On Monday, one of the elevators in the Computer Building received replacement hydraulic fluid. The replacement fluid was soy-based oil rather than a petroleum product. I did a little "googling" to see if soy-based elevator oil had different properties from what we traditionally use in elevators. It turns out not only does it behave in the same way as the petroleum based product, but it has a high flash point and it is bio-degradable. The Statue of Liberty elevators use a soy-based product too.
If I get a chance, I'm going to talk to someone in OPP about where it goes after it's extracted (Not McDonald's I hope!), how long it lasts compared to petroleum based hydraulic fluid, and how many of the elevators at Penn State already use this product. For all I know, the fluid in our elevator was already soy-based. More to come...
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