Development of industrial-grade grease from waste pyrolysis wax

Abstract

The present research aims to deal with the synthesis and formulation of grease from waste pyrolysis polymeric wax. An attempt has been made to characterize and evaluate the effect of lithium-based thickeners on different properties of the grease. The comparison between polymeric waste wax-derived grease against grease synthesized from paraffinic oil and castor oil has been thoroughly studied. One of the key ingredients of grease preparation is formulated using a base oil, i.e., mineral oil, synthetic oil, or vegetable oil. Waste polymeric wax holds significant potential as a base fluid. With this objective, lithium grease was prepared by actuating the saponification reaction between a 12-hydroxystearic acid and hydrated lithium hydroxide within a waste wax medium in an open container. The saponification reaction takes place up to neutralization by stirring using an anchor impeller. The properties of this new formulation are studied comprehensively in the present work. The formulated grease was then compared with commercial grease by performing various tests such as drop point, four ball tear test and copper corrosion. It is observed that synthesized grease has identical properties to industrial grease. Therefore, produced lubricating grease is elementary and cost-effective.