Actually, many companies use alcohol as a fuel additive to lower operating temperature of fuel. Common but dangerous practice.
Alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water yet blends real will. The mixture drives down the temperture of crystalization of the water.
Fuel experience flow issues as the temperature decreases. There are four main properties that occur as fuel temperature is lowered - these happen more with diesel than gas:
Cloud Point - The temperature at which wax first begins to drop out of fuel as the temperature is lowered.
Freeze Point - The temperature at which the last portion of wax, after it has begun to drop out, will re-melt and dissolve as the fuel is warmed.
Pour Point - The temperature at which the entire fuel becomes immobile due to wax solidifying throughout the entire liquid phase.
Cold Flow Plugging Point (CFPP) – the temperature at which the flow through a specific sized filter is impeded.
Alcohol may also look to dissolve the wax portions to a point to impede formation. several theories abound.
Many non-alcohol additives work by co-crystallize out either with or just before and then with the wax as the fuel is cooled, disrupting the wax crystal formation, causing only very small wax crystals to form and prevent large plate-shaped wax crystals that plug fuel lines from forming. The performance can be fuel-dependent.
Funny, I just got done explaining this very thing to a customer in Timmons Canada
