Ecological Lubricants Based on Vegetal Oils

Abstract

Recently, there is an ecologically justified tendency to use lubricants based on vegetal oils and synthetic fluids, both ones reducing the application field of mineral oils. Biodegradable lubricants will be more used in environment with ecological risk, as for instance, for the equipment functioning in hygroscopic protected medium, in agriculture, food and wood industry, as well as for those with potential lubricant leakage. The success of the vegetal oils is related to their biodegradability and reduced toxicity, but a wider use is limited by their insufficient stability in time. The biodegradable oils have ecological advantages, being comparable or better than the mineral ones.