Fig. 15: Fatty acid profile of PKBLE
Conclusion
The production of biolubricant from PKO using transesterification PKME using TMP and epoxidation-esterification processes was achieved successfully. However, the PKBLE sample, produced by transesterification of PKBLT using TMP, showed conformed better to the stipulated standard, when compared to the PKBLE sample obtained by the epoxidation-esterification method. That notwithstanding, both samples have shown potential for utilization as ecofriendly bio-lubricant. The presence of the C – H, OH functional groups identified by the FTIR results, is an indication that they would enhance the biodegradability of the produced bio-lubricants samples. The effects of time, temperature and mole ratio significantly affected the transesterification reaction with TMP; while time, temperature and molar ratio of H2O2significantly influenced the epoxidation reaction. Therefore, chemical modifications of PKO for bio-lubricant production using the aforementioned methods were useful in successful development of ecofriendly PKO bio-lubricant samples.