Canola-based Motor Oils

MOTOR OILS Motor oils have been utilized since the development of steam engines as a buffer between moving and static engine components. The basic jobs of the lubricant are to prevent metal-to-metal contact and to transfer heat from friction away from the contact point. During the time of steam power, one of the best lubricants available was derived from rapeseed oil. With the development of internal combustion engines, petroleum fuels became popular and a byproduct, the heavier components of refining, became available for lubrication. Early petroleum motor oils were highly ineffective. These oils were composed of basically three hydrocarbon types: naphthalene, paraffin, and aromatics. None of these structures are chemically functional and petroleum chemists quickly found the addition of phosphates and sulfur improved the lubrication ability of petroleum. By chemically functional, the components of petroleum are considered inert materials and basically function as carriers of metallic salts that provide the basic lubrication needs of modern internal combustion engines. Today, numerous chemicals are added to provide functionality to the base oil, many of which result in the product becoming toxic and carcinogenic. One of the most notable being zinc di-phosphate (ZDP). Vegetable oils, however, are excellent in terms of functionality without chemical modification. Vegetable oils, however, tend to loose functionality when exposed to environments where heat, pressure, and metal catalysts are present. This is the environment of a modern, high compression engine. Vegetable oils also tend to become solids (crystalline) at temperatures at/or slightly below freezing (0° to –12°C) and would provide no lubrication on cold days. Consequently, a study was initiated in 1996 to develop a vegetable-based motor oil which maintains its natural lubricity yet performs like a petroleum product in terms of oxidation resistance (a chemical restructuring of the base molecule at high temperatures in excess of 100°C) and resists turning to a crystalline structure at low temperatures (–32°C).