Evaluation of the tribological properties and oxidative stability of epoxidized and ring opened products of pure rice bran oil

Vegetable oils constitute a potential base stock for bio-lubricants, which has good biodegradability, high flash point, high viscosity index and excellent boundary lubrication properties. They also possess some limitations like low thermal and oxidation stability, poor low temperature properties and narrow range of viscosities. These limitations can be altered by modifying the vegetable oils chemically or by providing additives into the oils. This research work focused on the chemical modification of pure rice bran oil by epoxidation process using 30% hydrogen peroxide and glacial acetic acid. The epoxidized rice bran oil was then subjected to ring opening process using butanoic acid. The epoxidation process was optimized with four factors (Temperature, Time, Weight % of Catalyst, Hydrogen Peroxide molar ratio), each factors having four levels. The lubricant properties of pure rice bran oil (RBO), epoxidized rice bran oil (ERBO) and ring opened rice bran oil (RRBO) were studied. It was noted that the lubricant properties of ERBO and RRBO were better compared to pure RBO.