Assessment of Quality Parameters of Ecofriendly Biolubricant from Waste Cooking Palm Oil

The use of vegetable oils as a renewable source for the production of ecofriendly biolubricant is gaining the attention of the renewable energy researchers and lubricating oil producers. This study evaluates the quality assessment parameters of ecofriendly biolubricant from waste cooking palm oil (WCPO). The crude WCPO was filtered, centrifuged at 500 rpm, and dried over Na2SO4 crystals overnight. The quality assessment parameters of the pretreated WCPO (PWCPO) were determined to authenticate its potential for the production of multigrade lubricating oils. Kinematic viscosities at 100°C (8.26±0.03 cSt) and 40°C (36.98±0.01 cSt) were determined according to ASTMD-446 method, while the viscosity index (208±0.11) was determined according to ASTMD-2270 method. A design of experiment (Mixture Design Method using Minitab 17) was used to determine the proportion of PWCPO (68.75%), SN 500 (23.75%), and additives (7.50%) that gave the mixture with the optimum quality parameters of the produced biolubricant. The produced biolubricant had kinematic viscosities at 100oC (10.72±0.13 cSt) and 40°C (59.32±0.20 cSt) respectively, a viscosity index of 173±0.10, flash point of 234±1.13°C, pour point of -31±0.10°C, acid value of 21.04±1.21 mg KOH g-1, and iodine value of 1.28±1.40 mg I2 g-1. The produced biolubricant has quality parameters that are comparable to available ecofriendly lubricating oil and was also found within standards for engine oils.

Optimization of Methyl Ester Production from Waste Palm Oil Using Activated Carbon Supported Calcium Oxide Catalyst

In this study, methyl ester (ME) was produced by transesterification of waste cooking palm oil (WPO) using activated carbon supported calcium oxide as a solid base catalyst (CaO/AC). Process optimization using response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to study the effect of reaction time, molar ratio of methanol to oil, reaction temperature and catalyst amount to produce highest ME content. The optimum reaction condition was at 5.5 wt% catalyst amount, 170 °C temperature, 15:1 methanol to oil molar ratio and 2 h 22 min reaction time. The predicted and experimental ME content were found to be 80.02% and 77.32%, respectively.