Tribological evaluation of coconut oil as an environment-friendly lubricant

Increased concerns about environmental damage caused by mineral oil based lubricants, has created a growing worldwide trend of promoting vegetable oil as base oil for automobile lubricants. Coconut oil, which is abundantly available in southern states of India, is reportedly being widely used as two...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tribology international 2007-02, Vol.40 (2), p.350-354
Main Authors: Jayadas, N.H., Prabhakaran Nair, K, G, Ajithkumar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Coconut oil
Exact sciences and technology
Four-ball tester
Friction, wear, lubrication
Machine components
Mechanical engineering. Machine design
Wear test
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Summary:Increased concerns about environmental damage caused by mineral oil based lubricants, has created a growing worldwide trend of promoting vegetable oil as base oil for automobile lubricants. Coconut oil, which is abundantly available in southern states of India, is reportedly being widely used as two-stroke engine lubricant (2T oil) by autorikshaw 1 1 A tri-wheeled three seated vehicle powered by two stroke air cooled engine used as a taxi in India. drivers. A survey among the users of coconut oil as 2T oil brought forth complaints of increased engine wear. This paper presents tribological properties of coconut oil evaluated using a four-ball tester and a test rig to test the wear on two stroke engines. The influence of an antiwear/extreme pressure (AW/EP) additive on the tribological performance of coconut oil was also evaluated experimentally. The addition of the AW/EP additive has brought about considerable reduction in wear with coconut oil as 2T oil.
ISSN:0301-679X
1879-2464
DOI:10.1016/j.triboint.2005.09.021