Performance of Vegetable Oil as Lubricant in Extreme Pressure Condition

Today, vegetable oils are being considered for their suitability as industrial lubricant. One of the main problems of vegetable oils is their poor performance when working at high temperature and pressure. They may oxidize and undergo changes to their chemical and physical composition. In the worst cases, the oxygen bond in vegetable oils can lead to metal oxidation and weaken the structure of the metal. In this paper, the performance of vegetable oils as a lubricant was tested using a fourball tribometer under extreme pressure conditions, which conforms to ASTM D2783. The test lubricants were commercial stamping oil, commercial hydraulic oil, jatropha oil, RBD palm olein and palm fatty acid distillate. The normal load used for this test was 126 kg. The results showed that vegetable oils have a high friction coefficient compared to mineral oil. Also, the wear scars produced by vegetable oil is slightly lower than those produced by mineral oil. It can be concluded that vegetable oils have potential as lubricants. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.