Vegetable Oil-Based Pentaerythritol Ester for Industrial Air Compressor Applications: A Tribological Investigation

Abstract

Biolubricants are being developed more frequently as a result of environmental issues, which also improve performance and lessen friction and wear. This study seeks to examine the effects of commercial compressor oil-SAE30, and its blend with pentaerythritol ester (PE) derived from vegetable oil on tribological properties. Two sequential transesterification processes were used to create the pentaerythritol ester made from vegetable oil utilizing the ultrasonic irradiation method. Using an air compressor lubricant, load, and sliding speed for each experimental run, a pin-on-disc tribometer is utilized to examine the friction and wear characteristics of the material. According to the experimental findings, PE 75 (75 vol.% - PE and 25 vol.% - SAE30) performs better than PE and SAE30 in terms of minimum coefficient of friction (COF) and specific wear rate (SWR) under high loads and high sliding speeds. Furthermore, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Analysis of X-Ray (EDAX) analyses were used to examine the morphology behavior of the pin surfaces. Due to the coating that covers the specimen's surface, PE 75 compressor oil displays smoother surfaces than other lubricated surfaces.