Biobased lubricant additives

Authors: Biresaw, Girma; Bantchev, Grigor; Liu, Zengshe - Kevin; Compton, David - Dave; Evans, Kervin; Murray, Rex

Submitted to: Surfactants in Tribology
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2016
Publication Date: 9/6/2017
Citation: Biresaw, G., Bantchev, G.B., Liu, Z., Compton, D.L., Evans, K.O., Murray, R.E. 2017. Biobased lubricant additives. In: Biresaw, G., Mittal, K.L., editors. Surfactants in Tribology. Volume 5. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 401-463.

Interpretive Summary: Biobased lubricants offer numerous economic, environmental, safety, and health benefits over petroleum-based lubricants. In order to take full advantage of these benefits, the biobased lubricant must be formulated using a biobased base oil and biobased additives. Currently, there are a handful of biobased base oils in the market from which the formulator can select to blend biobased formulations. However, there are no biobased additives currently in the market for use in lubricant formulations. Thus, formulators have no choice but to use petroleum-based additives with the biobased base oils. The result will be partially biobased lubricant formulations, which will be unable to provide the full potential benefits of a biobased formulation. Recently, there has been a concerted effort at developing biobased lubricant additives to replace petroleum-based additives currently on the market. This manuscript describes the progress made in this effort, which was directed at developing the following biobased additives: friction modifiers, biosurfactants, anti-wear, viscosity index improvers, antioxidants, and extreme pressure. The success of this effort will increase the biobased content of lubricant formulations, thereby increasing the demand for farm products. It will also reduce the negative impact of lubricants on the environment and the safety and health of people manufacturing and using lubricants.

Technical Abstract: Fully biobased lubricants are those formulated using all biobased ingredients, i.e. biobased base oils and biobased additives. Such formulations provide the maximum environmental, safety, and economic benefits expected from a biobased product. Currently, there are a number of biobased base oils that are commercially available or will be available in a very short time. However, there are no commercial biobased additives to be used for obtaining fully biobased formulations. As a result, formulators are forced to use petroleum-based additives with the biobased base oils to produce partially biobased products. In an effort to remedy this situation, a number of research groups are engaged in the development of biobased additives. In this chapter, the authors summarize their effort at developing the following biobased additives: friction modifiers, biosurfactants, anti-wear, viscosity index improvers (VIIs), antioxidants, and extreme pressure (EP). The effort involves synthesis, identification/characterization, and evaluation of physical and tribological properties relative to commercial petroleum-based products. Based on the work to date, the current status of biobased additive development can be summarized as follows: (1) some biobased additives are ready for commercialization in the very near future; (2) several others will require more effort before they are competitive in performance to petroleum-based products; and (3) development work has yet to begin on a large number of biobased additives.