Abstract

Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy
Volume 16 Issue 3, Pages 291–296 (2008)
doi: 10.1255/jnirs.790

New method proposed for the assessment of lubricant biodegradability during its use

Estíbaliz Aranzabe, Arrate Marcaide, Aitor Arnaiz, Eneko Gorritxategi and Marta Hernaiz
Surface Chemistry Unit, Fundación Tekniker, Avda. Otaola 20, 20600 Eibar, Spain. E-mail: earanzabe@tekniker.es

During operations using biodegradable oil for lubrication, the chemical structure of the biolubricant changes and, as a consequence, its biodegradability tends to decrease. Despite the fact that the biodegradability of most of the fresh biodegradable oils has been well determined, the monitoring of the biodegradability of oil during its aging has not been studied. Thus, the development of a monitoring method for on-line measuring of lubricant biodegradability could provide a significant advance in lubrication and environmental management. In the present paper, the prediction of the biodegradability of a lubricant by means of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with advanced statistical techniques like PLS is presented. Three fully formulated ester oils and a biodegradable base oil without additives were selected for performing laboratory oxidation in a batch reactor at 140°C using an air flux and aided by mechanical stirring. During the aging process of the oils, 35 aliquots were sampled at different degradation times, in order to build a mathematical model which allowed the biodegradability of oil to be predicted.

Keywords: biodegradability, lubricant, ecolabel, ester, OECD mehtod, renewable, biodegradable

---

Full-text article (600 kB) (subscribers only)

Buy article on-line for £20 (get immediate access)

Alerting Service

 RSS Feed

Permalink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1255/jnirs.790
QR Code (what is this?):

---