in Green Tribology: Green and Conventional Techniques. Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2017. [2] D. Svetov, “Tribologie in österreich,” Tribo.at, http: / / tribo.at/ (acc. Apr. 18, 2023). [3] D. Svetov, “Die tribotechnische Zusammensetzung von Niod - Prozesse,” Tribo.at, http: / / www.tribo.at/ prozes. html (accessed Apr. 18, 2023).-