BioSOY hits the market

t's heeere! After a half-dozen years of development and field testing, BioSOY Hydraulic Oil, the first soybean-based tractor hydraulic fluid, is now on the commercial market. The product was developed by the Ag-Based Industrial Lubricants (ABIL) Research Program, a part of Environmental Programs within the College of Natural Sciences.

This is the first time soybean oil has been used to make a hydraulic fluid, according to Lou Honary, ABIL director and associate professor of industrial technology, although other vegetable oils have been used in Europe (rapeseed) and Canada (canola). "This product has two main advantages," he says. "It is environmentally friendly and increases the uses for soybeans, a crop for which the U.S is the number one producer."

At a July press conference, BioSOY Hydraulic Oil was officially launched by Gov. Terry Branstad, assisted by (l.-r.) J. Joe Mitchell, UNI vice president for university advancement, State Senator John Jensen of Plainfield, and Lou Honary of UNI's ABIL.

BioSOY is biodegradable, making it ideal for work done in environmentally sensitive areas, such as marshlands or forests. "Even if the equipment used in a particular industry is not yet regulated in terms of environmental impact, it may be in the future," Honary explains. "So people who are taking the long view are interested in this product to avoid costly clean up later."

What's more, BioSOY is versatile. It can be used indoors as well as outdoors because it performs well in a range of temperatures, unlike some other vegetable-based products. It is also suitable for both mobile and stationary machinery.

BioSOY, for which a patent has been applied, had its market debut in September. Cargill, Inc., of Minneapolis provides the soybean oil, Lubrizol Corporation of Cleveland prepares the additive, and Northland Products Company of Waterloo blends and packages the product. A division of AGRI Industries is marketing BioSoy, which is priced at two to two-and-a-half times higher than similar petroleum-based products.

Industrial and Transportation Equipment Company (ITEC), the AGRI Industries division that is marketing the product, was also one of the field-testing sites. A dealer for and operator of rail car movers, ITEC is using BioSOY in its own equipment as well as recommending it to other rail car makers and users.

BioSOY was also tested in various types of equipment by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., in automated garbage trucks manufactured by Wayne Engineering of Cedar Falls, and in heavy equipment and elevators at UNI.

During the two years of field testing, samples of the hydraulic oil were monitored at regular intervals by ABIL and two other research facilities. "All of the results were very positive," says Honary. "This is a product with great potential for soybean growers in Iowa and other states."

Other beneficiaries of ABIL's research efforts are UNI students and faculty in Biology, Chemistry and Industrial Technology. Faculty in these departments serve as consultants to ABIL and are actively involved in research; students working closely with them have an opportunity to be exposed to the type of research and development done in industry.

Not content to rest on their accomplishments in developing and testing BioSOY, ABIL researchers are now investigating two other soy-based products: a grease that can be used for, among other things, preventing wear to railroad tracks and a hydraulic oil for food-processing plants. "Hydraulic oil used in these plants," Honary explains, "must be safe for human consumption in case the oil comes in contact with food products."

And since ABIL stands for Ag-Based Industrial Lubricants, soybean oil isn't the only oil under investigation. The researchers are also looking at palm, canola, rapeseed and cotton oil, as well as blends of these oils.

"We are trying to identify ways to add value to farmers' products," says Honary. "Through the collaboration of the University, the agricultural sector and industry, we can do that successfully and at the same time have a positive impact on the environment."