By Jim Fitch and Mark Barnes
Book Chapter
Fuels and Lubricants Handbook: Technology, Properties, Performance, and Testing
Editor George Totten.
The aim of this chapter is to briefly present six analytical methods for characterizing hydrocarbon compounds found in fuels and lubricants. The methods presented are NMR spectrometry, gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, ultraviolet spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and infrared spectroscopy. The analysis of hydrocarbons deploying these methods is well-founded in scientific laboratories and is the basis of numerous ASTM standards.
Because of the large body of published work on these methods, it is not the intention of the authors to attempt complete coverage of all methods, but rather to provide an overview of their use in the analysis of fuels and lubricants. Following each section are summaries specific to ASTM D 02 standards where the analytical method is deployed in the areas of fuels and lubricants.