Investigation of the effects of ultrasound processing on the characteristics of lubricating emulsions

This study examines the potential application of used vegetable oil for the production of lubricating emulsions. It has been determined that for the bleaching of used vegetable oil with an acid value (AV) of 4.0 mg KOH/g, a 4% clay-based adsorbent is sufficient. The maximum emulsion stability, achieved after 8 minutes of ultrasonic treatment, corresponds to a formulation containing 20% vegetable oil, 3% emulsifier, and 0.2% NaHCO3. Further increasing the amount of vegetable oil improves the emulsion quality; however, it also raises production costs.