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This week in the lab, Trevor Holm has been working on a soy-based pour point depressant (PPD). PPDs are oil additives that allow for the use of oils at lower temperatures. PPDs are used to prevent frozen tank and oil lines, improve transportation properties of shale oil, and overall assist as a cold flow additive. PPDs are also employed for “cold starts.” People usually think of a cold start as trying to start the car in a North Dakota winter, but the term actually applies to a range of machinery. Many machines, if run with overly cold lubricants or other fluids, can experience impacts from poor efficiency to damage—and even failure. For more information about Airable and our mission for sustainability, check out our website: https://www.airableresearchlab.com/.