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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #101784
Title: LUBRICANT BASESTOCKS FROM CHEMICALLY MODIFIED VEGETABLE OILS

Author
item Erhan, Sevim
item ASADAUSKAS, SVAJUS - EX PENN STATE UNIV

Submitted to: European Symposium on Industrial Crops and Products
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Compared to the lubricants made of petroleum, vegetable- based lubricants are much more biodegradable but inferior in many other technical characteristics. The basestock typically contributes to more than 80% of lubricant and must meet performance criteria in such aspects as cleanliness, viscometric properties, volatility, oxidative and hydrolytic stability, deposit forming tendencies, solvency, miscibility or compatibility with system elastomers. For vegetable- based lubricants, oxidative stability and low temperature problems are considered the most critical. Thin film oxidation test was used to compare oxidative stabilities in this study. Vegetable oils appear an order of magnitude less stable than mineral oils or synthetic biodegradable basestocks, such as isoalkyl adipates or poly alpha-olefins. Low temperature performance of vegetable oils, namely pour points and cold storage, was also problematic. These problems can only partially be relieved by lubricant additives, thus vegetable oils have to be modified chemically.