In October 2005, Governor Edward G. Rendell announced that Pennsylvania would replace millions of gallons of conventional diesel with fuel made within the state and reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels.  This would help boost the state’s economy by creating new jobs associated with the alternative fuel -- from farmers and producers to distributors and retailers. In July 2008, a House bill signed into law a state renewable fuel standard mandating the percentage of biofuels available to consumers to increase along with in-state production.  As of September 2008, the first production level of 40 MMgy of biodiesel was attained and effective May 1, 2010, all diesel fuel sold at retail stations throughout Pennsylvania must contain 2% biodiesel. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) is responsible for assuring compliance with the law.  The PDA believes that a strong quality and oversight program is essential to the success, sustainability and commercialization of their renewable fuel standard.  Testing the fuel at the 1200 retail motor fuel locations throughout the State for 2% biodiesel is one of their responsibilities.

The PDA chose the InfraCal Biodiesel Blend Analyzer manufactured by Wilks Enterprise, Inc. to use for compliance monitoring because the analyzer could be used in the field and had the required accuracy of 0.2 percent.  

The InfraCal Biodiesel Blend Analyzer is a portable mid-infrared analyzer. Since the analyzer is small (6 inches square), lightweight ( less than 5 lbs), rugged (no moving parts) and can be operated from a battery pack or a cigarette lighter adapter cable, it fits the requirements needed for traveling to retail stations to make on-site measurements.  The operation simply involves putting a sample on the exposed sample plate, pressing the “run” button and in less than a minute, the display reads the percent biodiesel in the fuel sample.

For further information on the InfraCal Biodiesel Blend Analyzers, please contact: Wilks Enterprise, Inc., 25 Van Zant Street, Ste. 8F, E. Norwalk, CT 06855 TEL: 203-855-9136; FAX: 203-838-9868; Email:  info@wilksir.com; or the information can be downloaded from the Wilks website: www.WilksIR.com;