Properties of synthetic oils derived from waste polyolefins

Synthetic oils are mainly used in lubricant compositions meeting strict or special technical requirements. Most synthetic oils presently manufactured belong to three types of oils, i.e. polyalphaolefins (PAO), esters and alkyl benzene derivatives. Elsewhere, the authors have described results obtained in synthesising polyolejin oils starting from olefin mixtures produced by mild thermal degradation of waste polyethylene.1,2 In the present paper, the dependence of the flow properties of polyolefin oils on the average molecular mass of the starting olefin mixture is discussed, and some preliminary results are given on synthesising alkenyl succinic esters and alkyl benzene derivatives starting from the same raw materials obtained from waste polyethylene.