Tribological performance of raw and formulated RBD palm kernel with ZDDP additive

Abstract

This study compares tribological performance of refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) palm kernel (PK) as an alternative lubricant. An analysis was made for chemically modified RBD PK with zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate (ZDDP) additive to determine its tribological performance using modified pin-on-disc tribotester. Commercial mineral oil (SAE 40) was used as the benchmark in this study. The conditions for this experiment are sliding speed at 1.5 m/s, a normal load at 9.81 N, weight percentage of ZDDP for 0, 3 and 5%, lubricant quantity of 2.5 ml and test duration of 60 min. The findings revealed that RBD PK oil exhibits better anti-friction and anti-wear performance compared to commercial mineral oil (SAE 40). Besides, coefficient of friction is less dependent on ZDDP concentration, but anti-wear ability is dependent on the ZDDP additive concentration. ZDDP additive acts as a good anti-wear and antioxidant additive in RBD palm kernel.

Keywords:

• ZDDP
• Pin-on-disc tribotester
• Wear
• Friction
• Surface roughness

Acknowledgement

This paper was originally accepted for and presented at MITC2015. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for their support and cooperation during this study.

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Management Centre (RMC), UTM for the Research University [grant number 02G34], [grant number 02G35], [grant number 09H64]; Fundamental Research Grant Scheme [grant number 4F610] for their financial support.