ARS | Publication request: USDA DESIGNING VEGETABLE BASESTOCKS

Submitted to: Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers
Publication Type: Trade Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: July 1, 1998
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Increasing interest in biodegradable lubricants introduces one more participant in lubricant research: Agricultural Research Service (ARS) under US Department of Agriculture. Over the years USDA researchers proved that they are able to create agriculturally-derived replacements for materials traditionally produced from petroleum product. As a result, biopolymers gradually replace petrochemical-based polymers, biosynthesis becomes increasingly competitive with chemical synthesis and biodiesel gets attention of petroleum diesel users. All these new areas help US agriculture to increase the demand for domestically-grown agricultural products. When it comes to lubricants, ARS is directly interested in utilizing domestically produced vegetable oils as a biodegradable lubricant. Several ARS institutions deal with this issue. At the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR), located in Peoria, IL, Oil Chemical Research unit led by Dr. Sevim Z. Erhan, works in several fields, such as replacement of petroleum based printing inks with soybean oil-based inks or creating vegetable oil coatings and now they take over the issue of biodegradable lubricants.