New FTIR Methodology for Measuring Contamination in Diesel Fuel

A2 Technologies PAL and iPAL FTIR analysers are gaining rapid acceptance for measuring biodiesel (%FAME) in diesel fuel for applications where low level contamination of diesel fuel by FAME is problematic.

Diesel fuel containing up to 5% biodiesel meets the ASTM D975 standard, which does not require disclosure of the biodiesel level, and this can be a significant issue for certain diesel fuel users. A2 Technologies (A2) has developed an enhanced method for determining contamination levels of FAME in diesel. This method combines the more sensitive transmission IR sampling interface specified in EN 14078 with the universal algorithm and sample set specified in ASTM D7371 to produce the most sensitive and accurate method available.

This enables the PAL systems to quickly and accurately predict the percentage of biodiesel in diesel fuel in the range from 0.025% to 20%. In round robin testing, the accuracy of this method has been found to be superior to the other methods, especially for measuring low levels of biodiesel.

The PAL systems use A2’s patented TumblIR IR transmission technology to provide the 100 micron pathlength specified in the EN 14078 method. The TumblIR sampling system eliminates the difficulties associated with using traditional IR transmission cells and is as easy to use as the ATR type device specified in the ASTM method. Measurement of % FAME is as easy as placing a drop of diesel fuel on the TumblIR lower window, rotating the top window into place and then initiating the measurement. The two windows, when placed in the measurement position, create a 100 micron pathlength as specified in the EN 14078 method. Clean-up is as simple as rotating the windows apart, and then cleaning the two windows with a simple wipe.