STABILITY, STORAGE DISTILLATE FUEL STORAGE STABILITY AT 43° C: ASTM D4625
EXPLANATION
Fuel oxidation and other degradative reactions leading to sediment (and color) formation are mildly accelerated by the test conditions, compared to typical storage conditions. These test results have been shown to predict storage stability more reliably than other more accelerated tests. This test method is applicable to distillate fuels with flash points above 38° C (100° F) and 90 % distillation points below 340° C (644° F). Because of the long storage periods involved (4 to 24 weeks), this test is not suitable for quality control testing, but does provide a tool for research on storage properties of fuels. Because the environmental effects and the materials and nature of tank construction affect storage stability, the results of this test method are not necessarily the same as those obtained during a specific field storage situation.
TEST SUMMARY
Four-hundred mL of filtered fuel are stored in a borosilicate glass container at 43° C for periods of 0, 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 weeks. After aging for a selected time period, a sample is removed from the storage, cooled to room temperature, and analyzed for filterable insolubles and for adherent insolubles.
TEST PRECISION
Repeatability: 0.62 X
Reproducibility: 2.20 X
Where X is the average of two results in mg/100 mL.
Bias statement is not applicable because of the nature of this test.
