Technical Paper
A Report on the Field Test Performance of a Soybean-Based Hydraulic Oil
1998-09-14
982005
Despite the best preventative measures, ruptured hoses, spills and leaks do occur with the use of all hydraulic equipment. Although these releases do not usually produce an RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) regulated waste, they are often reportable events. Clean-up and subsequent administrative procedures involve additional costs, labor, and work delays. Concerns about these releases, especially when they involve Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico (SNL) vehicles hauling waste on public roads, prompted their Fleet Services Department (FS) to seek an alternative to conventional petroleum-based hydraulic fluids. Since 1996, SNL has participated in a pilot program, along with the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Ag-Based Industrial Lubricants (ABIL) Research Program and selected vehicle manufacturers, to field test in twenty of its vehicles, hydraulic fluid produced from soybean oil.
