Lubricant base stock development from HDPE plastic pyrolysis oil and modified palm oil

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-922-3_36How to use a DOI?

Keywords

pyrolysis; Palm oil; Lubricant; additive; plastic Recycling; ransesterification

Abstract

Plastic usage is increasing exponentially world- wide, yet only about 50% of plastic waste is recycled. The remainder accumulates in landfills or is improperly disposed in nature. This persistent waste takes years to degrade, polluting land, waterbodies, disrupting biodiversity. Burning plastic in open environments releases toxic gases, harming ecosystems. Among recycling methods, pyrolysis is an approach where plastics are thermally cracked at elevated temperatures in the absence of air, producing pyrolysis oil, syngas, and char. Pyrolysis oil is commonly used as fuel. In this study, the feasibility of using pyrolysis oil as an additive in lubricant formulations was investigated. Transesterified palm oil (TPO) was blended with pyrolysis oil derived from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to overcome the shortcomings of vegetable-based lubricants, such as limited oxidation stability, poor cold flow characteristics, and insufficient tribological performance. Proximate, ultimate, and thermogravimetric analyses of HDPE pellets were conducted to confirm purity, chemical structure, and thermal degradation temperature. The formulated lubricants- palm oil (PO), transesterified palm oil (TPO), and transesterified palm oil blended with 20% pyrolysis oil (TPPO)—were compared in terms of their tribological, thermal, and rheological properties. The addition of 20% pyrolysis oil to TPO reduced the coefficient of friction by 19% and wear scar diameter by 10%. Furthermore, cold flow properties significantly improved, highlighting the potential of this blend as a superior base stock for lubricant development. This study shows that adding HDPE pyrolysis oil to transesterified palm oil is a sustainable way to improve lubricant performance and reduce plastic waste.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - T. Maneesh
AU  - S. Rani
AU  - Baiju Sasidharan
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/25
TI  - Lubricant base stock development from HDPE plastic pyrolysis oil and modified palm oil
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference Recent Advances in Materials, Processes and Technology for Sustainability (RAMPTS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 536
EP  - 550
SN  - 2590-3217
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-922-3_36
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-922-3_36
ID  - Maneesh2025
ER  -