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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Sustainable Biofuels and Co-products Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #294244
Title: Natural oils as lubricants

Author
item PEREZ, JOSEPH - Pennsylvania State University
item RUDNICK, LESLIE - Pennsylvania State University
item Erhan, Sevim

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/14/2013
Publication Date: 2/4/2013
Citation: Perez, J.M., Rudnick, L.R., Erhan, S.Z. 2013. Natural oils as lubricants. In: Rudnick, L.R., editor. Synthetics, Mineral Oils, and Bio-based Lubricants - Chemistry and Technology. Second Edition. New York, NY: CRC Press. p. 375-384.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: There is currently an availability of vegetable oil lubricants, with the exception of engine oils. Vegetable oils are environmentally friendly, renewable, contribute to the reduction of our dependence on imported petroleum, and add value to the farmer. However, there are inherent weaknesses in vegetable oils such as oxidation stability, hydrolytic stability, and low-temperature properties that have to be corrected to obtain equivalent performance to petroleum-based lubricants. Biodegradable lubricants are also about twice the cost of petroleum products, but other factors such as the cost of spill cleanups and other environmental factors tend to level the playing field. This chapter will address the lubricating properties and performance of vegetable oils, that is, the triglycerides directly obtained from the plant and the fatty acids directly obtained from the triglycerides.