Oil

oil

Oils is a collective term for organic liquids that cannot be mixed with water. Oils have a higher viscosity than water.

Italian olive oil

The low melting range is mainly caused by a high proportion of „unsaturated“ or „polyunsaturated“ fatty acids. Many vegetable oils serve among other things as food and are therefore also called edible oils. Vegetable oils are also used as fuel, either in their natural state or in transesterified form as biodiesel. They are used as binders in oil paints.

Animal oils are partly used as food and are similar to vegetable oils used in the chemical industry, e.g. fatty oils can also be used as food-compatible lubricating oils in the food industry. They are also used as a biodegradable alternative to mineral oil lubricants, for example for the lubrication of drive chains or saw chains in the wild. They consist mainly of terpenes.

Mineral oils → main article: Mineral oil

Mineral oils are obtained from crude oil or coal and are hydrocarbon compounds. Most compounds in the mixtures belong chemically speaking to the group of alkanes, straight-chain or branched. In addition to alkanes, most crude oils also contain aromatics, often sulfur-containing organic-chemical compounds. They are therefore one of the most important energy sources of our civilisation.

Mineral oils also serve as lubricating oil to avoid direct wear contact between moving surfaces and as impregnating and separating agents. Volatile substances, also derived from petroleum, such as petrol or kerosene, are not included in the oils. So-called „synthetic oil“ are also based on petroleum raffinates and have a special molecular structure that is not found in crude oil. Synthetically produced hydrocarbons are added.