Potential of Palm Olein as Green Lubricant Source: Lubrication Analysis and Chemical Characterisation

Palm olein (POo) is widely used as edible oil in tropical countries. The lubrication properties and chemical compositions of POo being considered to be used as renewable raw material for bio lubricant synthesis. POo is suitable to be used directly as bio lubricant for medium temperature industrial applications. Palm olein has good viscosity index, oxidative stability, flash and fire point as a lubricant source. POo contains unsaturated triacylglycerols (TAG): Palmitin-Olein-Olein, POO (33.3 %), Palmitin-Olein-Palmitin, POP (29.6 %), which are very important to produce good lubricant properties. This unsaturated bond is preferable in chemical modification to produce bio lubricant. The chemical compositions of POo were tested by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC) techniques. (author)