Title:
Biolubricants from Waste Cooking Oil: A Sustainable Alternative to Petroleum-based Lubricants
Author(s):
Dell'Anna, M.M., Leone, M.S., Derobertis, F., Mastrorilli, P., D'Accardi, E., Palumbo, D., Seggiani, M., Rossi, D., Anguillesi, I., Ciulli, E., Grabovic, E., De Agostinis, M., Di Egidio, G., Martini, C., Mele, M.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
The progressive depletion of fossil sources has prompted in recent years the researchers to study the possibility of using natural and renewable feedstock in many fields, such as materials, fuels, energy and lubricants. Lubricants reduce friction and wear between moving parts, ensuring smooth operation and preventing damage. The most common lubricants used nowadays are petrol-based mineral oils, which have good lubricant properties, but they bear the drawback of being not environmentally friendly, because they are toxic and not biodegradable, and in addition they contribute to consuming immobilized fossil supplies, altering the global carbon cycle. In this framework, the use of eco sustainable waste cooking vegetable oils as source for the preparation of biobased lubricants should be preferred to petrol oil, from both economically and environmentally points of view. This work deals with the synthesis of a biolubricant starting from waste cooking oil (WCO) collected in the restoration activities of the Toscana Region (Italy). WCO was dried and filtered and was then subjected to two subsequent chemical modifications to improve its chemical physical parameters. The first modification involved the polar part of the triglyceride which was transesterified with methanol to lower viscosity, while the second modification regarded the apolar alkyl chains, which were partially hydrogenated to improve oxidative stability. The synthetized biolubricant was characterized and subjected to preliminary tribological tests to assess its lubricity activity.
Keywords:
biomass, transesterification, hydrogenation, biolubricant, waste cooking oil
Topic:
Biomass Conversion to Biomaterials and Chemicals
Subtopic:
Processes for biomaterials and bio-based chemicals
Event:
33rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
6CV.6.30
Pages:
1159 - 1163
ISBN:
978-88-89407-25-7
Paper DOI:
10.5071/33rdEUBCE2025-6CV.6.30
Price:
FREE
