High-Precision Atmospheric Distillation with Automatic Heating Optimisation

Anton Paar (Austria) has launched the new ADU 5 automatic distillation unit – a fully automated, compact stand-alone distillation unit which is operated by touchscreen interface. This makes it the ideal solution for performing high-precision atmospheric distillation tests.

ADU 5 automatically recommends the best distillation conditions according to the respective program. The instrument’s excellent heat control guarantees an optimum standardised distillation rate, even for complicated mixtures. Due to the highly reactive Anton Paar heating system the distillation rate of ethanol-blended gasoline showing azeotropic behavior can be constantly kept between the ASTM D86 limits of 4 mL and 5 mL per minute. The final heat adjustment for the last 5 mL to distillate is applied fully automatically. As and when required, the Anton Paar heat set optimiser automatically suggests optimised heater temperatures after the test run is completed. The complete ready-to-go system occupies only a minimum amount of laboratory bench space and easily masters all standard fuel distillation test measurements as well as the distillation of ethanol-blended gasoline. ADU 5 comes prepared for automatic dry point detection. Testing and results are in full compliance with ASTM D86 (Group 0, 1, 2, 3, 4), D1078, D850, ISO 3405, IP 123, IP 195. ADU 5 meets the highest safety standard in its class and the requirements of the latest version of ASTM D86. It features an automatic fire-extinguishing system that can be connected to N2 or CO2 gas. An automatic shut-off and a low-level detection of the cooling liquid prevent overheating of the unit, which is equipped with an integrated cooling system.

Thanks to the excellent temperature stability of the receiving chamber, an automatic correction of the results to standard pressure and perfect distillation rate control, ADU 5 guarantees highly accurate results to ensure outstanding repeatability and reproducibility.