Development of biolubricants from vegetable oils via chemical modification

The possible scarcity of oil and gas resources in the future (whether in quantity or areas of availability) is a major concern throughout the world. For this reason, governments all over the world are working on reducing their dependence on imported energy resources. Alternative energy resources such as bioethanol, biodiesel and biomass have gained prominence over the years in order to substitute petroleum-derived products. Bio-based lubricants have also gained importance as alternatives to conventional petroleum-based lubricants in various applications, especially the automotive industry. Despite the benefits of bio-based lubricants, these lubricants are still far from being practical substitutes. Since bio-based lubricants are typically produced from raw vegetable oils, these lubricants have poor cold flow properties as well as low thermo-oxidation and hydrolytic stability. However, these shortcomings can be addressed by modifying the vegetable oils chemically or incorporating additives into the oils. This review provides a detailed treatment on bio-based lubricants, the various vegetable oils used as the feedstocks for the production of bio-based lubricants, the physicochemical properties of bio-based lubricants, the processes used for chemical modification of vegetable oils, the lubrication properties of bio-based lubricants, as well as the various additives used to improve the properties of bio-based lubricants. It is believed that this review paper will provide useful insight to researchers and practioners in the field regarding bio-based lubricants.

A review on the chemistry, production, and technological potential of bio-based lubricants

Oxidative stability of biodiesel: Causes, effects and prevention

Evaluation of physiochemical and tribological properties of rice bran oil – biodegradable and potential base stoke for industrial lubricants

The wide use of petroleum-based oils raises concerns with regard to pollution, and the rising of awareness of greenhouse gases has created a demand for the use of environmentally friendly and biodegradable lubricants for industrial applications. Vegetable oils are one of the bio-oils that have been promoted as a replacement for petroleum products, in part due to their environmentally friendly characteristics; they are nontoxic, biodegradable, and easy to dispose of. Many researchers have performed studies on sunflower oil, corn oil, and soy oil, but few have studied palm oil as a lubricant. Palm oil produced in a high-throughput manner could fulfill the demand for biobased lubricants. In this study, the influence of temperature on friction and wear performance for refined, bleached, and deodorized (RBD) palm stearin and additive-free paraffinic mineral oil is presented. The experiments were conducted using a four-ball tribotester. Test temperatures of 55, 65, 75, and 85 ◦ C were used. The sliding speeds were set to 1,200 rpm. Experiments were run for 1 h under a 392.4 N load. The results of RBD palm stearin were compared with those of paraffinic mineral oil. The experimental results showed that the RBD palm stearin had better performance compared to paraffinic mineral oil in terms of reducing frictional constraints.

The Effect of Temperature on the Tribological Behavior of RBD Palm Stearin

The use of biodegradable lubricants in diverse applications continues to increase. Vegetable oils (e.g., soybean oil) are the main biodegradable lubricant base stocks used world-wide. However, there are concerns about their oxidative stability and low-temperature performance. Improvements in oxidative stability can be made through chemical or genetic modifications. This work compared the effects of oils with different chemical compositions. Soybean oil, high-oleic soybean oil, and epoxidized soybean oil were compared in laboratory bench tests. The tests conducted include the Penn State sequential four-ball wear test and the Penn State micro-oxidation test. Oxidation products from the micro-oxidation test were analyzed by FTIR and gel permeation chromatography. In this paper, all oils were evaluated neat, without additives.

Filomena Caputo

Papers

A Study of the Oxidation and Wear Properties of Vegetable Oils: Soybean Oil Without Additives