This paper presents the effects of rate of heat extraction by groundnut, melon, palm kernel, shea butter
and palm oils on the mechanical properties of various samples of pure commercial aluminium heat
treated at 200°C, 250°C, 300°C and 350°C. Muffle furnace equipped with digital thermometer and
thermocouple was used for the heat treatment. Tensile strength and hardness tests were carried out
using Instron Universal Tester and Vickers hardness methods, respectively. Results obtained from the
experiment were presented graphically. The results showed that palm kernel oil cools faster at 200°C and
250°C, while palm oil and shea butter oil quench faster at 300°C and 350°C, respectively. Palm kernel oil
offers the highest elongation at 200°C, while at 350°C shea butter oil gave the best result. The best
among the bio-quenching oils in providing good ductility is shea butter oil at 200°C, while at 300°C and
350°C groundnut oil give the best result. Highest hardness values were obtained from samples quenched
in melon oil between 200°C-300°C. However, these values decreased with increased heating
temperature probably due to density and viscosity variation with temperature rise. Similar observations
were made on most of other samples quenched in other bio-quenching oils used in this experiment. This
study shows that these locally available vegetable oils have promising potentials to serve as a possible
replacement for non-biodegradable mineral oils in many applications