Green Additives for Lubricating Oil

Abstract

The increasing focus toward diminishing the impact on the environment has driven efforts to develop new environmentally benign lubricating oil additives. Keeping this view in mind, the present investigation comprises the syntheses of homopolymers of sunflower oil (SFO) and soybean oil (SBO) for their evaluation as lube oil additives. Each of them was characterized by spectral techniques (IR, NMR), SEC-GPC, and viscometric analysis. Additive performances mainly as a pour point depressant (PPD) and viscosity index improver (VII) or modifier (VM) were evaluated by standard ASTM methods. The shear stability of the polymers was also determined as per the ASTM D6022-06 method. Biodegradability of all the polymers was tested by the disc diffusion method against fungal pathogens and by a soil burial degradation test (SBT) of the polymer films as per ISO 846:1997. The oil thickening property of the polymers has also been investigated and reported here. Thermal stability of the polymers was determined by thermogravimetric analysis. A comparison of their performances has also been reported.