Tribological characteristics of Pongamia oil methyl ester

Abstract

The tribological characteristics of biodiesel PME (Pongamia oil methyl ester) is analysed in this work. Three blends B20, B50 and B80 of pongamia methyl ester with diesel were prepared. Tribological studies were performed with these blends using fourball tribotester and reciprocating wear tester to analyse the friction and wear behavior at various operating parameters. It was observed that wear and frictional torque reduced with increase in biodiesel content. The frictional torque was found to decrease with time. Thus, higher blends have a lower coefficient of friction than lower blends. Wear in the steel ball for the B50 blend is 25% less than that for the B20 blend and the wear appears to stabilize for concentrations greater than B50. Reciprocating wear test on cylinder liner-piston ring suggested that PME could offer better lubricity between the sliding surfaces than that of pure diesel. SEM anlaysis of the worn surfaces suggested that the surface lubricated with PME blends were less affected during the wear process when compared to those with pure diesel.

Keywords

• Pongamia methyl ester
• Four ball tribotester
• Reciprocating wear testing