Gear oil is an important industrial lubricant. If stable and high-quality bio-based gear oils and additives can be developed, petroleum-based lubricants may be a thing of the past. Researchers, including ISTC’s Dr. B.K. Sharma, have been investigating the use of soybean oil-based gear oils. They thermally polymerized soybean oil, then mixed it with additives and diluents. The final formulation displayed viscosity and wear scar values comparable to or better than commercially available gear oils. In another project led by Sharma, researchers synthesized lubricant additives based on boron and epoxidized soybean oil in a simple patent-pending method. The additives were tested in a number of gear oil lubricants and were found to reduce wear scar and improve oxidation onset. These results showed the promise of boron technology in improving industrial gear oils.
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