RECOVERY AND PRODUCTION OF LUBRICATING GREASE FROM NIGERIAN TAR SANDS HEAVY OIL

¹Akpoturi Peters and ²Henry Idudje

^1,2 Department of Petroleum Engineering

^1,2 Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun

Email: petersakpoturi1212@gmail.com

 Abstract: Two types of lubricating grease were prepared from heavy oil extracted from the Nigerian Tarsands. The laboratory prepared greases were subjected to tests in accordance with the National Laboratory for Grease Institute (NLGI) specifications. This paper gives the results from the study. Toluene was used to extract the heavy oil from the tar sands by soxhlet extraction method. Conventional laboratory methods were then employed to produce the two types of grease (soap-based and clay-based) from the Nigerian tarsands-derived oil. Test results indicated that the two types of grease from the tarsand oil conform with the NLGI specifications and that the greases will be suitable for lubricating plain and roller bearings. Also, it was found that the grease from tarsand oil exhibited a better resistance at high temperature than the conventional grease from petroleum oil.