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Research in Biotechnology, 4(3): 38-42, 2013 ISSN: 2229-791X

www.researchinbiotechnology.com

Received: 23.3.2013; Revised: 22.6.2013; Accepted: 24.6.2013

Mini Review

Biotechnology: A way to Control EnvironmentalPollution by Alternative Lubricants

Amit Kumar Jain* and Amit Suhane

Department of Mechanical Engineering, M.A.N.I.T, Bhopal, MP, India*Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Environmental concerns are gaining lot of interest due to increasingenvironmental pollution. Pollution is caused from various sources like fuel, lubricants,industrial waste, chemicals, noise etc. One of the major source of pollution is lubricant as

it directly affect the environment when it is handled improperly, as lubricants frompetroleum based oils have very poor biodegradability and also have high toxicity.Environmental pollution can be controlled by the use of biotechnology in the field ofalternative lubricants from different available biomass. The current paper deals with theways of reducing the environmental pollution by various alternative resources.

Keywords: Alternative lubricants, Renewable resources, Non edible vegetable oil,Environment, Pollution.

Environment:In simple words environmentis defined as All the human, animal andplant lives or a function in surroundings is

known as environment. Environment alsocomprises of water, air, soil etc. From thedefinition it is very clear that a healthy andclean environment is very important for allthe living being. Environment is disturbedby any substances which affect or changethe proper functioning of environment;these substances are generally termed aspollutants. These pollutants are of varioustypes and have various harmful effects,which can highly affect the environmentand causes various types of problems to all

types of living beings existing in theenvironment.

Pollution: Pollution is a very serious matternow a days as it is highly affecting thenormal working of environment andcausing various types of harmful effects onthe living beings and there functioning. Theterm pollution is described as The

presence of very harmful or poisonoussubstances, which causes ill effect on theenvironment and its functioning, is known

as pollution. (Melissa Mayntz, 2013) Thesubstance which causes pollution is knownas pollutants. Pollutants may be anythingwhich has harmful effect on theenvironment.

Pollution is of several types likeswater pollution, air pollution, noisepollution, soil pollution etc. There arevarious sources of air, water and soilpollution but one of the major sources ofthese types of pollution is lubricants frompetroleum based oils due to their poor

biodegradability and high toxicity.

Lubricants: Lubricants are the veryimportant substances now days forreducing the wear and tear of machineparts. Lubricants also reduce friction whichin turn reduces the loss of heat (Lansdown,2004). There are various functions oflubricants in different types of industries

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like automotive industry, manufacturingindustry, marine industry etc.

Lubricants are composed of basefluid and additives, base fluid is the majorpart of lubricant formulation which ismainly made from petroleum based oils

and rest is additives to impart desirableproperties. These petroleum basedlubricants are poorly biodegradable andhave high toxic effect. Spill of these types oflubricants from the working area to thesurrounding water or in soil causes very illeffect to the ecological system, which isunacceptable due to rise in environmentalconcerns. Furthermore these petroleumbased lubricants have harmful effects on theoperator, lubricants causes various types ofskin diseases.

Worldwide consumption ofthese petroleum based lubricants is morethan 41 million tonnes out of which morethan 40 % of these lubricants are directlylost in environment through spills andaccidents from working machines, whichcause very serious damage to the ecosystem(Joaquin J. Salas et al., 2011). Thus a steptowards finding an alternative source ofpetroleum based lubricants is to be takenfor controlling the environmental pollution.This can be achieved by utilising the

available biomass for producing thealternative lubricants.

Biomass: Biological materials generallyplant derived materials are considered asbiomass (BEC, 2012). Biomass is renewablesource of energy which can be convertedinto other type of energy sources and can beused as an alternative to conventionalenergy resource. The thing which givesbiomass upper hand over conventionalresources is that biomass is available in

plenty and also its production is easy.

BiotechnologyBiotechnology is the discipline of biologicalscience through which the biomass isconverted or modified to produce usefulproducts (CBD, 2013). Biotechnologyinvolves various types of conversion

process like chemical conversion, thermalconversion and biochemical conversion.

Biotechnology not just only dealswith conversion process it also givesopportunity for modifying the existingbiomass by chemical treatment (Wagner et

al., 2001) and by genetic modification. Bydifferent types of modification the usefulproperties of biomass can be enhanced atutmost.

Alternative resources: Various from ofbiomass are available in India which can beutilised as alternative resource forproducing lubricants. Non edible vegetableoil producing plants are the best alternativeresource for producing these types oflubricants. These plants are available

throughout the India; these plants aremainly grown for seeds. Oil is extractedfrom various parts of the plant like leaf,steam, roots but mainly oil is extracted fromseeds of the plant. On an average seedscontains about 40 to 60 % of oil which canbe used as a base fluid for making lubricantformulations.

Some of the widely available nonedible vegetable oils producing plants inIndia are Jatropha (Jatropha curcas), Karanja(Pongamia pinnata), Mahua (Madhuca indica),

Neem (Azadirachta indica), Simarouba(Simarouba glauca), Wild apricot (Prunusarmeniaca), Castor (Ricinus CommunisL) etc(Amit Kumar Jain et al., 2012) (NOVODB,2012). Non edible vegetable oil can also beused as an additive or as a blend withpetroleum based lubricants. Lubricantsfrom these types of alternative resources aregenerally known as biolubricants.

BiolubricantsBiolubricants is a revolutionary step

in the world of lubricant. Biolubricants aredescribed in many ways like ecofriendlylubricants, green lubricants, biodegradablelubricants, recyclable, nontoxic andreusable etc.

Biolubricants compared topetroleum based lubricants have very lowor no pollution causing effect onenvironment. Biolubricants also have zero

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toxicity, so no skin diseases to the operatorin case of leak or accident. Biolubricants arehighly biodegradable compared topetroleum based lubricants. Furthermorebiolubricants posses almost similar

features like viscosity, lubricity, viscosityindex etc (Sevim et al., 2000). Which makesbiolubricants a best alternative ofpetroleum based lubricants.

Table 1. Oil contents of widely available non edible vegetable oils

Non edible vegetable oils Oil Content by volume

Jatropha 25 - 35 %

Karanja 20 - 25 %

Castor 37.2 - 60.6 %

Mahua 35 40 %

Neem 20 30 %

Biodegradability is one of the mostimportant property of lubricant; a goodlubricant should be highly biodegradablewhen released in environment.Biodegradability of lubricant is defined asSusceptibleness of a lubricant to degradeunder the effect of biological organism like

fungi without causing any diverse effect onenvironment. (Ioan, 2002)Petroleum basedlubricants are poorly biodegradable whilethe lubricants from alternative resources arehighly biodegradable and also not causeany adverse effect on the environment.

Table 2. The biodegradability of petroleum based lubricants and lubricants fromalternative resources (Mohanti, 2001)

It is clear from the table 2 that lubricantsfrom alternative resources are having muchhigher biodegradability than lubricantsfrom petroleum based lubricants.Lubricants from alternative resources arehaving biodegradability in the range of 90

to 100 %, which means that these lubricantsquickly degrade in the effect of biologicalorganism. Thus the adverse effects oflubricants caused to the environment arereduced at a greater extent, which is thedemand of todays world. Also they foundthere use in various industrial applications(Erhan et al., 2006).

Environmental Pollution ControlControlling environmental pollution causedby petroleum based lubricants is of primeimportance, as these lubricants havingadverse effect on the ecological system andon all the living beings. Comparison of

petroleum based lubricants with lubricantsfrom alternative resources is shown in table3. It is clear from the table that petroleumbased lubricants are the main cause ofenvironmental pollution, while thelubricants from alternative resources arebest to reduce the environmental pollutionand also to reduce the harmful effects onthe human being and other living beings.

S.No Lubricant Biodegradability (%)

1 Petroleum based lubricants 20 - 30

2 Lubricants from alternative resources 90 100

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Alternative resources like non ediblevegetable oils can be produced domesticallywhile the petroleum oil cannot be produceddomestically and it also on the verge ofdepletion so as its prise is also increasing.

Petroleum based lubricants are dangerousto handle and store in case of spill, leakageetc due to their poor biodegradability andhigh toxicity while this is not the case withthe lubricants from alternative lubricants.

Table 3Comparison of petroleum based lubricants with lubricants from alternativeresources

Environmental Pollution Control

S.No Petroleum BasedLubricants

Lubricants fromAlternative Resources

1 Biodegradable No Yes

2 Toxic Yes No

3 Harmful by-products of Emission Yes No

4 Cause of Global Warming Yes No

5 Highly Toxic to Humans andAnimals

Yes NO

6 Pollutes Environment Yes No

7 Economic Gain to Indian farmers No Yes

8 Dangerous to Handle and Store Yes No

9 Domestic production No Yes

10 Alternative Resource No Yes

ConclusionBiotechnology has a vital role to

play in reducing the environmentalpollution thus utilizing the alternative

resources. The adverse effects of petroleumbased lubricants on environment and allliving beings can be reduced at a greaterextent by promoting the biolubricants.

Lubricants from alternativeresources control the environmentalpollution by preserving ground water andsoil, reducing petroleum oil consumption,cost of disposal is reduced, naturalrecycling of hazardous waste, high flashand fire point reduce risk of fire in case ofaccident and no skin problem to the

operator.There is a need to take right step in

the field of development of lubricants fromalternative resources to make it more cheapand easily available, it can be achieved byfocussed research through appropriategovernment polices and regulation for theuse of lubricants from alternative resources.

References

Amit Kumar Jain, Amit Suhane, (2012)Research Approach & Prospects of Non

Edible Vegetable Oil as a PotentialResource for Biolubricant - A Review,Advanced Engineering and AppliedSciences: An International Journal; 1(1):23-32

BEC (Biomass Energy Center), (2012)www.Biomassenergycentre.org.uk.Retrieved on 2012-02-28.

CBD, (2013) Text of the CBD. www.Cbd.int.Retrieved on 2013-03-20.

Erhan, S.Z., Sharma, and B.K. (2006)Vegetable oil based biodegradablelubricants for industrial applicationsBIO 2006 International Convention,Innovative Corridor Poster Session.

Ioan, S., (2002) On the future ofbiodegradable vegetable lubricants usedfor industrial tribo systems, Gal IFascicie VIII, Issue No. 1221-4590.

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Joaquin J. Salas, M.Victoria Ruiz-Mndez yRafael Garcs, (2011) Prologe:Biodegradable lubricants fromvegetable oils. Enero-Marzo, 7, ISSN:0017-3495.

Lansdown, A. (2004). Lubrication andlubricant selection: a practical guide,ASME Press.

Melissa Mayntz, (2013). http://www.greenliving.lovetoknow.com/ Types_ ofPollution.

Mohanti S, (2001), Envirotch. New Delhi -110 020 (India).www.envirotechindia.in/

NOVOD (National Oilseeds and VegetableOils Development Board), (2012)Ministry of Agriculture, Government ofIndia. www.novodboard.com.

Sevim Z. Erhan, Svajus Asadauskas, (2000)Lubricant basestocks from vegetableoils, Industrial Crops and Products II277-282 Elsevier.

Wagner, H., Luther, R., Mang, T., (2001)Lubricant base fluids based onrenewable raw materials. Their catalyticmanufacture and modification. Appl.Catal. A: Gen. 221, 429442.

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