Effect of Titanium Oxide Nanoparticle Enrichment on the Tribological Properties of Sandbox Bio-lubricant

C.A. Popoola and O.S. Onyekwere, Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University Wukari, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

This study investigated effect of titanium oxide nanoparticle additive on the tribological properties of sandbox bio-lubricant. Titanium oxide nanoparticle-enriched sandbox bio-lubricant was developed by adding varying concentrations of the nanoparticle to the sandbox lubricant. Central composite design of response surface methodology was used to set up experimental parameters in order to minimize the numbers of experiments. The parameters values used for the evaluation were: load (2 N, 5 N, 8 N), speed (150 rpm, 200 rpm, 250 rpm) and nanoparticle concentration (0 wt%, 0.75 wt%, 1.50 wt%). Effects of these values on wear rate, friction coefficient and flash temperature parameter were evaluated. The lowest values of coefficient of friction and wear rate were obtained at a speed of 200 rpm and concentration of 0.75 wt% with 2 N load, while the highest value of flash temperature parameter was obtained with 8 N load at the same speed and concentration. The optimal combinations of parameters for minimum coefficient of friction and wear rate as well as maximum flash temperature were: 8.0N load, 199.4949 rpm speed and 0.7121wt% concentration. The overall results revealed that titanium oxide nanoparticle added to sandbox lubricant improved the tribological properties of the lubricant by increasing the anti-friction and anti-wear capacity of the lubricant. This showed the potential of titanium oxide nanoparticle as additive for bio-lubricant production.

KEYWORDS

Sandbox seed oil, titanium oxide nanoparticle , tribology, bio-lubricant, lubrication.