Depletion of mineral reservoirs along with health and environmental concerns have led to a greater focus on bio-lubricants. The purpose of this study was to analyze and optimize the reaction conditions of the transesterification process for cotton biolubricant synthesis by using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). In RSM, Rotatable central composite design was selected to examine the effect of reaction input factors on the yield of cotton bio-lubricant during the transesterification process. ANOVA analysis showed that temperature was the most significant factor followed by time, pressure and catalyst-concentration. Optimum reaction conditions obtained by RSM for maximum TMP tri-ester (cotton bio-lubricant) yield of about 37.52% were 144 °C temperature, 10 h time, 25 mbar pressure, and 0.8% catalyst-concentration. RSM predicted results were successfully validated experimentally and by artificial neural networking. About 90%–94% cotton seed oil bio-lubricant was obtained after purification and its physiochemical, lubricity and tribological properties were evaluated and found comparable with ISO VG-46 and SAE-40 mineral lubricant. Hence, cottonseed oil is a potential source for the bio-lubricant industry.

中文翻译：

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基于 RSM 和人工神经网络的可持续棉花生物润滑剂的生产优化及其润滑性和摩擦学性能的评估

矿物储量的枯竭以及健康和环境问题导致人们更加关注生物润滑剂。本研究的目的是利用响应面法（RSM）分析和优化棉花生物润滑剂合成酯交换工艺的反应条件。在RSM中，选择可旋转中心组合设计来考察酯交换过程中反应输入因素对棉花生物润滑剂产量的影响。方差分析表明，温度是最重要的因素，其次是时间、压力和催化剂浓度。通过 RSM 获得的 TMP 三酯（棉生物润滑剂）产率最高约 37.52% 的最佳反应条件为 144 °C 温度、10 小时时间、25 mbar 压力和 0.8% 催化剂浓度。RSM 预测结果已通过实验和人工神经网络成功验证。纯化后得到约90%~94%的棉籽油生物润滑油，对其理化、润滑和摩擦学性能进行评价，发现其与ISO VG-46和SAE-40矿物润滑油相当。因此，棉籽油是生物润滑油工业的潜在来源。