Preparation and investigation of some possible applications of ecological lubricants based on transesterified vegetable oils with polyvalent alcohols

Department of Repairing, Reliability, Mechanisms, Machines, Logistic and Chemical Technologies, Agrarian and Industrial Faculty “Angel Kanchev” University of Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria.

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Abstract

The use of Metal Working Fluids or Cutting Fluids (MWF/CFLs) based on petroleum oils, as well as conventional additives to provide the desired properties of MWF/CFLs, creates serious environmental problems and threatens the health of people working in this industry. Vegetable oils and animal fats are a possible alternative for the oil component of MWF/CFLs. They are biodegradable and non-toxic, but their direct application is limited due to problems with thermo-oxidative stability, low-temperature properties, corrosion protection, and viscosity range. These problems are largely solved by chemical modifications of these natural lubricants. Replacing glycerol in triglycerides with another alcohol, as well as modification of the hydrocarbon chain, partially solves these problems. However, this does not solve the problem of additives, which are often serious environmental pollutants. The presented work aims to study the possibilities of using various environmentally friendly substances (natural products and their derivatives) as alternative additives in the composition of MWF/CFLs, by monitoring their physicochemical and tribological characteristics in comparison with MWF/CFLs based on mineral oils, as well as to determine the qualities of emulsions based on modified vegetable fatty acids, as an additive or substitute for water-paraffin emulsions in the metalworking industry. The realization of this goal is supported by the achieved results regarding the study of the physicochemical characteristics of vegetable oils, modified vegetable oils, and their mixtures.