Biobased Hydraulic Fluid Product Requirements
Project Number: 07-SP-033
The JG-PP biobased hydraulic fluid initiative was established at the request of DLA and in response to the USDA federal mandate to develop and implement a preferred procurement program to increase the procurement and use of biobased products.
Initially, DLA
and DSCR
began evaluating commercially available technical data from biobased hydraulic
fluids suppliers to determine if their product met the requirements of
one or more existing Government specifications for hydraulic fluids. A
study was conducted to compare commercially available products to ten
existing specifications or commercial item descriptions. None of the nearly
100 product information sheets that suppliers submitted for review included
adequate information for a conclusive desk top review. Each individual
supplier was provided with a report of their respective product evaluation.
The JG-PP
then joined with DLA
to establish a WG
to focus on identifying additional testing requirements for specification
CID
A-A-59354. DLA
requested support from the services to establish a joint consensus of
all the issues that need to be looked at from a requirements perspective.
It was determined that the most prudent approach would be to conduct limited
field testing to facilitate the evaluation of potential performance characteristics
unique to biobased products and once the joint requirements were addressed
take an existing specification or CID
and add another Type or Grade for biobased fluids to include adding new
NSNs.
The results of this pilot effort may then be applied to the other specifications
and product categories.
The following areas of concern (involved with the use of biobased products) are being reviewed:
- Hydrophilic nature of biobased materials
- Corrosivity
- Greater solvency
- Microbial growth
- Stability over long term storage
- Material compatibility issues
- Bulk modulus elasticity
- Product warranty
- Temperature range of materials
Identification of the biobased test requirements is the first step in preparing a JTP which will form the basis for qualifying any candidate biobased hydraulic fluids
This site last updated February 28, 2008.
