SOCIETY OFAUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, INC. TwoPennsylvania Plaza,NewYork,N.Y.10001 WillItRunat70Below? AProgressReporton ArcticWinterOperation of Automotive Equipment J.A.Miller Chevron Research Co. H.R.PorterandJ.D.Lewis Standard OilCompany ofCalifornia NationalFarm,Construction &Industrial Machinery Meeting Milwaukee, Wis. September 13-16,1971710717 Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 2018710717 WillItRunat70Below? AProgressReporton ArcticWinterOperation of Automotive Equipment J.A.Miller Chevron Research Co. H.R.PorterandJ.D.Lewis Standard OilCompany ofCalifornia THEPROBLEMS inherentinArcticwinteroperationofauto motiveequipment arewellknownanddocumented, asarethe solutions. ThegoalsetbythemilitaryduringWorldWarII wastheoperationofproperlywinterized machinery attem peratures aslowas-65to-70F.Theoldquestion,"Willit runat70below?"isstillfrequently askedofmachinery and petroleum suppliers.Theanswerisaqualifiedyes.Although itisnoteconomically feasibletoworkmachinery hardatsus tainedtemperatures muchbelow-40F,equipment canbe, andis,operatedat-70Fforshortperiods.Thissuccesshas beenachievedthroughthedevelopment ofspecialwinteriza tionaidsandpetroleum products. Thesearethedirectresult ofmorethan30yearsofcooperative researchbytheautomo tiveandpetroleum industries, themilitary,andcivilianusers oftheequipment. However,thediscoveryofoilontheAlaskanNorthSlope hasresultedinaresurgenceofwinteroperatingproblems commonly encountered intheinteriorofAlaskaduringthe1940s.Mostexpertsagreethattheproblemsresultfromnot onlytheextremely severeweatherbutfromlogisticsandlack ofexperience onthepartoftheoperators. Theproblemswere mostacuteduringthewinterof1969-1970, whenconstruc tionontheNorthSlopewasatitspeak.Theproblems,how ever,didnotindicateanygrossdeficiencies withtheequip mentorthefuelsandlubricants beingused.Workonthe NorthSlopewasvirtuallyatastandstillduringthewinterof 1970-1971; thusfewvehicleswerebeingusedandoperating problems weredrastically reduced. However, onecontractor whodidoperateduringthatwinterattributed thereduction in problemstotheskilloftheoperatorsratherthantoother factors. AfewfactsaboutAlaska,itsgeography, anditsweatherare neededtomakethefollowingdiscussion onArcticwinter operationmoremeaningful. Alaskawaspurchased from Russiain1867for$7.2million-about 2centsanacre-and wasadmittedtotheuniononJanuary3,1959.Thelargest ABSTRACT Thispaperdescribesspecialwinterization aidsandpetroleum productsthathavebeendevelopedtomakepossibletheopera tionofautomotive machinery, onanemergency basis,attem peraturesaslowas-70F.Apackageoffivebasicpetroleum productsappropriate foruseontheNorthSlopeofAlaskahas servedtheresuccessfully forseveralyearsattemperatures consistentlyinthe-40Frange.Theproductsmaybeblendedto obtainadditional properties. Themotorgasolineanddiesel fuelsdeveloped forthispackagearediscussed, alongwiththe pourpointandviscosityproperties ofArcticwinterlubri cants-motor oils,ATFandtorquefluids,hydraulic oils,gear oils,andgreases. Downloaded from SAE International by University of New South Wales, Sunday, August 19, 20182 stateintheunion,Alaskais2.5timesthesizeofTexas,with anareaof586,400squaremiles.Thisisaboutone-sixththe totalareaoftheUnitedStates,asillustrated inFig.1.The stateisuniqueinthatitsbordersstretchalmost3000miles fromeasttowest. Inspiteofitssize,Alaskaranksfiftiethinpopulation, with slightlylessthan300,000people.About40%ofAlaskans liveincities(Fig.2);morethan80%oftheurbanpopulation isconcentrated inAnchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau,Ketchikan, Sitka,andKodiak. SinceAlaskahaslessthan2000milesofhighwaywithinits bordersandonlyonerailroadconnecting Anchorage with Fairbanks, transportation isessentially byair.Thelackof surfacetransportation plusthegreatdistancesinAlaskacreate seriouslogisticsproblemsinremoteareas,andthishasavery markedinfluence ontheoperation ofautomotive equipment. Therearethreemaingeographical areasinAlaskathatareof interestinsofaraswinteroperationofautomotive equipment isc