ASTM_D_3710_-_95_2004.pdf

Designation:D 3710 95(Reapproved 2004)An American National StandardStandard Test Method forBoiling Range Distribution of Gasoline and GasolineFractions by Gas Chromatography1This standard is issued under the fixed designation D 3710;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon(e)indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1.Scope1.1 This test method covers the determination of the boilingrange distribution of gasoline and gasoline components.Thistest method is applicable to petroleum products and fractionswith a final boiling point of 500F(260C)or lower asmeasured by this test method.1.2 This test method is designed to measure the entireboiling range of gasoline and gasoline components with eitherhigh or low Reid vapor pressure and is commonly referred toas gas chromatography(GC)distillation(GCD).1.3 This test method has not been validated for gasolinescontaining oxygenated compounds(for example,alcohols orethers).1.4 The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regardedas the standard.The values given in parentheses are forinformation only.1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.For specific hazardstatements,see Note 9 and 7.2.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2D 86 Test Method for Distillation of Petroleum Products atAtmospheric PressureD 323 Test Method for Vapor Pressure of Petroleum Prod-ucts(Reid Method)D 1265 Practice for Sampling Liquefied Petroleum(LP)Gases(Manual Method)D 4057 Practice for Manual Sampling of Petroleum andPetroleum Products3.Terminology3.1 Definitions:3.1.1 final boiling point(FBP)the point at which a cumu-lative volume count equal to 99.5%of the total volume countunder the chromatogram is obtained.3.1.2 initial boiling point(IBP)the point at which acumulative volume count equal to 0.5%of the total volumecount under the chromatogram is obtained.3.1.3 relative molar responsethe measured area of acompound divided by the moles present in the syntheticmixture relative to an arbitrarily chosen component.3.1.4 response factora constant of proportionality thatconverts area to liquid volume.3.1.5 system noisethe difference between the maximumand minimum area readings per second for the first 20 areareadings in the blank run.3.1.6 volume countthe product of the area under a peakand a response factor.4.Summary of Test Method4.1 The sample is introduced into a gas chromatographiccolumn which separates hydrocarbons in boiling point order.Conditions are selected so as to measure isopentane and lightersaturates discretely.Normal pentane and heavier compoundsare not completely resolved but are measured as pseudocomponents of narrow boiling range.The column temperatureis raised at a reproducible rate and the area under thechromatogram is recorded throughout the run.Boiling tem-peratures are assigned to the time axis from a calibration curve,obtained under the same conditions by running a knownmixture of hydrocarbons covering the boiling range expectedin the sample.From these data the boiling range distribution ofthe sample is obtained.5.Significance and Use5.1 The determination of the boiling range distribution ofgasoline by GC distillation provides an insight into thecomposition of the components from which the gasoline hasbeen blended.This insight also provides essential data neces-sary to calculate the vapor pressure of gasoline,which has beentraditionally determined by Test Method D 323.In addition,the1This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D02 onPetroleum Products and Lubricants and is the direct responsibility of SubcommitteeD02.04 on Chromatographic Distribution Methods.Current edition approved Nov.1,2004.Published November 2004.Originallyapproved in 1978.Last previous edition approved in 1999 as D 3710 99e1.2For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.1Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959,United States.Test Method D 86 distillation curve can be predicted usingGCD data.See Annex A1.5.2 The GCD method facilitates online controls at therefinery,and its results offer improved means of describingseveral car performance parameters.These parameters include:(1)car-starting index,(2)vapor-lock index or vapor-liquidratio,and(3)warm-up index.The car-starting and vapor-lockindexes have been found to be mostly affected by the front endof the Test Method D 86 distillation curve(up to about 200