ENGINEERING FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT Jelgava, 26.-27.05.2011. 288 NEW BIODEGRADABLE OILS USED IN AGRICULTURE Valentin Vladut 1 , Mihai Matache 1 , Iulian Voicea 1 , Lucretia Popa 1 , Sorin Biris 2 , Gige Paraschiv l,2 , Edmond Maican 2 1 INMA Bucharest, Romania; 2 USAMVB Timisoara, Romania valentin_vladut@yahoo.com Abstract. The use of biodegradable oils instead of conventional oils, lubricants in agriculture is an important step to protect the environment by reducing noxious emissions of greenhouse gases and soil pollution. To highlight the biodegradability experiments were conducted on the tribological parameters of three kinds of biodegradable oils (experimental models) and two conventional oils, resulting in the high quality of the tribological parameters of biodegradable oils as against the trade classical oils. Keywords: biodegradable, environment, lubricating, oil, parameter, protection. Introduction Development of bio-lubricants is not a new appearance, in the late 70ies the vegetable oils appeared in the spotlight. Their lubricating effect was already known and other arguments have emerged: regeneration, biodegradability, non toxicity, no bioaccumulation, does not irritate the unique molecular structure, viscosity stability with changing temperature, low volatility, bimolecular layer on metal surfaces which should protect against corrosion and reduce friction [2]. The use of lubricants as environmentally responsible began to develop in Europe, North America and other regions, bio-lubricants made from vegetable and animal oils and fats being regarded as environment friendly. Lubricants, as all “components” of any industrial, commercial or domestic activity, affect health and safety of persons who use them and also influence the environment. Although the problems of health, safety and environment facing lubricants industry is no different than those faced by other industries, they are important and present a number of technical and market dilemmas, some of them can not be bypassed [1; 2; 3]. Lubricants affect the health, safety and environment in all stages of their production, use and abandoning of them. They must not be toxic to human health by contact or inhalation during their manufacture and use thereof. Accidental or intentional spillage of them may have the potential to cause environmental disasters in the sensitive areas of the environment such as forestry, agriculture, mining, construction or groundwater areas [2]. It should be noted that “health and safety” were mainly associated with people, while the “environment” refers to the rest of the planet. Further, the distinction between the two topics has become blurred by dragging the conclusion that many of the things that affect or harm the environment are likely to harm the human health and vice versa. In recent years, the concerning about the potential impact of oil-based lubricants on the environment has created the opportunity to promote acceptable alternatives in terms of environmental protection. Bio lubricants have been developed as some of environmentally friendly products. The main features of environmental friendly lubricants, the so called bio lubricants or biodegradable lubricants are: conserve energy, long operating time - less waste, reduced consumption – throw less, are recyclable, biodegradable, have low ecotoxicity, and have low pollution risk for water, soil and air. The term bio-lubricants include a wide range of lubricants, such as vegetable oils, hydrogenated vegetable oils, vegetable oils with high oleic acid, synthetic esters produced from vegetable oils. Advantages and disadvantages of bio-lubricants: less pollution for air, soil and water, minimum health and safety risks, damage easier, due to their biodegradability. More specifically, the benefits of bio-lubricants compared to mineral oil lubricants are: good lubricating characteristics, good corrosion inhibiting properties, low volatility leading to lower emissions, very low aquatic toxicity, intrinsic biodegradability, wide availability, and production from renewable resources.