Abstract
One commonly used lubricant in rolling bearings is grease, which consists of base oil, thickener and small amounts of additives. Commercial greases are mostly produced from petrochemical base oil and thickener. Recently, the development of base oils from renewable resources have been significantly focused on in the lubricant industry. However, to produce an entirely bio-based grease, the thickener must also be produced from renewable materials. Therefore, this work presents the design and evaluation of three different bio-based polymer thickener systems. Tribological tests are performed to characterize lubrication properties of developed bio-based greases. The effect of thickener type on film thickness and friction behavior of the produced bio-based greases is evaluated on a ball-on-disc tribometer. Moreover, the results are compared to a commercial petrochemical grease chosen as benchmark.
Highlights
Lubricant industry develops and produces lubricating oils and greases for the lubrication of machine elements such as rolling bearings
With considering the expected shortage of fossil raw materials and the associated increase in the cost of products based on fossil raw materials, the industry is increasingly focusing on products made from renewable raw materials and the necessary adapted manufacturing processes [1,2]
To develop a full bio-based grease, base oil and thickener system must be made from renewable materials
Summary
Lubricant industry develops and produces lubricating oils and greases for the lubrication of machine elements such as rolling bearings. To develop a full bio-based grease, base oil and thickener system must be made from renewable materials. The results demonstrated in [11] reveal, that a cellulose pulp from the Eucalyptus Globulus plant was obtained as the raw material to produce a thickener system for a bio-based grease. In [13] it was shown that bio-based greases were developed based on castor oil and high-oleic sunflower oil with cellulose fibers as thickener. An alternative for producing bio-based thickeners is to develop polymer-based thickeners, such as polyurea, from sustainable materials, due to their high abilities compared to raw materials. In this study we present the synthesis of bio-based polyurea thickener systems as well as the production method and chemical characterization of bio-based greases. To evaluate the tribological performance, the results of film thickness and friction measurements on a ball on disc tribometer are discussed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
