Chemical modification of sunflower waste cooking oil for biolubricant production through epoxidation reaction

Abstract

There are increasing concerns and growing regulations over contamination and environmental pollution. One of the major concerns is the pollution caused by mineral oils. As the world oil reserves are dwindling the pressures for finding alternative replacements are increasing. Vegetable oils are a biodegradable and renewable source of lubricants. Thus, they seem to be attractive candidates for the replacement of mineral oils. In this study, chemical modification of sunflower waste cooking oil through epoxidation reaction was used to improve its physicochemical properties to be used as biolubricant. Then, using the response surface method (RSM), the reaction yield was statistically modeled as a quadratic regression equation and optimal points were obtained for independent variables. The maximum amount of reaction yield was 82.9% and optimum values for independent variables were; 53.7 g of acetic acid, 30.1 g of H2O2, and 4.1 h of reaction time. The obtained optimum epoxide mixture was used as the starting material to produce SWCO triester during three chemical reactions and analyzed with the help of FTIR spectrum analysis. It was found that the physicochemical properties of the final product (SWCO triester) met the requirements of the ISO VG10 standard.