New Standards and Revisions

New Specification Supports 100 Octane Fuel

A new standard that supports 100 octane fuel could help drive innovation in the auto industry as cars with higher-performance engines are introduced into the global marketplace.

This new standard responds to a years-long effort by engine manufacturers and others to create a broadly accepted specification for this higher-octane fuel which can withstand higher compressions before igniting, thus extracting more energy from a given quantity of fuel.

The new standard (D8076, Specification for 100 Research Octane Number Test Fuel for Automotive Spark-Ignition Engines) was developed by D02.

New Standard Covers New Technology for Gasoline Sample Analysis

A new test method developed by D02 will help bring emerging technology to the realm of gasoline sample analysis.

According to member Dan Wispinski, laboratory manager at InnoTech Alberta, the new standard is the first to describe the use of the new vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) detector in gas chromatography analysis. Specifically, the standard is D8071: Test Method for the Determination of Hydrocarbon Group Types and Select Hydrocarbon and Oxygenate Compounds in Automotive Spark-Ignition Engine Fuel Using Gas Chromatography with Vacuum Ultraviolet Absorption Spectroscopy Detection (GC-VUV).

“The setup procedure is easy and requires no pre-column tuning or valve timing adjustments,” says Wispinski. The standard allows for faster runtimes, he says, because of the test method’s ability to handle co-elution among various species and hydrocarbon classes.  “It is a testament to the ASTM process that enables new technology to be quickly incorporated into mainstream use.”