Investigations on biodegradability toxicity and tribological properties of kapok oil as a lubricant

Abstract

The lubricants play a crucial role by improving the machine newlinereliability and reducing the unexpected failure of the system. Mineral oil is newlineextracted from petroleum-based oil, which is used to reduce the friction and newlinewear between the two contacting surfaces. After the usage, Mineral oil is newlinedisposed on the earth, which leads to environmental pollution. Due to newlineenvironmental issue, in the past few years, many researchers have been for newlinethe development of an alternative to Mineral oils which are getting scarce and newlinehazardous to the environment. Vegetable oil, which is extracted from newlinevegetable seeds and plants, is one of the possible solutions for the newlinereplacement of Mineral oil. Many researchers have carried out the research by newlineusing non-edible oil as an alternative fuel for diesel and bio-lubricants. Based newlineon the available literature, there is no evidence regarding the usage of Kapok newlineoil as an alternative lubricant. newlineIn the present work, initially the viscosity and thermal properties of newlinethe Kapok oil was evaluated and compared with Palm oil and Mineral oil. The newlinethermal stability and oxidation stability of the vegetable oils were evaluated newlineby using the TGA and DSC equipment respectively. The biodegradability of newlinethe Kapok oil was analysed by the amount of bacterial growth and compared newlinewith Palm oil and Mineral oil. The toxic content of lubricating samples was newlineassessed using the Brine Shrimp Assay for the Kapok oil, Palm oil and newlineMineral oil. newline