Influences of Restaurant Waste Fats and Oils (RWFO) from Grease Trap as Binder on Rheological and Solvent Extraction Behavior in SS316L Metal Injection Molding

This article deals with rheological and solvent extraction behavior of stainless steel 316L feedstocks using Restaurant Waste Fats and Oils (RWFO) from grease traps as binder components along with Polypropylene (PP) copolymer as a backbone binder. Optimal binder formulation and effect of solvent extraction variables on green compacts are being analyzed. Four binder formulations based on volumetric ratio/weight fraction between PP and RWFO being mixed with 60% volumetric powder loading of SS316L powder each as feedstock. The rheological analysis are based on viscosity, shear rate, temperature, activation energy, flow behavior index, and moldability index. The optimal feedstock formulation will be injected to form green compact to undergo the solvent extraction process. Solvent extraction variables are based on solvent temperature which are 40 °C, 50 °C, and 60 °C with different organic solvents of n-hexane and n-heptane. Analysis of the weight loss percentage and diffusion coefficient is done on the green compact during the solvent extraction process. Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) is used to confirm the extraction of the RWFO in green compacts. It is found that all binder fractions exhibit pseudoplastic behavior or shear thinning where the viscosity decreases with increasing shear rate. After considering the factors that affect the rheological characteristic of the binder formulation, feedstock with binder formulation of 20/20 volumetric ratio between PP and RWFO rise as the optimal binder. It is found that the n-hexane solvent requires less time for extracting the RWFO at the temperature of 60 °C as proved by its diffusion coefficient.