What cools the lube oil?

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Multiple Choice

What cools the lube oil?

Lubricating oil gets hot as it does its job of reducing friction in the engine, so it needs to be cooled before it can be reused. The way this is typically done is by routing the oil through an oil cooler where heat is transferred to the jacket water—the engine’s cooling coolant that flows around the cylinders. The jacket water absorbs the oil’s heat in the cooler and then moves on to be cooled again in the engine’s cooling loop. Because this heat-exchange path uses jacket water as the cooling medium, jacket water is the component that cools the lube oil. Sea water and fresh water can play roles in other parts of the cooling system, such as cooling the jacket water itself in some designs, but the direct medium that removes heat from the lubricating oil in this setup is jacket water. Engine oil isn’t used to cool itself, since it’s the substance being cooled.

Lubricating oil gets hot as it does its job of reducing friction in the engine, so it needs to be cooled before it can be reused. The way this is typically done is by routing the oil through an oil cooler where heat is transferred to the jacket water—the engine’s cooling coolant that flows around the cylinders. The jacket water absorbs the oil’s heat in the cooler and then moves on to be cooled again in the engine’s cooling loop. Because this heat-exchange path uses jacket water as the cooling medium, jacket water is the component that cools the lube oil.

Sea water and fresh water can play roles in other parts of the cooling system, such as cooling the jacket water itself in some designs, but the direct medium that removes heat from the lubricating oil in this setup is jacket water. Engine oil isn’t used to cool itself, since it’s the substance being cooled.

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