New standard ASTM D7344 for Small Scale Distillation Testing

Grabner Instruments' MINDIS sets a new standard in small scale Distillation testing. The ASTM Committee D02 recently approved a new Mini-method for the Distillation of Petroleum Products at Atmospheric Pressure. The mini-distillation analyzer MINIDIS performs exclusively according to the new standard ASTM D7344-07.

The new standard covers the same range of petroleum products as ASTM D86, giving comparable results in a short time. ASTM D7344 was specifically developed for small specimen sample volume and a miniaturized apparatus, which makes field testing possible. Instruments following the D7344 principle, like Grabner Instruments' MINIDIS, are ideal for testing "on the move," installed in a mobile lab, or attached to tankers.

ASTM D7344 has several advantages compared to the "classical" distillation standard D86:

• Small sample volume, reduced waste
  ASTM D7344 works with a sample volume of 6 mL. Compared to D86 this reduces sample volume 15-fold. Therefore waste material is reduced significantly too.
• Fast measurement
  Due to the small sample volume the distillation takes just half the time. Whereas distillation according to the D86 principle takes 40 minutes, the new standard allows distillation times of 15 minutes or less.
• Safe apparatus
  The D7344 principle works with small sealed cups and a metallic distillation column. An apparatus built following the D7344 principle needs no fire detection system, like common D 86 instruments: Non-breakable copper cups replace the fragile D86-glassware.
• Easy to use
  The fully automatic principle makes manual sample handling dispensable. Rinsing, filling, sample lifting and sample introduction are fully automatic.