The effect of the different percentage of pour point depressant (PPD) on the tribological properties of palm kernel oil

Abstract

A research has been done to investigate the tribological performance of palm kernel oil (PKO) with addition of different percentage of pour point depressant, PPD (5w%, 10wt%, 20wt% and 30wt%) according to ASTM D2783. The main analyses that have been done in this research are low temperature performance ability of blended PKO, coefficient of friction (COF), wear scar diameter (WSD) and surface profile. The result of the experiment has shown that for low temperature performance, PKO with 20wt%PPD (A2-20%) and 30wt%PPD (A2-30%) show great performance in withstanding lower temperature (15℃). Under extreme pressure test, it can be seen that PKO can only withstand lower load (110kg) compared to mineral oil (140 kg). The sample 10wt%PPD (A2-10%) shows good lubricity performance in terms of COF as compared to other sample. 5wt%PPD (A2-5%) and 10wt%PPD show good lubricity performance in terms of anti-wear behaviour (A2-10%) by producing the lowest WSD when compared to other samples. From overall view, PPD is considered as successful in improving low temperature performance of PKO, but in terms of lubricity performance, adding PPD will slightly reduce the lubricity performance under extreme pressure if compared to pure PKO.