Received: 8 January 2020 Revised: 8 April 2020 Accepted: 29 April 2020

DOI: 10.1002/eng2.12190

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Biodiesel and biolubricant production from different

vegetable oils through transesterification

José María Encinar1 Sergio Nogales1 Juan Félix González2

1
Department of Chemical Engineering
and Physical-Chemistry, University of
Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
2
Department of Applied Physics,
University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
Correspondence
Sergio Nogales, Department of Chemical
Engineering and Physical-Chemistry,
University of Extremadura, Avda. De
Elvas, s/n, 06071 Badajoz, Spain.
Email: senogalesd@unex.es
Funding information
Fondos Europeos de Desarrollo Regional:
Una manera de hacer Europa,
Grant/Award Number: IB18028; Junta de
Extremadura, Ayudas para la Realización
de Actividades de Investigación y
Desarrollo Tecnológico, de Divulgación y
de Transferencia de Conocimiento por los
Grupos de Investigación de Extremadura,
Grant/Award Number: GR18150
Abstract
A study about the production and characterization of biodiesel and, especially,
biolubricants from different raw materials (ie, rapeseed, a mixture of corn and
sunflower, and frying oils) is here performed. Optimal chemical conditions were
used to carry out the transesterification of biodiesel and biolubricants, hence
obtaining high yields in all investigated cases. The physical properties, such as
fatty acid methyl ester profile, viscosity, viscosity index and oxidative stability,
among others, are analyzed. The biodiesel products comply with the standards,
according to the characteristics covered in this research. Regarding the biolu-
bricants, the viscosity values are analogous to those found in the literature but
showing longer induction points. These properties appear to be highly influ-
enced by the fatty acid profile of the raw material, which is an important factor
for both biodiesel and biolubricant performance. Therefore, the initial char-
acterization of vegetable oils is an important stage for the optimal design of
biorefineries. Finally, the use of transesterification for biodiesel and biolubricant
production is also justified, as many valuable products (eg, glycerol, fatty acid
methyl esters, and fatty acid complex esters) are obtained and some by-products
(eg, methanol) can be reused.

KEYWORDS
fatty acid methyl ester, frying oil, oxidative stability, rapeseed oil, sunflower and corn oil, viscosity

1 I N T RO DU CT ION

The aim of lubrication is to reduce wear of one or two surfaces in close proximity, and moving relative to each other, by
interposing a substance between the surfaces to carry other load between the opposing surfaces.1 This way, lubrication
reduces wear, protects from corrosion, reduces oxidation, acts as an insulator and is a sealing agent.1,2 Consequently, lubri-
cants play an important role in industrial processes. However, petro-based lubricants, like many other products derived
from oil, are still widely used, implying many problems from an environmental point of view, especially due to their
massive use.3 In addition, the depletion of crude oil reserves increases prices, which makes the search for alternative prod-
ucts necessary in order to reduce the economic dependence and to promote sustainability, among other measures. As a
consequence, there is a global concern about the use of this kind of products, and many countries and international agen-
cies are promoting guidelines or treaties to replace them for environment-friendly alternatives. In this way, biolubricants
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
© 2020 The Authors. Engineering Reports published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Engineering Reports. 2020;e12190. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/eng2 1 of 10

https://doi.org/10.1002/eng2.12190
2 of 10 ENCINAR et al.

derived from vegetable oils (as well as biodiesel, which is more consolidated) are gaining importance for many applica-
tions, because they are biodegradable, have low ecotoxicity and do not contribute to VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds)
emissions.1,4 However, their low temperature properties and oxidation stability are challenges for their wide and com-
mercial use in industries, which makes the use of additives necessary.5 Generally, vegetable oils are composed of several
fatty acids (as many as 12 different ones), such as oleic, linoleic, linolenic or ricinoleic acid, among others. Their specific
composition depends on the kind of oil and its preharvest conditions.3 Moreover, the performance of these vegetable oils
and their derivatives (fatty acid esters for biodiesel or biolubricants), from many different points of view (such as viscos-
ity, oxidation stability, etc.), depends on the proportion of these fatty acids.3,6-8 For instance, oleic acid contributes to the
oxidative stability during storage in vegetable oils, whereas ricinoleic acid, if it is majority, causes high viscosity values.
In other words, the chemical properties of these fatty acids depend on the stereochemistry of the double bonds of the
fatty acid chains, their degree of unsaturation as well as the length of the carbon chain of the fatty acids.9 This way, many
of these properties are transferred to the subsequent derivatives, like biodiesel or biolubricants. As a consequence, sev-
eral oils from various raw materials, including vegetable oils (such as palm, rapeseed, jatropha or castor oil) and frying
oils (from soy, sunflower or corn oils), have been studied for the production of biodiesel or biolubricants.1,10-12 For biol-
ubricant production, several chemical reactions have been developed to prepare biodegradable lubricants, enhancing its
thermal and oxidation stability to withstand within wide operating conditions. Among them, epoxidation and transes-
terification are the most popular chemical routes to obtain biolubricants from vegetable oils.13-15 The latter is a reaction
in which an ester is transformed into another ester through interchange of the alkyl group.16 Depending on the kind of
catalyst used, it can be classified into acid-catalyzed or base-catalyzed transesterification, and the complexity of the final
ester (influencing some properties of the final biolubricant) depends on the alcohol used for the alkyl interchange (ie,
methanol or ethanol for biodiesel production and other superior alcohols for biolubricant production).1 Moreover, the
use of heterogeneous catalysts could also be a good alternative to traditional ones, especially making the catalyst removal
from the final product easier.17 This way, if the production of biolubricants is based on transesterification, the raw mate-
rial could play an important role in the development of a biorefinery, as many other similar sources have been considered
in the literature18-22 (see Figure 1). However, not many studies have pointed out the feasibility of the design of a biorefin-
ery based on vegetable oils through transesterification, although some parts of the process (for instance fatty acid methyl
esters [FAMEs] production) have been widely studied.22 Also, this study presents three different biolubricants from veg-
etable oils (including wastes such as frying oil and rapeseed oil, which can be a suitable crop in climatically difficult
regions), supplementing the range of biolubricants obtained from many different sources and chemical routes.1
For instance, by using rapeseed (which is an interesting plant for rotation crop as it has a long tap root, showing
good yields and resistance) as the basis of a biorefinery (as seen in the literature18,20 ), in this case three main products
are found: oil, biodiesel (FAMEs) and biolubricant (fatty acid complex esters). For the first conversion, transesterifica-
tion with oil and methanol produces biodiesel, whereas for the second conversion, transesterification with biodiesel and
another alcohol (molecularly more complex than methanol or ethanol, such as 2-ethyl-1-hexanol) produces the corre-
sponding biolubricant. The main advantage of this kind of biorefinery is the collection of products such as oil, biodiesel,
and biolubricant, which can be profitable for several purposes. Thus, it should be pointed out the economic diversifica-
tion of biorefineries. Moreover, the collection of other by-products, for instance glycerol or methanol (which is used in
the first transesterification and evolved in the second one), can be useful to increase the economic performance of the
biorefinery, depending on their purity level. Finally, the reuse of several products and by-products of the whole process

FIGURE 1 Example of biorefinery based

on rapeseed through transesterification
ENCINAR et al. 3 of 10

can be interesting to reduce production costs (by reusing methanol obtained in the second transesterification for the first
transesterification, for instance, or by using biodiesel and biolubricant in machineries for seed collection, oil extraction,
etc.).
This way, the use of transesterification (in comparison with other chemical processes) in both processes might make
the design of the biorefinery easier, as the facility used for each step (biodiesel and biolubricant production) is quite similar.
Consequently, the use of resistant and sustainable crops or wastes such as frying oils, could contribute to the design
of biorefineries, pointing out concepts such as circular economy and sustainability. The aim of this research work was to
obtain biodiesel and biolubricants from different oils (rapeseed, corn and sunflower, and frying oils), analyzing their com-
position and relating it to their main characteristics (especially viscosity and oxidative stability), assessing the possibility
of a biorefinery based on these feedstocks.

2 MATERIALS AND MET HODS

The raw materials were rapeseed oil, seed (a mixture of sunflower and corn oil) and frying oils. Rapeseed oil was obtained
from the “Agrarian Research Institute Finca la Orden-Valdesequera, from CICYTEX, Centro de Investigaciones Científi-
cas y Tecnológicas de Extremadura” (collecting rapeseed seeds and carrying out a mechanical pressing to obtain the oil).
Seed oil (from sunflower and corn) was purchased in a local market in Badajoz (Spain). Finally, frying oil was collected
from local homes in Badajoz (Spain).
The biolubricant production was as follows (as explained elsewhere6 ): Basically, a first transesterification was carried
out to obtain biodiesel (ie, FAMEs), in a reactor connected to a condenser, using parameters optimized in previous studies
(reaction temperature, 65◦ C; reaction time, 60 minutes; methanol/oil ratio, 6:1; catalyst [KOH] percentage, 1% w/w, and a
stirring rate at 300 rpm). After its purification (by washing with distilled water and drying at 100◦ C), the fatty acid content
of the biofuel was over 96.5%, which complies with the UNE-EN 1421423 standard and made it suitable for the following
step, that is, biolubricant production.
Afterwards, a second transesterification (with its subsequent vacuum distillation to purify the product) was car-
ried out to obtain biolubricants, following optimum reaction conditions (see Table 1). This second transesterification
was similar to the former (using a reactor and a condenser), except for the connection of the reaction facility to a
vacuum line and the use of a more complex alcohol (2-ethyl-1-hexanol). The results observed in Table 1 shows that
an increase in the FAME/alcohol ratio (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) improved the yield of the reaction, up to 93.6%
for a 1:3 ratio. Considering catalyst concentration (Experiments 1, 4 and 5), the yield increased with catalyst per-
centage (up to 92.3% for 1.5% of catalyst). Finally, the effect of temperature (Experiments 1, 6, and 7) showed a
slight increase in the yield, obtaining 76.5% in yield for the highest temperature (170◦ C). Thus, the highest values
for each variable (which assured the best yield thanks to the change in the chemical balance, promoting the forma-
tion of the chemical products and increasing the reaction rate) were selected. Consequently, according to data, the
following optimum conditions were used: 2-ethyl-1-hexanol (FAME/alcohol molar ratio = 1:3) was used as alcohol,
titanium isopropoxide was used as a catalyst (1.5%) and the reactor was heated up to 170◦ C to carry out the second
transesterification, which is equally a reversible reaction. Once the biolubricant was obtained and purified by vac-
uum (by using a Dinko D-95 vaccum pump, at 170◦ C and reaching a vacuum of 350 mmHg), its characterization was
attempted.

T A B L E 1 Biolubricant Fatty acid methyl esters/

production optimization Experiment alcohol molar ratio Temperature (◦ C) Catalyst (%) Yield (%)
(using rapeseed biodiesel,
1 1:1 150 0.5 63.2(± 1.2)
2-ethyl-1-hexanol and a
reaction time of 1 hour) 2 1:2 150 0.5 84.5(± 1.1)
3 1:3 150 0.5 93.6(± 0.8)
4 1:1 150 1 89.5(± 1.0)
5 1:1 150 1.5 92.3(± 0.9)
6 1:1 160 0.5 70.1(± 1.3)
7 1:1 170 0.5 76.5(± 1.0)
4 of 10 ENCINAR et al.

In order to monitor the decrease in FAME content during the second transesterification (which will imply a higher
biolubricant yield), gas chromatography coupled to FID detector was used. A Varian 3900 chromatograph (220◦ C for
23.5 minutes and 240◦ C for 14 minutes), with a Zebron ZB-wax Plus capillary column (30 m long, 0.32 mm inner diam-
eter, 0.25 μm film thickness) was used. For each FAME studied, a calibration curve was done, using its corresponding
standard (Sigma-Aldrich).24 Density determination was obtained by using pycnometry at room temperature, correcting
the data to 15◦ C.25 Viscosity at 40◦ C was obtained with an Ostwald viscosimeter, introducing it in a thermostatic bath and
stabilizing the temperature of the biolubricant for 20 minutes. Also, viscosity index was determined from viscosity values
at 40 and 100◦ C. For cold filter plugging point (CFPP), the EN 116 norm was used. By using the device described in this
standard, CFPP indicates the temperature below which the biolubricant flows through the device (with a filter) in more
than 60 seconds.26 For flash and combustion points, the Cleveland open-cup method was followed, according to the UNE
51-023-90 standard.27 Acid number was measured by using the UNE-EN 14111:2003 norm. The result was expressed in
mg KOH g−1.24 Iodine number was obtained by following the UNE-EN 14111:2003 standard.24 This parameter is generally
proportional to unsaturations, expressed in g I2 ⋅100 g−1 . The oxidative stability (or induction point) was obtained accord-
ing to the Rancimat method. Three grams of sample was placed in the test tube, bubbling air (10 L/h) and heating the
tube at 110◦ C. The resulting stream of air, after oxidizing the sample, passed through 50 mL of deionized water and the
subsequent oxidation by-products are dissolved in water. Thus, the conductivity of this amount of water was measured.28
When the sample was degraded, some products were developed, increasing conductivity. Thus, the induction point was
obtained when a considerable increase in conductivity was observed, as shown in Figure 2.
To sum up, an overview of the experimental design is shown in Figure 3. All the experiments were done in triplicate,
showing the corresponding SD in tables or error bars in figures for the subsequent results.

FIGURE 2 Oxidative stability (or induction point)

determination (in this case, 25 hours)

F I G U R E 3 Schematic
drawing of the experimental
design
ENCINAR et al. 5 of 10

3 R E S U LTS AN D D ISCU SSION

Concerning the result of the first transesterification to obtain FAMEs from the oils studied (ie, biodiesel, the intermediate
step for biolubricant production), Table 2 shows the main characteristics of rapeseed, seed, and frying biodiesel. Also, a
comparison with the EN 14214 standard is shown.
In general terms, most characteristics of the biodiesel samples were suitable according to the standard,23 espe-
cially concerning flash and combustion points, which are especially high compared to diesel, exceeding 190◦ C. This
fact implies a higher storage safety compared to the equivalent petro-based fuels.6 Moreover, viscosity was slightly
higher for rapeseed biodiesel, showing lower cold filter plugging points (CFPP) than in the case of seed and frying
biodiesel. This fact demonstrates that the behavior of rapeseed biodiesel in cold climates could be slightly better. Con-
cerning acid value and iodine number, the results were low, implying the presence of low free fatty acid amounts
(a desirable characteristic) and double bounds (an undesirable effect as it would imply a weak point, in the molec-
ular structure, for oxidation), respectively. To sum up, the samples studied could be suitable for Diesel engines,
and their storage would be safer compared to mineral fuels. This suitability points out the importance of these
feedstocks to produce biofuels, along with other products or by-products (such as biolubricants or glycerol). This
way, the possibility of designing biorefineries based on these raw materials is feasible, at least concerning biodiesel
production.18,22
However, the oxidative stability of the samples was below the lower limit established by the EN 14214 standard
(8 hours), ranging from around 5 hours for rapeseed biodiesel and 2.5 hours for seed and frying biodiesel. Consequently,
the use of antioxidants to comply with the standard is necessary. In any case, these results are similar to those found
in the literature, where in most cases oxidative stability is similar to the results found in this study for biodiesel sam-
ples from equivalent vegetable oils. Consequently, the use of antioxidant additives (both natural or synthetic) should be
necessary.29-31
One of the most important characteristics to be taken into account is the fatty acid profile of the raw materials. Thus,
during the two transesterifications, these fatty acids become FAMEs in the case of biodiesel and fatty acid alkyl esters in
the case of biolubricants, respectively. Essentially, the main parts of the molecular structure of the initial fatty acids is kept
in their subsequent products and in the same proportion, as both transesterification reactions are almost complete (over
97% yield). Consequently, many of the characteristics of the vegetable oil might influence the properties of the biodiesel
or biolubricant obtained.32 Figure 4 shows the FAME profile of the biodiesel obtained.
As it can be seen, the majority FAME in rapeseed biodiesel was methyl oleate (with 62%), which is an unsaturated
compound (especially stable). Also, its content showed 17% of methyl linoleate, 10% of methyl linolenate and 4% of methyl
palmitate, among others. On the contrary, seed and frying biodiesel had methyl linoleate as the majority FAME (with 53
and 57%, respectively), whereas the content in methyl oleate was relatively low (31 and 27%, respectively). Many biodiesel
samples show high levels of methyl linoleate, as previous studies have pointed out for safflower biodiesel33 or corn and
sunflower biodiesel.31 Methyl linoleate is di-unsaturated, which makes this molecular structure unstable concerning
oxidation.
Thus, the higher oxidative stability shown for rapeseed biodiesel could be explained by its higher methyl oleate
percentage, whose oxidation stability was already explained in the introduction section.

T A B L E 2 Biodiesel characterization
Biodiesel Rapeseed Seed Frying EN 14214

Density (kg/m3 ) 865 (± 5) 874 (± 4) 897 (± 2) 860-900

Viscosity (cSt) 4.91 (± 0.03) 4.84 (± 0.02) 4.51 (± 0.02) 3.5-5
CFPP (◦ C) −4 (± 0) −1 (± 0) −1 (± 0) −20 to +5a
Acid value (mg KOH⋅g−1 ) 0.32 (± 0.01) 0.47 (± 0.01) 0.45(± 0.02) 0.50
Iodine number (g I2 ⋅100 g−1 ) 103 (± 2) 92 (± 3) 93 (± 2) 120
◦
Flash point ( C) 181 (± 3) 186 (± 1) 181 (± 2) 120
◦
Combustion point ( C) 193 (± 2) 192 (± 2) 192 (± 1) —

Abbreviations: CFPP, cold filter plugging point.

a For hot climates.
6 of 10 ENCINAR et al.

FIGURE 4 Fatty acid methyl esters profile of the biodiesel used

for biolubricant production

FIGURE 5 Chemical structure of the biolubricants obtained from: A, methyl linoleate; B, methyl oleate; C, methyl linolenate

These reasoning could be extrapolated to the fatty acid alkyl ester profile of the biolubricants (see Figure 5), with
the same proportions explained earlier. Thus, the majority alkyl ester obtained for seed and frying biolubricants had the
chemical structure shown in Figure 5 a, with two unsaturations, whereas the majority alkyl ester for rapeseed biolu-
bricant only had one unsaturation (Figure 5B). The profiles of these compounds (in biodiesel and biolubricants) might
explain many of their physical and chemical characteristics, especially in the case of oxidative stability, viscosity or
tribology.6,34
Table 3 shows the main characteristics of the biolubricants obtained in this study. First of all, it should be pointed
out the high yields obtained, exceeding 96% in all cases, which are interesting conversions, as in many cases these yields
are in lower ranges.1,2 Concerning viscosity, biolubricants showed higher values compared to their biodiesel equivalents,
and flash and combustion points were equally higher. This could be due to the more complex molecular structure, due to
the reaction of FAMEs with 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, which could have increased the intermolecular forces that contribute to
the resistance to flow.35,36 It should be pointed out that flash and combustion points of the biolubricants obtained were
ENCINAR et al. 7 of 10

T A B L E 3 Biolubricant characterization
Biolubricant Rapeseed Seed Frying

Yield (%) 96.6 (± 0.4) 97.1 (± 0.9) 96.8 (± 0.7)

Density (kg⋅m−3 ) 849 (± 6) 852 (± 8) 861 (± 5)
Viscosity (cSt) 7.97 (± 0.04) 7.47 (± 0.02) 7.40 (± 0.02)
Acid value (mg KOH⋅g−1 ) 0.74 (± 0.02) 0.62 (± 0.01) 0.70 (± 0.01)
Acid number 0.37 (± 0.03) 0.31 (± 0.02) 0.35 (± 0.03)
Flash point (◦ C) 196 (± 4) 195 (± 5) 193 (± 3)
Combustion point (◦ C) 207 (± 2) 203 (± 2) 202 (± 3)

FIGURE 6 Oxidative stability of biolubricants

higher compared to other commercial lubricants, as it was observed in the literature (with flash points in the range of
150-180◦ C). However, compared to other equivalent biolubricants from rapeseed and castor oil, their values were low.
Thus, some pre-harvest conditions, as well as the purity of the samples (with the presence of impurities being important),
might have played an important role in the difference of results.10 This way, and according to the literature, the use of this
biolubricants, could be suitable for hydraulic systems, turbines and gears.
Consequently, there is a wide range of biolubricants with different uses depending on their molecular structure and
their subsequent viscosity. For the biolubricants studied, these values were comparatively low, which makes the mixture
of these biolubricants with other ones with higher viscosity (such as castor biolubricant) necessary, in order to adjust and
obtain the best viscosity value for certain industries.15,37
Another important parameter to be considered is the oxidative stability of biolubricants, which is highly related to the
storage and transportation stability. The higher the oxidative stability of the biolubricant is, the better the properties of
the biolubricant (especially viscosity, which usually increases during storage) will be, as some authors have pointed out
for equivalent bioproducts like biodiesel.38
This way, Figure 6 shows the results obtained for the biolubricants that are considered in this study. As it can be seen,
rapeseed biolubricant was more stable compared to the remaining.
As mentioned previously, the fatty acid profile of the biolubricants played an important role in oxidative stability. Thus,
as rapeseed biolubricant had higher amounts of 2-ethyl-1-hexyl oleate (which is more stable due to its single unsaturation,
Figure 5B) and lower amounts of 2-ethyl-1-hexyl linoleate (which is more unstable due to its conjugated double bounds,
Figure 5 a), its oxidative stability (expressed as induction point in the figure), compared to the remaining biolubricants
was considerably higher. Nevertheless, as it was observed in the literature, the values observed in this research work were,
in general much higher than those found by other authors.39-41 However, the comparison between biolubricants should
take into account the nature of the raw material and the characteristics of the alcohol used for their production, as both
play an important role in the final properties of the biolubricant produced. Thus, due to the fact that in this study a less
complex alcohol was used, the high oxidative stability found could be explained.
As it can be seen in Figure 7, viscosity index (which is a good indicator of the stability of viscosity with temperature) was
high for all the samples studied, especially in the case of rapeseed biolubricant, with a value of 240. These samples were
8 of 10 ENCINAR et al.

FIGURE 7 Viscosity index of biolubricants

above or in the upper range of viscosity indexes observed in the literature, which is usually between 100 and 200.42 This
fact implies that the samples in study showed lower variations in viscosity with temperature. However, there were other
studies where this value was much higher, reaching viscosity indexes over 257 and 337 for hydroxylated derivatives from
epoxidized waste cooking oil and waste cooking oil methyl esters. It could be possibly due to the higher molecular weight
of these samples, compared to the ones obtained in this study.43 Consequently, these biolubricants would be interesting,
as they offer lower changes in viscosity with temperature compared to other biolubricants with lower viscosity index
values. Again, the different composition in fatty acids of the original oil could influence in this parameter.
To sum up, the biolubricants obtained increased viscosity values compared to their corresponding biodiesel samples,
although these values were slightly low compared to other biolubricants studied in the literature.1,2 Nevertheless, their
viscosity index and oxidative stability (especially for rapeseed biolubricant) was relatively high, offering good properties
in this respect.

4 CO N C LUSION S

The main findings inferred from this research work were the following:

• Rapeseed, seed, and frying oils could be suitable feedstocks to produce biodiesel, as they complied with most quality
parameters. As biodiesel is an intermediate product to produce biolubricants (and many interesting by-products are
obtained, such as glycerol or methanol, which can be re-used in the process), these raw materials could be the base for
biorefineries that can contribute to circular economy and sustainability.
• However, the low oxidative stability of biodiesel samples (especially for seed and frying oils) requires the use of
antioxidants (both natural or synthetic).
• Biolubricants showed high flash and combustion points compared to other commercial lubricants, although these
values were lower compared to other biolubricants. On the other hand, their viscosity values were relatively low, due
to the low complexity of the alcohol used. It is necessary to change the alcohol used in the second transesterification
for another one with a more complex molecular chain, or to mix these samples with other biolubricants with higher
viscosities, if high values of this parameter are required in industry.
• Nevertheless, the viscosity index of the biolubricants obtained was high (especially for rapeseed biolubricant), which
implies lower changes of viscosity with temperature. This is a desirable property for industries where temperature
changes can take place.
• The fatty acid composition of the feedstocks is important to understand the behavior of both biodiesel and biolubricants.
Thus, the presence of branched chains, double bonds or functional groups can alter some properties, especially viscosity
and oxidative stability.
• Consequently, the oxidative stability of biodiesel and biolubricants was highly influenced by the fatty acid profile, show-
ing higher induction points for rapeseed biolubricant compared with the remaining samples, due to the higher oleic
acid and the lower linoleic acid percentages in the original oil, which implied high proportions of the corresponding
oleate in the biolubricant composition.
ENCINAR et al. 9 of 10

• Further analyses, such as IR, NMR, or GC of the compounds produced in this study, are recommended to obtain further
information about the biolubricants studied.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the Extremadura Government (“Junta de Extremadura, Ayudas para la realización de
actividades de investigación y desarrollo tecnológico, de divulgación y de transferencia de conocimiento por los Grupos
de Investigación de Extremadura” and the FEDER “Fondos Europeos de Desarrollo Regional (Una manera de hacer
Europa)” for the financial support received (GR18150 and IB18028, respectively). We also thank our colleagues in the
Agrarian Research Institute Finca la Orden-Valdesequera, for the supply of oils and their kind assistance.

PEER REVIEW INFORMATION

Engineering Reports thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

AU THOR CONTRIBUTIONS
José Encinar: Conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; funding acquisition; investigation; methodology;
project administration; resources; supervision; writing-review and editing. Sergio Nogales: Conceptualization; data cura-
tion; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; writing-original draft; writing-review and editing. Juan González:
Conceptualization; funding acquisition; resources; supervision.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no potential conflict of interest.

ORCID
José María Encinar https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5382-0107
Sergio Nogales https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7153-4761
Juan Félix González https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3531-5486

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How to cite this article: Encinar JM, Nogales S, González JF. Biodiesel and biolubricant production from
different vegetable oils through transesterification. Engineering Reports. 2020;e12190.
https://doi.org/10.1002/eng2.12190