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Manufacturing of Biolubricant From Vegetable Oils 2017
Manufacturing of Biolubricant From Vegetable Oils 2017
H O S T E D BY
Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute
KEYWORDS Abstract Environment friendly products such as fuels and lubricants are among the candidates
Biodiesel; which are studied in several countries including Egypt. The purpose of this work was to utilize com-
Biolubricant; mercially available palm oil and Jatropha oil for the production of biolubricants, through two
Transesterification; stages of Transesterification. The first stage is the process of using methanol in the presence of
Palm oil methyl ester; potassium hydroxide to produce biodiesel. The second stage is the reaction of biodiesel with
Jatropha oil methyl ester trimethylolpropane using sodium methoxide as catalyst to yield palm or Jatropha oil base trimethy-
lolpropane esters (biolubricants). Palm oil based trimethylolpropane esters with yield of 97.8% was
obtained after 4 h of reaction at 130 °C. Under similar reaction conditions, Jatropha oil based
trimethylolpropane esters with a yield of 98.2% was obtained. The resulting products were con-
firmed by FTIR and evaluated by ASTM analyses. The obtained Jatropha oil based trimethylol-
propane esters exhibited high viscosity indices (1 4 0), low pour point temperature ( 3 °C), and
moderate thermal stabilities and met the requirement of commercial industrial oil ISO VG46 grade.
In spite of the high pour point of Palm oil based trimethylolpropane esters (5 °C), which needs pour
point depressant to reduce the pour point, other lubrication properties such as viscosity, viscosity
indices and flash point are comparable to commercial industrial oil ISO VG32 and VG46.
Ó 2016 Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2016.03.003
1110-0621 Ó 2016 Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
54 E.K. Heikal et al.
national economies [9–11]. The search for bio-based material 2. Materials and methods
as industrial and automotive lubricants has been accelerated
in recent years. 2.1. Materials
Vegetable oils, a renewable resource, are finding their way
into lubricants for industrial and transportation applications.
Purified palm oil was purchased from domestic market. The
Waste disposal is also of less concern for vegetable oil-based
properties of palm oil are given in Table 1, and Jatropha oil
products because of their environment-friendly and nontoxic
was purchased from Sudan. Specifications of crude Jatropha
nature. Oleochemical esters is a class of products that improve
oil are shown in Table 4.
the thermal and cold-flow instability of the neat vegetable oils
Methanol 99.8% (Sigma–Aldrich), sodium methoxide, 95%
and fulfill the basic requirements as lubricant base stocks
powder (Sigma–Aldrich), trimethylolpropane (TMP) 98%
[12,13]. Among the esters used for the production of biolubri-
(Aldrich), magnesium sulfate anhydrous 97% and ethyl acet-
cants are the polyol esters such as trimethylolpropane (TMP),
ate 99.5% (Sigma–Aldrich), were used in the manufacturing
pentaerythritol (PE), and neopentylpolyol (NPG). These
process.
biobased esters (Fig. 1) deliver good low temperature fluidity
and although they cannot be used at extremely high tempera-
2.2. Synthesis of TMP-based esters
tures still they can be suitable in less extreme applications
[14–20].
Biofuels have already been accepted around the world Palm oil and Jatropha oil were converted to fatty acid methyl
for their advantages over conventional petroleum fuels, esters (FAME) using methanol transesterification process, fol-
including the opportunity for energy independency. Now, lowed by several purification steps as described elsewhere [28].
similar growth is expected for biolubricants, which are The obtained methyl palm/Jatropha biodiesel was treated
derived from renewable vegetable oils for different niche with silica gel for the 30 min to remove soap, and then the sam-
applications. Recently, the idea of producing vegetable oil- ple was filtered and dried overnight in an oven at 105 °C.
based biolubricants has led researchers to develop process Palm oil based TMP esters and Jatropha oil based TMP
technologies for their commercialization. Biolubricants are esters were prepared using transesterification reactions
esters of heavy alcohols derived from vegetable oil based (Fig. 1) which were carried out in a rotary vacuum evaporator
feedstock and have lubricating properties similar to those model N-1110S (Tokyo Rikakikai CO., LTD) with round bot-
of mineral oil-based lubricants. Even though biolubricants tom flask 500 ml. The batch weight of methyl palm/Jatropha
are priced twice as high as conventional petroleum lubri- biodiesel was 150 g in all transesterification experiments.
cants, industries are investing in R&D toward increasing Trimethylolpropane (TMP) was initially dissolved into
oil recovery from seeds, reducing the costs of processes and small amount of the obtained biodiesel with the aid of heating
exploring niche application areas. (70–90 °C) and stirring to melt the crystalline solid.
Table 1 Properties of palm oil and obtained biodiesel. Table 2 Fatty acid components of biodiesel from Palm oil.
Specifications Palm oil Biodiesel ASTM Common name Symbol Percentage of total weight
Yield wt.% – 98.5 – Lauric acid C12 0.319
Density at 20 °C g/cm3 0.9134 0.8731 ASTMD-1298 Myristic acid C14 0.999
Viscosity at 40 °C cSt 52.13 4.59 ASTMD-445 Palmitic acid C16 39.242
Cloud point, °C – 15 ASTMD-97 Palmitoleic C16:1 0.195
Flash point, °C – 150 ASTMD-92 Stearic acid C18 4.36
Calorific value, kj/kg – 45212 ASTMD-240 Oleic acid C18:1 42.52
Molecular weight 463.07 221.61 ASTMD-2503 Linoleic acid C18:2 11.347
Ash content, wt% – Nil ASTMD-482 Others 1.018
Copper corrosion – La ASTMD-130
Total acid number 6.35 0.54 ASTMD-664
(mg KoH/g)
with polyols is the reverse process of the transesterification
reaction, in which glycerol is replaced by a commercial polyol.
The most significant advantage of using a polyol instead of
A known amount of TMP was then added with stirring and
glycerol is that the absence of a-hydrogens enhances the ther-
the mixture was heated to the operating temp. (120–130 °C)
mal stability of the lubricant at high temperatures by prevent-
before sodium methoxide catalyst (0.9–1 w%) was added
ing self-polymerization to form free fatty acids [22].
according to the type of methyl esters.
The optimum reaction conditions for synthesizing Tri-
The vacuum was applied gradually after addition of the cat-
MethylolPropane (TMP) esters of palm oil were determined
alyst to avoid spillover reaction (10–50 mmHg), and the dura-
in another work [23], and the effects of temperature, pressure,
tion of reaction was constant at (4 h).
molar-ratio of palm methyl esters-to-TMP and catalyst
After the reaction was completed, the reaction mixture was
amount of sodium methoxide were studied [23]. The trimethy-
cooled to room temp. Ethyl acetate was added and vacuum fil-
lolpropane was chosen due to its lower melting point com-
tered to remove the catalyst and solid materials followed by
pared to other polyols [24].
fractional distillation. The final products (biolubricants) were
The effect of vacuum on transesterification of palm oil
analyzed for their lubrication properties using ASTM standard
methyl esters with TMP is presented in Table 3.
method [25].
Kinematic viscosities of palm TMP esters were measured at
The TGA-DSC determinations were carried out on a simul-
40 °C and 100 °C using viscometers as described by ASTM
taneous TGA – DSC model SDT Q600 apparatus (USA) and
method D445. The viscosity index (VI) was determined accord-
involved two different tests. A stream of nitrogen was used as
ing to ASTM method D2270 [25]. The VI of oil is a number
inert atmosphere and a stream of air as the reactive atmo-
that indicates the effect of temperature change on its viscosity.
sphere. The products were confirmed by infrared spectroscopy
A low VI signifies a relatively large change in viscosity with
using a ATI Mattson model Genesis series (USA).
changes in temperature.
In other words, the oil becomes extremely thin at high tem-
3. Results and discussion peratures and extremely thick at low temperatures. A high VI
signifies relatively little change in viscosity over a wide range of
3.1. Production of biolubricant from palm oil temperatures. The ideal oil for most purposes is one that main-
tains a constant viscosity throughout different temperature
Palm oil consists mainly of glycerol ester and fatty acids. Cur- changes.
rently it is used mostly for edible purposes such as cooking oil. As shown in Table 3 the reduction in vacuum pressure from
The remainder is used for the production of oleochemical, 50 mmHg to 10 mmHg leads to improvement of viscosity
margarine, soap and animal feed raw material. Since palm
oil is the world’s cheapest vegetable oil, therefore crude palm
oil itself presents a promising alternative as a feedstock for
manufacture of environment friendly products. Table 3 Effect of vacuum on transesterification of palm oil
In the last decade, various approaches for biodiesel produc- methyl esters with TMP (Molar ratio of P0ME:TMP was 3.9: 1,
tion from crude palm oil were published [21]. Table 1 shows catalyst 0.9% wt, temperature 130 °C at 4 h).
the properties of palm oil and obtained biodiesel.
Specifications Vacuum pressure at Vacuum pressure at
The GC analysis of the obtained palm oil methyl ester 50 mmHg 10 mmHg
(POME) is given in Table 2.
Palm oil ISO Palm oil ISO
The major constituent of POME is the saturate content,
TMP ester VG32 TMP ester VG46
palmitic acid (39.24%), stearic acid (4.36%), where oleic acid
(42.52%), linoleic acid (11.34%), and poly unsaturated fatty Yield, wt.% 97.4 97.8
acids (1.02%). The presence of large amounts of the saturate Kinematic 38.25 >28.8 50.33 >41.4
viscosity cSt 40 °C
content results in higher resistance to oxidative-thermal
Kinematic 7.58 >4.1 10.87 >4.1
treatment.
viscosity cSt 100 °C
Transesterification is defined as the reaction in which a Viscosity index 171 >90 214 >90
triglyceride molecule reacts with three moles of methanol to Pour point 5 6 5 6
result in glycerol and mixtures of fatty acid methyl esters. Flash point 240 204 253 220
The transesterification of vegetable oil-derived methyl esters
56 E.K. Heikal et al.
Figure 2 IR spectra of (d) Palm oil methyl ester and (e) Diesel Figure 3 IR spectra of (a) TMP; (b) Palm oil-based TMP esters;
oil. and (c) Palm oil methyl ester.
Manufacturing of environment friendly biolubricants from vegetable oils 57
The thermal behavior of fatty esters is of prime importance while DSC thermogram in the presence of air shows two
in the field of lubrication. The products are generally used in exothermic peaks one at 360 °C and another at 502 °C.
the presence of air, and are therefore subjected to oxidative
and thermal decomposition. This may be evaluated by thermo- 3.2. Production of biolubricant from Jatropha oil
gravimetric analysis (TGA) which provides a quantitative mea-
surements of all the changes which occur in the weight of a Table 4 represents the specifications of Crude Jatropha oil. It is
sample as a function of temperature [30]. Thermogravimetric clear that the kinematic viscosity and total acid number were
analysis may be coupled with differential thermal analysis high as 36.97 and 4.65 respectively
(DTA) to distinguish the physical phenomena of changes in The analysis of jatropha oil methyl esters (Biodiesel)
state from the chemical phenomena responsible for the obtained from jatropha oil is given in Table 5 which was com-
changes in sample weight. pared favorably with the standard ASTM D 6751 with yield
Differential thermal analysis under inert atmosphere (nitro- 98%.
gen, helium) exhibits an endothermic peak resulting from Characterization of jatropha oil TMP esters (biolubricant)
thermal degradation of the compound. Under air, the oxygen is shown in Table 6. It could be shown that the yield is
produces oxidation reactions (exothermic peak) and superim- 98.2%. The basic lubrication properties of the product jat-
position of the endothermic peaks which may correspond to ropha oil TMP esters were the following: Viscosity at 40 °C
loss of the different volatile products created during oxidation 51.89 cSt, Pour point 3 °C, Flash point 296 °C, Acid value
and thermal degradation of the analyzed compound (by evap- 0.52 and viscosity Index 140 as indicated in Table 6.
oration, for example) should be noted. Thermogravimetric DSC-TGA spectrum for the thermal decomposition of jat-
analysis (TGA) provides the analyst with a quantitative mea- ropha oil TMP esters in nitrogen and air indicates that the
surement of any change associated with a transition. For TGA analysis obtained in the presence of nitrogen are bi-
example, TGA can directly record the loss in weight with time stage weight loss ended at 463 °C and Tetrastage weight loss
or temperature due to dehydration and decomposition ended at 512 °C under air. DSC thermogram for jatropha oil
Changes in weight are a result of the rupture and/or forma- TMP esters indicates one endothermic peak at 459 °C in the
tion of various physical and chemical bonds at elevated tem- presence of nitrogen and two exothermic peaks one at
peratures that lead to evolution of volatile products or the 389 °C and another at 514 °C in the presence of air (Fig. 5).
formation of heavier reaction products [31]. Differential scan- To illustrate the substance composites of Jatropha oil
ning calorimetry (DSC) is a thermo analytical technique in methyl ester (biodiesel), Jatropha oil based TMP esters
which the difference in the amount of heat is required to (biolubricant) and trimethylolpropane (TMP) FTIR tests were
increase the temperature of a sample and reference is measured performed and the results are indicated in Fig. 6.
as a function of temperature differential scanning calorimeters
are able to measure the amount of energy absorbed or released
when the sample undergoes a physical transformation such as Table 5 Properties of biodiesel prepared from jatropha oils
phase transitions [32]. (methanol 5:1, catalyst 1 wt.% and temperature 60 °C for 2 h)
For the Palm Oil TMP esters, the values on the onset loss of [28].
weight obtained in the presence of nitrogen are unistage weight Analysis Method Result
loss ended at 461 °C and tristage weight loss ended at 512
under air (Fig. 4). Yield vol.% – 98
Density at 20 °C ASTM D-298 0.8821
DSC thermogram for the palm oil TMP esters is shown in
Kinematic viscosity at 40, cSt ASTM D-445 4.60
Fig. 4. The thermogram clearly indicates one endothermic Flash point, °C ASTM D-92 185
peak at approximately 420 °C (in the presence of nitrogen), Cloud point, °C ASTM D-5773 1
Pour point, °C ASTM D-97 3
Gross calorific value, kj/kg ASTM D-240 43961
Net calorific value, kj/kg ASTM D-240 41453
Catane index ASTM D-976 46
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