Moving machines with sesame oil

Sesame oil aims to make a feasible and sustainable alternative to mineral oil as an industrial lubricant, according to research published in the International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology.

Sabarinath Sankaran Nair, Kumarapillai Prabhakaran Nair and Perikinalil Krishnan Rajendrakumar of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, Kerala, India, explained that alternatives to mineral oils currently produced by the petrochemicals industry from fossil reserves of crude oil are required.

Sustainable feedstocks that might be grown as agricultural crops could offer a potentially less polluting substitute, especially in the face of diminishing resources.

The team has tested the physicochemical, rheological, thermal, oxidative and tribological properties of sesame oil and compared it positively with coconut oil, sunflower oil and a commercially available mineral oil.

The team reported that sesame oil has excellent thermal and tribological properties and high viscosity and a better coefficient of friction.

The oxidative stability of sesame oil is not as high as mineral oil and will need improving through reformulation with additives, or perhaps even through genetically modified plants for improved oil stability.

Even without such modifications, the team points out that it is stable as a lubricant base stock at a wide range of temperatures.

“With further development, it can become an eco-friendly substitute for its mineral oil counterparts in the near future,” the team concluded.