Development of Alternative Hydraulic Fluid Using Palm Oil.

Abstract

Hydraulic fluids transmit power to the moving parts of many machines. A superior hydraulic fluid should power transmit with minimum loss, lubricate the surfaces moving against each other and protect metal surfaces from corrosion. There is a noticeable trend towards the use of vegetable oils as hjdraulic oil due to their biodegradability, recyclability, fire-resistivity, good thermal stability and better wear prevention capability over wide range of temperatures. Palm oil has demonstrated its competency of developed as lubricating oil through varied investigations. As the palm oil has a moderate viscosity, it should be improved according to the application used. Analysis was conducted to obtain blend similar to hydraulic68 by improving palm oil viscosity through mixing with high viscous castor oil and polyethylene powder separately. Mixing 40% of castor oil by volume with 60% palm oil resulted a solution 70.9cSt ( 40°C) and 14.3cSt (100°C) with similar viscosity to hydraulic68 69.3cSt (40°C) and 10.7cSt (100°C). Mixing l.75wt% polyethylene powder in palm oil also resulted solution 72cSt ( 40°C) and 14.3cSt (100°C) with comparable viscosity to hydraulic68. Physical and chemical properties were analysed following standard methods. Both blends consist of viscosity index, flash point, pour point, acid value, corrosion stability and demulsibility analogous to hydraulic68. Tribological analysis were done via block on ring type wear tester. Obtained blends showed superior frictional heat elimination ability and wear hindrance capability than Hydraulic68. Blend of castor oil and palm oil showed overall enhanced lubricating properties than blend made up of polyethylene powder and palm oil.