ASTM D1319 Test Method for Hydrocarbon Types in Liquid Petroleum Products
ASTM D1319 Standard Test Method for Hydrocarbon Types in Liquid Petroleum Products by Fluorescent Indicator Adsorption
4. Summary of Test Method
4.1 Approximately 0.75 mL of sample is introduced into a special glass adsorption column packed with activated silica gel. A small layer of the silica gel contains a mixture of fluorescent dyes. When all the sample has been adsorbed on the gel, alcohol is added to desorb the sample down the column. The hydrocarbons are separated in accordance with their adsorption affinities into aromatics, olefins, and saturates. The fluorescent dyes are also separated selectively, with the hydrocarbon types, and make the boundaries of the aromatic, olefin, and saturate zones visible under ultraviolet light. The volume percentage of each hydrocarbon type is calculated from the length of each zone in the column.
5. Significance and Use
5.1 The determination of the total volume % of saturates, olefins, and aromatics in petroleum fractions is important in characterizing the quality of petroleum fractions as gasoline blending components and as feeds to catalytic reforming processes. This information is also important in characterizing petroleum fractions and products from catalytic reforming and from thermal and catalytic cracking as blending components for motor and aviation fuels. This information is also important as a measure of the quality of fuels, such as specified in Specification D1655.
