Grant: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Partnership

Most commercial lubricants are produced as a combination of a viscous hydrocarbon base stock which contributes over 70% of the lubricant mass. Additives, that improve the lubricants performance and stability, make up the remainder of the composition. Vegetable oil base stocks are often superior lubricants when compared with petroleum equivalents but have notable poor performance under certain conditions. In a recent breakthrough Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and U of Saskatchewan scientists have discovered that the bulk of lubricity of vegetable oils is contributed by minor components present in the oil. AAFC has applied for patents to protect the intellectual property embodied in this discovery and in particular methods of enriching the highly lubricious compounds.     In this proposal the lubricity enhancing  components of vegetable oil, and more particularly canola and mustard oil, will be analyzed to further understand the mechanisms of these unusual plant compounds. It is likely that the research will lead to further improvements in lubricating compounds and the development of lubricant additives that are less toxic and more biodegradable than those currently produced by industry.      The lubricity additives and vegetable oil basestocks will be tested for their performance in experimental conditions and in real-world tests. The ability of the lubricants to protect wear surfaces will be conducted at the Canadian Light Source where wear surfaces will be mapped and characterized. The goal will be to develop the knowledge of those methods that may be used to produce functional biolubricants to compete with petroleum based products.      Ultimately it is hoped that the knowledge gained will lead to advantitious chemistry that can be applied to canola and mustard oils and used by Canadian manufacturers to produce lubricity additives and base oils.