1. Scope

1.1 This test method covers the determination of total sulfur in petroleum and petroleum products that are single-phase and either liquid at ambient conditions, liquifiable with moderate heat, or soluble in hydrocarbon solvents. These materials can include diesel fuel, jet fuel, kerosine, other distillate oil, naphtha, residual oil, lubricating base oil, hydraulic oil, crude oil, unleaded gasoline, M-85 and M-100.

1.2 The interlaboratory study on precision covered a variety of materials with sulfur concentrations ranging from approximately 3 mg/kg to 5.3 mass %. For a subset of these samples, with sulfur concentrations below 60 mg/kg, the repeatability standard deviation (S _r ) was 1.5 mg/kg. An estimate of the limit of detection is 3 X S _r , and an estimate of the limit of quantitation 2 is 10 X S _r . However, because instrumentation covered by this test method can vary in sensitivity, the applicability of the test method at sulfur concentrations below approximately 20 mg/kg must be determined on an individual basis.

1.3 Samples containing more than 5.0 mass % sulfur can be diluted to bring the sulfur concentration of the diluted material within the scope of this test method.

1.4 Volatile samples (such as high vapor pressure gasolines or light hydrocarbons) may not meet the stated precision because of selective loss of light materials during the analysis.

1.5 A fundamental assumption in this test method is that the standard and sample matrix are well matched. Matrix mismatch can be caused by C/H ratio differences between samples and standards (see Tables 1 and 2) or by the presence of other heteroatoms (see Table 3).

1.6 The values stated in either SI units or angstrom units are to be regarded separately as standard.

1.7 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. For specific hazard information, see Note 1.

2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.

ASTM Standards

D4057 Practice for Manual Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products

D4177 Practice for Automatic Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products

D4294 Test Method for Sulfur in Petroleum and Petroleum Products by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

D4927 Test Methods for Elemental Analysis of Lubricant and Additive Components--Barium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Zinc by Wavelength-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy

D6259 Practice for Determination of a Pooled Limit of Quantitation

D6299 Practice for Applying Statistical Quality Assurance and Control Charting Techniques to Evaluate Analytical Measurement System Performance

D7343 Practice for Optimization, Sample Handling, Calibration, and Validation of X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry Methods for Elemental Analysis of Petroleum Products and Lubricants

E29 Practice for Using Significant Digits in Test Data to Determine Conformance with Specifications

Keywords

analysis; diesel; gasoline; jet fuel; kerosene; petroleum; spectrometry; sulfur; wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence; X-ray; Petroleum products (liquid); Fuel oils; Spectroscopy--X-ray fluorescence (XRF); Fuel sulfur; X-ray spectrometry; XRF (X-ray fluorescence)--petroleum products;

ICS Code

ICS Number Code 75.080 (Petroleum products in general)

DOI: 10.1520/D2622-98

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