Skip to Main Content Skip to Left Navigation Skip to Footer

United States of America

Department of Commerce

Commerce Seal montage illustrating the work Commerce does
 
Print without left or right navigation

Top News

NOTICE TO VISITOR:
THIS IS AN ARCHIVED SITE

This site contains information released online prior to January 20, 2009.

Click HERE to go the CURRENT commerce.gov website.
Information released from January 20, 2009 to present.

Please note: The content in this archive site is not updated and external links may not function.

A NIST chemist demonstrates sampling of biodiesel fuel for injection into a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, an instrument that separates and identifies the components of a mixture. Click here for larger photo.

New NIST Method Accelerates Stability Testing of Soy-Based Biofuel

Gaithersburg, Md. (Jan. 15)—The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a method to accelerate stability testing of biodiesel fuel made from soybeans and also identified additives that enhance stability at high temperatures. The results, described in a new paper, could help overcome a key barrier to practical use of biofuels. Both oxidation and heating can cause biodiesel to break down, adversely affecting performance. NIST’s “advanced distillation curve” method could accelerate and simplify testing of biodiesels, according to lead author Tom Bruno. (More)

Last Updated:
January 15, 2009
Questions regarding this section may be directed to the Department of Commerce Webmaster