Production of Bio-lubricant from NonEdible Oil (Castor Oil) Using Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

Lubricants operate as anti-friction media, preserving machine reliability, facilitating smooth operation, and reducing the likelihood of frequent breakdowns. Petroleumbased reserves are decreasing globally, leading to price increases, and raising concerns about environmental degradation. Researchers are concentrating their efforts on developing and commercializing an environmentally friendly lubricant produced from renewable resources. Bio-lubricants derived from non-edible vegetable oils are environmentally favorable due to their non-toxicity, biodegradability, and net zero greenhouse gas emissions. The demand for bio-lubricants in industries and other sectors is increasing due to their nontoxic, renewable, and environment friendly nature. Good lubrication, anti-corrosion properties and high flammability are present in vegetable oil due to their unique structure. The study reports first time the production of biolubricant from castor oil using Fe3O4 nanoparticles and ethylene glycol in a transesterification process, as an additive. Operational parameters such as FAME/alcohol, catalyst loading, and temperature were optimized. The reaction was complete after two hours at 160 °C, giving a yield of 94 %. To enhance the physiochemical properties of modified castor seed oil (MCSO), Fe3O4 nanoparticles and ethylene glycol were used. The biolubricant yield was also predicted using artificial neural networks (ANN). The multilayer perceptron (MLP)-based ANN showed a linear correlation between the output and target values at different temperatures, the amount of catalyst, and the alcohol/FAME ratios during training, testing, and validation. Finally, the tribological properties of the produced biolubricant (MCSO + ethylene glycol + 0.5 % Fe3O4 nanoparticles) showed lowest coefficient of friction (almost 50%) and 40% decreased in wear as compared raw oil and other biolubricant samples