This work presents a synthesis of palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD)-based esters to produce biolubricant oils through the esterification reaction between saturated palm fatty acid distillate (SFA PFAD) with different types of high degree polyhydric alcohols such as trimethylolpropane (TMP), di-trimethylolpropane (Di-TMP), pentaerythritol (PE) and di-pentaerythritol (Di-PE) in the presence of sulfuric acid as catalyst. The chemical structures of synthesized SFA PFAD-based esters were characterized and confirmed by using FTIR, NMR ( 1 H and 13 C) spectroscopies and GC-FID chromatography. The FTIR spectra of SFA PFAD-based ester products clearly showed the peaks of C=O and C-O of ester group at 1732-1740 cm −1 and at 1239-1162 cm −1 , respectively. Furthermore, 1 H NMR spectra confirmed the proton chemical shift (-CH2-O-) of the ester group at 3.80-4.01 ppm. The 13 C NMR spectra confirmed the carbon chemical shifts of ester carbonyl signals at 171.09-174.07 ppm and secondary carbons (CH2-C=O) at 40.57-42.44 ppm. The results showed that the optimum conditions for the esterification of SFA-TMP was 2 obtained at acid catalysts of 5 %, esterification time and temperature of 6 h and 150 °C 1 respectively. The results have shown the ester products yields have been significantly increased up to 93% with selectivity of 99 % SFA-TMP tri-ester after the optimization 3 process by using D-optimal design. The results for lubrication properties have shown that 4 the SFA PFAD-based esters have low-temperature properties with pour points value in 5 the range of 18-35°C, flash point (270-310°C), onset oxidative stability temperature (251-6 322°C) and viscosity indices (115-131), respectively. The results showed that the 7 presence of many esters functional groups in the molecule structure of SFA PFAD-based 8 esters provides a positive impact on the lubrication properties. Overall, the results 9 indicated that the SFA PFAD-based esters can be used as biolubricant base oils with pour point depressants. Keywords: Biolubricant, saturated palm fatty acid distillate, polyhydric alcohol, Doptimal design point, high viscosity index, good thermal stability, and low toxicity. Ester compounds 1 have been used in a range of commercial products such as biodiesel and other alternative 2 diesel fuels derived from plant oils or animal fats [2]. The lubrication properties of esters 3 depend upon the balance between the nonpolar hydrocarbon moiety and the polar ester 4 groups. The hydrocarbon chain length is reflected in the increase of viscosity, viscosity 5 index, and flash point, while the pour point and oxidative stability temperature are affected 6 primarily by the existence of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids [3]. The polarity of an 7 ester group plays an important and significant effect on the material vapor pressure, 8 lubricity, and solubility [4]. In comparison to mineral oils, many esters have a series of 9

Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) is a widely used product due to its low cost being a by-product of (edible) palm oil manufacturing process. In this paper, the physical properties of palm fatty acid distilled (PFAD) produced in Malaysia will be discussed. The major physical properties obtained during this study are; the specific gravity at 28°C, moisture content, viscosity at 40°C, colour at 28°C, Pour point, Flash point and Oxidative stability values were 0.87±0.1g/ml, 0.63±0.1%, 96.35±0.1 cSt, 2R-20Y, 35±1ºC, 135±1ºC and 178±1ºC, respectively. A rather significant outcome is the great benefit of using PFAD for bio lubricant, which offers many positive characteristics, such us; it increases the viscosity, viscosity index, flash point and oxidative stability. Therefore PFAD has a good potential for biodiesel and bio lubricant industries.

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