• Method adopted/last revised:
• Method reapproved: 2020
• REF/ISBN:
• Status: Current
• First printed in STM books: 2016

This  document  specifies  a  method  for  the determination of the boiling range distribution of petroleum  products.  The  method  is  applicable to   petroleum   products   and   fractions   with a  final  boiling  point  of  538  °C  or  lower  at atmospheric  pressure  as  determined  by this document.  This  document  does  not  apply  to gasoline samples or gasoline components. The method is limited to products having a boiling range greater than 55 °C and having a vapour pressure sufficiently low to permit sampling at ambient  temperature.

The document describes two procedures.

a)        Procedure A allows a larger selection of columns and analysis conditions, such as packed and capillary columns as well as a thermal conductivity detector in addition to the flame ionization detector. Analysis times range from 14 min to 60 min. b)        Procedure  B  is  restricted  to  only  three capillary columns and requires no sample dilution. The analysis time is reduced to about 8 min.

Both procedures have been successfully applied to  samples  containing  fatty  acid  methyl  esters (FAME) up to 20 % (volume fraction).

NOTE   For  the  purposes  of  this  document,  the terms  “%  (mass  fraction)”  and  “%  (volume fraction)” are used to represent the mass fraction e fraction (ϕ) of a material.