A Status Report on Biobased Hydraulic Oils in the United States

摘要

In the early 1990s, one of the first biobased (then referenced as biodegradable) hydraulic oils appeared in the U.S. due to the introduction of hydraulic oil by the then Mobil corporation. This product called Environmentally Aware Lubricant (EAL-224H) was based on the European crop rapeseed which exhibits good stability and reasonable cold flow properties. The concept of using vegetable oils to produce hydraulic oil was attractive to the University of Northern Iowa researchers at its National Ag-Based Lubricants Center (UN-NABL Center) being located in the Midwest where the majority of U.S. soybeans are grown. The author and members of a special team of engineers representing agriculture machinery manufacturers and vegetable oil and additive suppliers sought out and received funding from the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board to investigate the potential use of soybean oil as hydraulic fluid. The work has continued and as a result of their work several hydraulic oils and other biobased lubricants and greases are currently commercially available on the market. The US Department of Navy has embarked on a project to develop specifications for the biobased versions of the current hydraulic oils being used by the Department. The UNI-NABL Center, under a contract with the Department of Navy is testing a number of hydraulic oils to establish any performance difference between biobased and petroleum based products. This paper provides a status report on the biobased hydraulic oils in the Unites States using the experiences and the data generated at the UNI-NABL Center.