Synthesis and characterisation of rapeseed oil bio-lubricant – its effect on wear and frictional behaviour of piston ring–cylinder liner combination

Abstract

The primary efforts of this study have been focused on formulating environmental-friendly lubricant with good oxidative stability and improved cold flow behaviour. Rapeseed oil was chemically modified via, epoxidation, hydroxylation followed by esterification process. The formation of epoxide and hydroxyl group was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis. The present work also addresses the issue of friction and wear characteristics of diesel engine cylinder liner–piston ring combination under diesel-contaminated chemically modified rapeseed oil bio-lubricant and diesel-contaminated commercial synthetic lubricant (SAE20W40) using a high frequency reciprocating tribometer test rig. In addition, the investigations were performed using scanning electron microscopy to interpret the possible mechanisms of wear with chemically modified bio-lubricant. The chemically modified rapeseed oil bio-lubricant exhibits good oxidative stability, improved cold flow property and better performance in terms of frictional force and co-efficient of friction.