A partnership between Purdue Univesity, the Indiana Soybean Alliance, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station resulted in an interesting cold-weather test of Permaflo (TM) Biodiesel.
Permaflo is a specially formulated to improve the cold-weather properties of biodiesel. A cold-flow fractionation process is used to separate the saturated and unsaturated oil molecules from each other. The unsaturated molecules, which are used for Permaflo, have a lower cloud point temperature (i.e., temperature at which the diesel gels/crystallizes). Permaflo has a cloud point temperature as low as -67°F. For more information about Permaflo, see the FAQ from the Indiana Soybean Alliance.
The cold-weather test, which took place in Alaska, had two components: transportation and stationary power generation. Two vehicles running Permaflo were driven from Anchorage to Fairbanks, which is over 300 miles. Then one vehicle was driven to the Arctic Circle, which is an additional 200 miles, where the group camped overnight using a generator running Permaflo. During the test, updates and photos were posted on the Indiana Soybean Alliance website.
