ARS | Publication request: Film-forming properties of blends of high-oleic sunflower oil with polyalkyl glycol

Submitted to: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: July 9, 2012
Publication Date: August 30, 2012
Citation: Bantchev, G.B., Biresaw, G. 2012. Film-forming properties of blends of high-oleic sunflower oil with polyalkyl glycol. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society. 89:2227-2235.

Interpretive Summary: Researchers at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization in Peoria, IL, have measured the film-forming abilities of high-oleic vegetable oil and its blends with synthetic lubricating oils – polyalkyl glycols. The film-forming ability refers to ability of lubricants to form thin films between moving parts and prevent them from contacting and damaging each other. The influence of speed, temperature, and lubricant composition on the film thickness was investigated. The results were used to calculate the pressure-viscosity coefficients (PVC) of the oils. The PVC is a measure of how much the viscosity increases when subjected to high pressure between moving parts, such as in bearings. Such information is useful to engineers who design moving parts that operate in lubricants formulated with vegetable oils or blends of vegetable oils with synthetic and petroleum oils.

Technical Abstract: The viscosity, density, and elastohydrodynamic film thicknesses of oil-soluble polyalkyl glycols (PAG), high oleic sunflower oil (HOSuO), and their 50/50 (wt.) blends were investigated. The viscosity and density of the blends were found to be predictable from the corresponding neat oil properties using simple mixing rules. Pressure-viscosity coefficients (PVC) of HOSuO, PAG, and their 50/50 blends were calculated from measured film thickness data using the Hamrock-Dowson method and compared to values estimated from literature data. Literature pressure-density and viscosity-temperature data were analyzed using the Tait and Casalini models. Viscosity vs. pressure data obtained from these analyses was used to calculate PVC using the Barus and Bair models. The PVC values calculated from the literature data showed reasonable agreement with film thickness data from this work.