Inspection Assays:

(From: The Significance of Tests of Petroleum Products: A Report by ASTM

Committee D-2 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants)
Density or API Gravity (ASTM D1298: Test Method for Density, Relative
Density (Specific Gravity), or API Gravity of Crude Petroleum and Liquid
Petroleum Products by Hydrometer Method)
Accurate determination of the gravity of crude oil is necessary for the conversion of
measured volumes to volumes at the standard temperature of 15.56C (60F).
Gravity is also a factor reflecting the quality of crude oils. Generally, the heavier
(lower the API gravity) the crude oil the greater the quantity of heavier components
that may be more refractory and require greater upgrading or more severe
cracking. Conversely, the lighter the crude oil the greater the quantity of distillable
products.
The density measurement of petroleum fractions and crude oils are carried out
using either a pycnometer or a Mettler/Parr densitometer.
Salt Content (ASTM D3230:
(Electrometric Method))

Test

Method

for

Salts

in

Crude

Oil

The bulk of the salt present will be dissolved in coexisting free water and can be
removed in desalters, but small amounts of salt may be dissolved in the crude oil
itself.
Salt in crude oil may be deleterious in several ways. Even in small concentrations,
salts will accumulate in stills, heaters, and exchangers, leading to fouling that
requires expensive cleanup. More importantly, during flash vaporization of crude oil,
certain metallic salts can be hydrolyzed to hydrochloric acid according to the
following reactions: 2NaCl + H2O 2HCl + Na2O and MgCl2 + H2O 2HCl + MgO
The hydrochloric acid evolved is extremely corrosive, necessitating the injection of a
basic compound, such as ammonia, into the overhead lines to minimize corrosion
damage.
Salt and evolved acids can also contaminate both overhead and residual products,
and certain metallic salts can deactivate catalysts.
Water and Sediment (ASTM D4007: Test Method for Water and Sediment in
Crude Oil by the Centrifuge Method)
The water and sediment content of crude oil, like salt, results principally from
production and transportation practices. Water, with its dissolved salts, may occur
as easily removable suspended droplets or as an emulsion. The sediment dispersed
in crude oil may be comprised of inorganic minerals from the production horizon or
from drilling fluids, as well as from scale and rust from pipelines and tanks used for
oil transportation and storage. Usually, water is present in far greater amounts than
sediment, but, collectively, it is unusual for them to exceed 1% of the crude oil on a
delivered basis. Like salt, water and sediment can foul heaters, stills, and

exchangers and can contribute to corrosion and to deleterious product quality. Also,
water and sediment are principal components of the sludge that accumulates in
storage tanks and must be disposed of periodically in an environmentally
acceptable manner.
Further, water bottoms in storage tanks can promote microbiological activity, and, if
the system is anaerobic, production of corrosive acids and hydrogen sulfide can
result.
Knowledge of the water and sediment content is also important inaccurately
determining net volumes of crude oil in sales, taxation, exchanges, and custody
transfers.
Sulfur Content (ASTM D4294: Test Method for Sulfur in Petroleum Products
by Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy)
The sulfur content of a crude oil, which may vary from less than 0.1 to over 5 mass
%, is one of its most important quality attributes. Sulfur compounds contribute to
corrosion of refinery equipment and poisoning of catalysts, cause corrosiveness in
refined products, and contribute to environmental pollution as a result of emission
of sulfur oxides from combustion of fuel products. Sulfur compounds may be present
throughout the boiling range of crude oils, although, as a rule, they are more
abundant in the heavier fractions. In some crude oils, thermally labile sulfur
compounds can decompose on heating to produce hydrogen sulfide, which is highly
toxic and very corrosive. Consequently, in reporting the hydrogen sulfide content of
a crude oil, it is important to distinguish between that which is dissolved and that
which is evolved on heating or distillation. The mercaptans usually present in a
crude oil can impart a foul odor, depending on the species.
Pour Point (ASTM D97 or D5853: Test Method for Pour Point of Crude Oils)
Pour point determination of crude oils is performed principally to ascertain their
handling characteristics at low temperatures. Commonly, the lower the pour point of
a crude oil, the more aromatic it is; and the higher the pour point, the more
paraffinic it is, and the higher the pour point the more paraffinic it is.
Vapor Pressure (ASTM D5191: Standard Test Method for Vapor Pressure of
Petroleum Products (Mini Method))
Vapor pressure is a very important physical property of volatile liquids. The vapor
pressure of gasoline and gasoline-oxygenate blends is regulated by various
government agencies. Specifications for volatile petroleum products generally
include vapor pressure limits to ensure products of suitable volatility performance.
This test method is more precise than Test Method D4953, uses a small sample size
(1mL to 10 mL), and requires about 7 min to complete the test.
Total Acid Number (ASTM D974: Standard Test Method for Acid and Base
Number by Color-Indicator Titration)

Crude oil can contain basic or acidic constituents that are present as additives or as
degradation products formed during service, such as oxidation products. The
relative amount of these materials can be determined by titrating with acids or
bases. This number, whether expressed as acid number or base number, is a
measure of this amount of acidic or basic substances, respectively, in the oil
always under the conditions of the test. This number is used as a guide in the
quality control of lubricating oil formulations. It is also sometimes used as a
measure of lubricant degradation in service; however, any condemning limits must
be empirically established.
Since a variety of oxidation products contribute to the acid number and the organic
acids vary widely in corrosive properties, the test cannot be used to predict
corrosiveness of an oil under service conditions. No general correlation is known
between acid number and the corrosive tendency of oils toward metals.
Compounded engine oils can and usually do have both acid and base numbers in
this test method.
Carbon Residue (ASTM D4530: Standard Test Method for Determination of
Carbon Residue (Micro Method)
Carbon residue is the residue formed by evaporation and thermal degradation of a
carbon-containing material. The residue is not composed entirely of carbon but is a
coke that can be further changed by carbon pyrolysis. The carbon residue is a
measure of the carbonaceous material left in a fuel after all the volatile components
are vaporized in the absence of air. Carbon residue may contribute to nonuniformity of operation and flow pulsation.
Ash Content (ASTM D482: Test for Ash from Petroleum Products)
Small amounts of non-burnable material are found in fuels in two forms: (1) solid
particles, and (2) oil or water-soluble metallic compounds. The solid particles are for
the most part the same material that is designated as sediment in the water and
sediment test.
The quantitative determination for ash is made by this ASTM. In this test, a small
sample of crude oil is burned in a weighed container until all of the combustible
matter has been consumed. The amount of unburned residue is the ash content,
and it is reported as % by weight of the fuel.
Metals
A number of trace elements have been detected in crude oil, but, aside from nickel
and vanadium, which are usually the most abundant, relatively little systematic
analytical work has been carried out. Over 30 trace metals are known to occur
naturally in crude oils. Knowledge of the trace elements constituents in crude oil is
important because they can have an adverse effect on petroleum refining and
product quality. Among the problems associated with trace elements are catalyst
poisoning in the refinery and excessive atmospheric emissions in combustion of
fuels. Trace element concentrations are also useful in correlating production from

different wells and horizons in a field. Elements such as iron, arsenic, and lead are
catalyst poisons. Vanadium compounds can cause refractory damage in furnaces,
and sodium compounds have been found to cause superficial fusion fire brick.
Viscosity (ASTM D445: Test Method for Kinematic Viscosity of Transparent
and Opaque Liquids)
Also, viscosity determination of crude oils is performed principally to ascertain their
handling characteristics at low temperatures. It is also a function of the aromaticity
and paraffinicity of the sample. Those crude oils with a greater concentration of
paraffins generally have a greater concentration of paraffins generally have a higher
viscosity than crude oils having a relatively large proportion of aromatic and
naphthenic compounds. Viscosity is determined by measuring the time for a volume
of liquid to flow under gravity though a calibrated glass capillary viscometer.
Research Octane Number (ASTM D2699: Test Method for Research Octane
Number of Spark-Ignition Engine Fuel)
Knock depends on complex physical and chemical phenomena highly interrelated
with engine design and operating conditions. It has not been possible to
characterize completely the antiknock performance of gasoline with any single
measurement. The antiknocking rating of a gasoline is measured in a cylinder
laboratory engines. The antiknock performance of a gasoline is related intimately to
the engine in which it is used and the engine operating conditions.