What is BS EN 15721 - Determination of higher alcohols, methanol and other impurities about?
BS EN 15721:2013 specifies a gas chromatographic method for ethanol, in which higher alcohols
(propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol, butan-2-ol, 2-methylpropan-1-ol (isobutanol), 2-methylbutan-1-ol, and
3-methylbutan-1-ol) from 0,1 % up to 2,5 % (m/m), methanol from 0,1 % up to 3 % (m/m) and other impurities, in the range from 0,1 % up to 2 % (m/m) are determined.
Impurities are all the compounds not attributed to the groups of higher alcohols or methanol.
Note 1: The European ethanol blending component specification [1] sets a limit for the combined result of ethanol +
higher alcohols, not the ethanol content itself.
Note 2: Due to possible interferences, the method is not applicable to denatured ethanol samples.
Note 3: Water, if present in the sample, is not included in this analysis, because a signal for water is not visible in the chromatogram. Therefore, if "alcohol content" is called up in a specification, water needs to be considered separately in the calculations.
Who is BS EN 15721 - Determination of higher alcohols, methanol and other impurities for?
BS EN 15721 on determination of higher alcohols, methanol and other impurities is useful for:
- Petroleum industry
- Testing laboratories
- Companies dealing with blending of ethanol with petrol
- Automotive industry
Why should you use BS EN 15721 - Determination of higher alcohols, methanol and other impurities?
Ethanol is mixed with petrol to form different blends. As the ethanol molecule contains oxygen, it enables the engine to combust the fuel in a better way, resulting in fewer emissions. This helps in reducing the environmental pollution. But there gets added impurities when such blending is performed, thus determination of such impurities is essential.
BS EN 15721:2013 specifies a gas chromatographic (GC) test method for the determination of a number of compounds present in ethanol for use as a blending component in petrol according to the CEN ethanol blending component specification EN 15376 [1].
The test method specified in BS EN 15721, comprises of GC identification and analysis of a number of molecules, which are then attributed to several classes ("impurities", "methanol", "higher alcohols"), which are needed for calculation of the specified values as required in EN 15376.
The method described in BS EN 15721 was prepared by CEN/TC 19’s Working Group 9 and is based on two methods ([2] and [3]) published from a European Regulation on wine and on other internationally published analytical methods on spirits [4]. The method is modified for determinations in ethanol for automotive applications.
BS EN 15721 helps determine higher alcohols, methanol and other impurities in blended petrol using gas chromatographic method with precision and accuracy.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN 15721:2013 supersedes EN 15721:2009.
EN 15721:2013 includes the following significant technical changes with respect to EN 15721:2009:
- The method has been simplified and more tailored towards the determination of the higher alcohols as mentioned in EN 15376 (propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol, butan-2-ol, 2-methylpropan-1-ol (isobutanol), 2-methylbutan-1-ol, 3-methylbutan-1-ol, methanol)
- All other alcohol compounds are summed as impurities.
- The response factor check and the listed example response factors have been taken out.
