THE OXIDATION RESISTANCE OF SUNFLOWER OIL USED AS POSSIBLE LUBRICANT IN INDUSTRIAL TRIBOSYSTEMS

The biodegradable and ecological lubricants complete the range of lubricating products, including also mineral oils. These lubricants may be used for environment protection in applications where contaminating risk is high due to losses either on soil or in water. This paper presents experimental results on oxidation resistance of sunflower oil used as possible industrial lubricant. Tests were done using both unadditived sunflower oil, for grades as obtained after different steps of manufacturing process and additivated sunflower oil. The additives were ascorbic acid and hydroquinone, added in the first two stages of manufacturing process. The authors established that the vegetable oil obtained after the first two steps of manufacturing process presents the most reduced oxidation phenomena as compared to the oils obtained after other manufacturing step