Development and Performance Evaluation of Vegetable Oils as Bio-Lubricant: A Review

Abstract

Presently, mineral oil is used as a commercial lubricant in various applications because it is easily available, its good overall performance and is low cost. However, the petroleum base stock is non-renewable, and mineral oil causes adverse environmental effects, which are increasing day by day; therefore, these elements couldn’t maintained in the future. Researchers are currently focusing on bio-lubricants as a substitute for MO as a source of lubricants. Bio-lubricants are formulated from vegetable oils and esters, which are renewable base stocks. Bio-lubricants are clearly biodegradable and more environmentally friendly as they are less toxic. As a lubricant, vegetable oil has some limitations, like poor thermal and oxidative stability, that might have an effect on their tribological performance. This paper presents an overview of the development, features, characterisation, benefits, and applications of vegetable oil-based lubricants. Raw vegetable oils have poor thermal and oxidative stability, so they need chemical modification. The research focuses on the necessary chemical modification techniques to improve the characteristics of bio-lubricants, as well as the tribological analysis of bio-lubricants with Nano-additives. The drawbacks of bio-lubricants, as well as their future potential, have been noted.