Production of Bio-lubricant from Neem Oil

Nadia Khan; Asim Mushtaq; Raza Muhammad Khan; Zaeem Uddin Ali

Nadia Khan Polymer and Petrochemical Engineering Department, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Asim Mushtaq Polymer and Petrochemical Engineering Department, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Raza Muhammad Khan Polymer and Petrochemical Engineering Department, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Zaeem Uddin Ali Chemical Engineering Department, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

Keywords: bio-lubricant, neem oil, pour point, viscosity index, density, flash point

Abstract

Fast increment in fuel cost is a major issue for developing nations, which import the greater part of their interest. Presently the utilization of vegetable oils as lubricants have been expanded in numerous nations. An ideal approach to utilizing non-edible vegetable oil as a fuel is to change it over into bio- lubricant. This produced from many vegetables, edible and non-edible oils such as soya bean oil, castor oil, jatropha oil, palm oil, sunflower oil and karanja oil. Neem oil is a non-edible oil and has great potential for being a source of bio-lubricant. In this research, the production and characterization of bio-lubricant extracted from neem oil. Neem seeds oil was extracted by using hexane in the soxhlet apparatus. The physical and chemical properties of the extracted oil were studied. The oil corresponds to lubricant except for the high free fatty acid content and higher pour point. Esterification was performed to decrease the free fatty acid (FFA) content, followed by trans-esterification and double trans-esterification to produce bio- lubricant. The conditions for both were optimized and found to be 8 mole % ethanol and 1mol % NaOH for trans-esterification and 3.5 mole % ethylene glycol and 0.8 mole % NaOH for double trans-esterification. Main lubricating properties of the sample such as viscosity index, pour point density, flash point and % FFA content were analyzed and found to be 212, -7 °C, 889Kg/m3, 223°C and 0.79 % whereas the properties of mineral oil-based lubricant were 145, -23 °C, 894Kg/m3, 209 °C. AC1402 (PMMA) was used as an anti-freezing agent. The lubricant characteristics such as pour point, viscosity index, density and flash point were changed to -20 °C, 231, 882Kg/m3 and 231 °C, making it suitable over a wide range of temperatures.