COMPARATIVE STUDIES BETWEEN BIO LUBRICANTS FROM JATROPHA OIL, NEEM OIL AND MINERAL LUBRICANT (ENGEN SUPER 20W/50)

Neem oil and extracted Jatropha oil were modified to produce bio-lubricant. The bio-lubricant were analyzed for their chemical and physical properties such as density, acid value, sulphated ash content, refractive index, pour point, flash point as well as viscosities at 40 and 100oC and viscosity index for comparison with the characteristics of a mineral lubricant (engen super 20w/50). The result of the analysis reveals that Jatropha curcas oil bio-lubricant has high flash point (274oC), viscosity index (539), lubricity, and an acid value of 3.9, sulphated ash content was 0.038 wt%, and low pour point of 0.23 0C, neem oil bio-lubricant also has a flash point of (262oC) higher than the characteristic of the commercial lubricant, an acid value of 1.9, high viscosity index (397), sulphated ash content of 0.018 wt% and low pour point of 1.3 0C. It was found that the bio-lubricants produced are comparable to the commercial standards for engen super 20w/50 lubricant.