Moringa Oleifera: Bio based lubricant development from a novel feedstock for tribological characterization

The vegetable oils are the possible substitute to the conventional lubricants as they are biodegradable and non-toxic. In this study, friction and wear of theMoringa oleiferaoil-based lubricant have been carried out at different loads. TheMoringa oleiferaoil was chemically modified with treatment with trimethylolpropane. The synthetic oil was blended withMoringa oleifera Oleiferaoil in the ratio of 5%, 10%, and 15% (% by volume). The applied loads were 50, 100, and 150 N. The sliding velocity of the disc was 1.3 m/s at each applied load. The physicochemical characteristics of the lubricants were identified through various instruments. The worn surface images was obtained using scanning electron microscope after performing test at 150 N load. The 5 and 10% blends ofMoringa oleiferaoil shows minimum COF and specific wear rate among all the blends. Also, they show minimum wear scar diameter at all loads. Better worn surfaces were observed during the addition of 5% and 10% chemically modifiedMoringa oleiferaoil.