Can you use jojoba oil as lube

The functions of the lubricating oils are many e.g. reduce wear, tear, corrosion and friction between moving parts of machines and their damage, hence reduce maintenance and running cost (Holweger, 2013). They also act as coolant and reduce the amount of heat generated by friction, hence increase the efficiency of machines by reducing the loss of energy (Devlin, 2018). By using lubricants, the relative motion of the moving parts of the machines becomes smooth and noise level of running machines reduces. In some cases, lubricants also act as a seal around the piston in internal combustion engines. They also clean surfaces and transfer power.

Lubricating oils fractions extracted from crude oil are a widely varying mixture of straight and branched chain paraffinic, naphthenic, aromatic hydrocarbons having boiling points ranging from about 300 °C–593 °C and characterized in groups as per their viscosity index (VI). Some specialty lubricants may have boiling point extremes of 177 °C–815 °C, as additives are used to improve different lubricant properties (Beheshti et al., 2020; Sharma et al., 2018). The choice of grade of lubricating oil base is determined by the expected use. Generally, good lubricant have high viscosity index (VI), flash point, oxidation stability, and corrosive resistance with low pour point. In the near future, and as the petroleum oil and its based lubricants are going to deplete, so it is the role of researchers to find alternative lubricants for future machines and engines. Similar to getting alternative fuels from renewable sources for internal combustion engines, jet engines and others, it is apparent that there is a need to search for alternative lubricants from different sources, especially if they are renewable and eco-friendly. There are some advantages for the vegetable oils as a source to the lubrication oils e.g. higher viscosity index VI of about 100–200 compared to around 100 for mineral oils (Singha et al., 2017) which is the measure of viscosity deterioration with temperature (from 40 to 100 °C) and also they offer high lubricity. The main concern with the vegetable oils-based lubricants is that the source oils need to be non-edible not to compete with the food needs. Generally, vegetable oils offer high flash and fire point to insure safety over high temperatures, lower volatility for reduced exhaust emissions and higher boiling temperatures. They need to be checked against their oxidation stability, cost and poor cold flow properties, however. Many bio-based lubricants were investigated (Zainal et al., 2018) and compared e.g. from Sunflower, Rapeseed, Palm oil, Jatropha, Castor oil, Soybean, Corn, Coconut, and Neem oil. Most of these oils are non-edible and offer high biodegradability and environmental safety, while some lack thermo-oxidative stability. The Lunaria based bio-lubricant demonstrated good low temperature behavior as well as improved resistance to oxidation (Dodos et al., 2015).

One of the nonedible oils, and yet not widely known, jojoba oil, appears to be promising with scope for cultivation in the relatively hot weather. Jojoba plant has unique feature e.g. drought resistance, quick growth, and easy propagation with the possibility of using sewage treated water. Jojoba oil is unique in nature and no other plant is known to produce oil like jojoba. It is used in the cosmetic, medical, pharmaceutical industries. Each jojoba seed or nut contains an average of 50 % pure oil by volume with a productivity of about 300–800 pound per acre. Generally, jojoba is a shrub-like with profuse lateral branching forming several stems from the root to the crown. Fully mature shrubs or trees can reach a height of 15 ft with a potential of natural life span of 100–200 years depending on environmental conditions. Unlike vegetable oils and animal fats, jojoba oil is not a triglyceride but a mixture of long straight chain monoesters esters. The jojoba oil contains heavy molecules as less than 10 % of C34-C36, more than 80 % of C40-C42 and less than 10 % of C44-C50 [Saleh and Selim, 2017 and Selim et al., 2015].

Jojoba oil derived from Jojoba seeds offers attractive chemical characteristics as it composes long mono-saturated esters whereas most of other vegetable oils are usually composed of triglycerides (Sánchez et al., 2016) with high thermal stability [Harry-O’kuru et al., 2005]. This gives Jojoba oil unique characteristics compared to other vegetable oils; in addition to being non-edible too. Hassan et al. (2019) studied the production of bio lubricant from Jojoba oil and have reported that the Jojoba oil has high viscosity index of 247.9, pour point of 9 °C, and flash point of 150 C°. Jojoba plant has been used as a source for production of biodiesel fuels through transesterification [Selim et al., 2015]. Physical properties of raw Jojoba oil are available in literature and its attractive high viscosity and chemical stability are apparent. Jojoba oil can also be blended with other base lubricant from 5 to 20 % (Gupta et al., 2020) and also offered improved wear and acid number characteristics. It also offered very high stability when submitted at a temperature less than 120 °C (Dréau et al., 2009). When used as lubricant to two stroke engines, the piston-tightening, wear and deposit-forming tendencies were assessed in a short duration engine test and showed improvements (Sivasankaran et al., 1988). Excessive heating has been studied over its effect on the stability of Jojoba oil compared to Sunflower, Soybean and Castor oil (Kinawy, 2004) and all promised good stability over high temperatures.

The extensive study related to the flow behavior of raw Jojoba oil in terms of shear stress and viscosity versus shear rate for pure Jojoba oil as being a promising candidate for lubrication is still lacking in literature. As the main flow characteristics for any lubricants are the shear stress & viscosity relationships versus the shear rate at different operating temperatures. Hence, the objective of the present work is to investigate these relationships under different operating temperatures over the range of 30−90 °C & shear rate range of 10–500 s−1. In order to evaluate the possibility of utilizing the raw Jojoba oil as lubricant oil for internal combustion engines, a comparison study will be necessary with other available commercial petroleum based oils used for lubricating different engines. Three different mineral lubricants were used for comparison which are utilized in the local market for diesel engines, petrol engines, and four stroke motorcycle (4S-MC) engines. Different operating temperatures were used to study their effects on viscosity flow behavior.

Cited by (5)

• A comparative physicochemical property assessment and techno-economic analysis of biolubricants produced using chemical modification and additive-based routes

  2022, Science of the Total Environment

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  Several edible and non-edible oil sources are currently being developed as renewable basestocks for biolubricant production. However, these feedstocks possess undesirable physicochemical properties limiting their lubricant applications. Chemical modification and additive-based routes could be used to modify their properties -suitable for different biolubricant applications. The first part of this study compares how the selected modifications affect the properties of the basestocks. Next, the techno-economic analysis (TEA) was conducted to study 4 selected biolubricants and a potential biolubricant derived from marine microalgae biomass. Oxidative stabilities of chemically modified biolubricants followed the order of epoxidation> triesterification> estolide. Pour points of triesters showed minimal increments and reduced for estolides, whereas epoxidation increased pour points. Estolides exhibit maximum kinematic viscosity increment among chemical modification routes, followed by TMP-transesterification and epoxidation. The oxidative stability of chemically modified biolubricants was higher than additized biolubricants; conversely, the viscosity increments and pour point reductions for additized biolubricants were higher than chemically modified biolubricants. TEA results show that the unit cost for producing 1-kg estolide was the highest among the chemical modification routes. The unit cost per kilogram of jatropha biolubricant produced using the additive-based route was lower than chemically modified biolubricants. Due to a high microalgal oil feedstock cost, the unit cost per kilogram of additized microalgae oil biolubricant was more than the unit cost of additized Jatropha oil. The techno-economic feasibility of biolubricant production from marine microalgal oil could be improved by adopting a biorefinery approach.

• Investigation of the rheological properties of waste and pure lube oils

  2021, Fuel

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  In this study, the rheological characteristics of the waste and pure lube oils were investigated experimentally. Studying these characteristics are useful for understanding the behavior of lubricants and the recycling of waste lube oils. The Fann Model of 50SL rheometer with coaxial cylinders was employed for this investigation. Four different types of waste and pure lube oils were examined, namely: diesel-, petrol-, motorcycle-, and jet-engine oils. The results from the study show that the viscosities of all types of lube oils decrease gradually with temperature and shear rate due to the reduction of the intermolecular forces, which leads to a decline in the flow resistance. At a specific shear rate of 100 s−1 and heating the oils from 50 °C to 90 °C, the viscosity drops almost 60% for pure & waste diesel lube oils, 60–64% for pure & waste petrol lube oils, 48–50% for pure & waste motor-cycle lube oils, and 50–60% for pure & waste jet lube oils, respectively. The well-known Arrhenius relationship was also utilized in studying the temperature effect of the apparent viscosity.

• Raw Jojoba Oil as a Sustainable Fuel to Diesel Engines and Comparison with Diesel Fuel

  2022, Energies

• Effect of ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer on kinematic viscosity and thermal stability of jojoba, date seed, and waste cooking oils in lubricant applications

  2022, Iranian Polymer Journal (English Edition)

• Experimental and mathematical nonlinear rheological characterization of chicken fat oil-a sustainable feedstock for biodiesel

  2021, Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

Recommended articles (6)

• Research article

  Comparative molecular and chemical fingerprinting found accession “Clone-64” as the best genetic material for jojoba industry

  Meta Gene, Volume 17, 2018, pp. 115-123

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  Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) is an important commercial shrub. Concerns have been raised about the availability of the good raw material for various industries to lower down the costs of products. Seed planted populations are highly variable in yields and growth habits. For this reason, there is need to develop a selection programs that improves the crop productivity of good quality seed plants. Jojoba industry, mainly depends on its oil, but the remaining seed meal is also useful for various industries like cosmetics, animal fodder, bio fuel etc. In the present study 14 different accessions of jojoba are used for the chemical and molecular fingerprinting. Chemical fingerprinting of jojoba includes both nutritional (Carbohydrate, protein, polyphenol, aminoacids, antioxidants) as well as antinutritional factor (Simmondsin). Simmondsin content was analyzed by using HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) technique. Molecular fingerprinting was done by using ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeat) molecular markers. Finally the correlation of molecular and chemical fingerpring data showed that accession Clone-64 having highest nutritional value and formed a separate OTU (Operational Taxonomic Unit) in dendrogram. Thus, this accession could be good candidates for different commercial applications. Our data strongly suggest that cumulative approach (molecular and chemical fingerprinting) proved to be best for accessing, the relationship between different accessions of jojoba in future breeding programs.

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  Combustion and emission analysis of Jojoba biodiesel to assess its suitability as an alternative to diesel fuel

  Energy Procedia, Volume 156, 2019, pp. 159-165

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  Non-edible Jojoba biodiesel blended with diesel was tested for use as a substitute fuel for diesel engines. The main objective of this study was to analyse the combustion and emission characteristics of Jojoba biodiesel blends (5%, 10% and 20%) and compare the results with that of standard diesel to identify suitable alternatives. Experiments were performed at 50% and 100% load for the speed range of 1200 rpm to 2400 rpm. The combustion parameters, namely cylinder pressure at various crank angles, heat release rate, ignition delay and the emission parameters, namely NOx, CO, CO2 and HC are analysed and discussed. The results indicated that Jojoba biodiesel can be used as an alternative for diesel fuel and 10% Jojoba biodiesel- diesel blend (i.e. JB10) behaves more like diesel than other blends, therefore, JB10 is considered as most suitable alternative to diesel. However, JB10 produces more NOx and CO2 emissions than diesel, which can be reduced by applying different combustion strategies in future.

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  Jojoba pruning: New practices to rejuvenate the plant, improve yield and reduce alternate bearing

  Scientia Horticulturae, Volume 277, 2021, Article 109793

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  Commercial pruning practice in jojoba plantations is traditionally dictated by maintenance requirements only. It enables machine movement between the plants and efficient harvest but is not designed to maximize long-term productivity. In this study, mechanical and manual pruning approaches were tested in two cultivars in a mature jojoba plantation, in comparison to the common practice. These new approaches were designed to enable better light penetration into the canopy, aiming to improve growth and productivity. As jojoba is an alternate bearing crop, the vegetative and reproductive performances were observed over four years, by remote sensing and manual measurements. The pruning type and strategy had a significant effect on growth, with a distinction between the two tested cultivars. Top-pruning methods were found to best encourage new branching and yield, while side-pruning practices were less effective. Several treatments, including hedge pruning, attenuated or eliminated the alternation cycle. We conclude that using the proposed pruning practices would be beneficial in jojoba cultivation, and that the specific method should be suited to the cultivar characteristics.

• Research article

  WITHDRAWN: Performance and emission analysis on diesel engine fueled with blends of jojoba biodiesel

  Materials Today: Proceedings, 2021

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  This article has been withdrawn: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal).

  This article has been withdrawn as part of the withdrawal of the Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Materials Science, Technology and Engineering (ICMSTE2K21). Subsequent to acceptance of these Proceedings papers by the responsible Guest Editors, Dr S. Sakthivel, Dr S. Karthikeyan and Dr I. A. Palani, several serious concerns arose regarding the integrity and veracity of the conference organisation and peer-review process. After a thorough investigation, the peer-review process was confirmed to fall beneath the high standards expected by Materials Today: Proceedings.

  The veracity of the conference also remains subject to serious doubt and therefore the entire Proceedings has been withdrawn in order to correct the scholarly record.

• Research article

  Catalytic conversion of jojoba oil into biodiesel by organotin catalysts, spectroscopic and chromatographic characterization

  Fuel, Volume 118, 2014, pp. 392-397

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  The transesterification of jojoba oil with methanol has been studied in the presence of various catalysts i.e., sodium hydroxide (NaOH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), dibutyltin diacetate (C4H9)2Sn (OOCCH3)2, dioctyltin diacetate (C8H17)2Sn (OOCCH3)2, dibutyltin oxide (C4H9)2SnO, dioctyltin oxide (C8H17)2SnO, diphenyltin oxide (C6H5)2SnO, monobutyltin chloride dihydroxide ((C4H9)Sn(OH)2Cl) and monobutyltin hydroxide oxide hydrate ((C4H9)Sn(=O)OH⋅xH2O), with % age conversion of oil into biodiesel was 84.5%, 61.3%, 92.6%, 25.4%, 22.0%, 23.3%, 12.0%, 2.15% and 1.05%, respectively. The optimization of experimental parameters was established to achieve maximum yield of the product by using dibutyltin diacetate (C4H9)2Sn (OOCCH3)2. The physical and fuel properties of jojoba biodiesel like density, dynamic viscosity, kinematic viscosity, pour point, cloud point, flash point, and acid number were determined by ASTM procedures and were found to be comparable to ASTM standards for diesels. The synthesis of jojoba seed oil biodiesel (JSOB) was confirmed by FT-IR and NMR (1H and 13C) analyses of both oil and biodiesel. Chemical composition of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) in jojoba biodiesel was established by GC–MS analysis and verified by retention time data and mass fragmentation pattern.

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  Effect of CuO nanoparticles concentration on the performance and emission characteristics of the diesel engine running on jojoba (Simmondsia Chinensis) biodiesel

  Fuel, Volume 286, Part 1, 2021, Article 119358

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  The utilization of the petroleum products in engines is harmful to the humans as they pollute the environment. Nowadays, extensive research is in process to find an alternative fuel and improve its quality. The nanoparticles are one of the recent technologies that is useful for upgrading the fuel properties. This work aims to find the influence of CuO nanoparticles on performance of diesel engine, emission and combustion characteristics which runs on jojoba biodiesel blend (JB20) as a fuel. Different proportions of CuO nanoparticles (25, 50, and 75 ppm) were dispersed into the JB20 fuel. It is experimentally seen that BTE for the JB20CN50 fuel was higher than that of other Jojoba biodiesel fuel samples. The combustion characteristics such as ignition delay, HRR and cylinder pressure were also determined for analysing the effect of CuO nanoparticles. Engine emission hydrocarbons, CO and smoke emissions were also found lesser when the CuO nanoparticles added to JB20.

  Can Jojoba be used as a lubricant?

  Jojoba oil also holds value in the industry as an anti-rodent, insecticides, lubricant, surfactant, and a source for the production of bioenergy.

  What oil can be used instead of lube?

  Although it is best to purchase and use water-based or silicone-based lubricants, there are alternatives people can consider if they are unable to do this. These include aloe vera, yogurt, olive oil, and virgin coconut oil.