Studies on biodegradability of bio-based lubricants

• Estimation of biodegradability of oils using experiments without microorganisms.
• High half-life was found for the mineral oil and the opposite for the vegetable oil.
• The synthesized biolubricants showed a low half-live of approximately 20 days.
• Half-life of biolubricants was considerably lower than mineral oil.

Vegetable or synthetic lubricants, also called biolubricants, are less harmful to the environment. In order to quantify their biodegradability, some tests are able to predict how long oil/lubricants will take to be degraded in the environment. This study proposes to evaluate the biodegradability of bio-based lubricants using a bio-kinetic model (without microorganisms), comparing their performances with fresh vegetable oil and mineral oil. The results are presented through an Effective Composition for Biodegradation (ECB), half-lives and biodegradation time profile. The synthesized biolubricants showed ECB values closer to vegetable oil than mineral oil. Half-life times are approximately 12 days for fresh vegetable oil, around 20–30 days for the biolubricants, and over 200 days for the mineral oil.