Wear Characteristic of Stainless Steel 304 Sliding against Cast Iron under Lubrication Environment of Palm Biodiesel Fuel

The used of palm-biodiesel fuel in automotive industry is increasing rapidly nowadays. Among the reasons are high efficiency modern fuel injection system of diesel engines and the shortage of petroleum diesel fuel from fossil resources. Among the parts affected by the fuel switch are fuel pumps components, including the fuel injection needle. Those components, working under the lubrication environment of the fuel, have to be prevented from excessive wear to maintain their high performances. This paper discussed the wear characteristics of stainless steel 304 sliding against cast iron under the lubrication environment of palm-biodiesel fuel with the concentration of 7.5% palm methyl ester in the petroleum diesel fuel. The material pair is chosen because of their widely used as mechanical components. The tests were conducted using a ball on disk tribometer. The results show that wear of the stainless steel ball is smaller in the environment with the presence of palm methyl ester content in the diesel fuel compared to that in the environment without the presence of the palm methyl ester content. The results suggested that palm-biodiesel fuel is favorable in decreasing the wear of the material.