Newsletter Issue 19

Technical News

Articles

The Standardization of Japanese Petroleum Products
Sucrose contamination in fuel systems of light aircraft operating on AVGAS
Still No Substitute for JFTOT
Microbiological News Qualifying synthetic jet fuel for use in commercial aircraft
ASTM Committee D.02 Standardization Activities

The Standardization of Japanese Petroleum Products

Makoto Saito
Tokyo

The Japanese government repealed the Provisional Measures Law on the Importation of Specific Kinds of Petroleum Refined Products (Provisional Measures Law) on April 1, 1996. This law had limited the importation of gasoline, kerosine and gas oil to those oil companies which met the following criteria: ability to adjust product quality, ability to implement substitute production, and ability to meet stockpile requirements. The abolition of this law means that from April, 1996, any company can import these petroleum products as long as they can meet product quality and the stockpile requirement of 70 days supply. All imported products must, of course, meet Japanese standards for product quality. In Japan, petroleum product quality standards have been set according to Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). Some points of these standards differ from other countries. We will now take a look at the outline of Japan's quality standards for petroleum products and recent developments in this area. Tables 1 and 2 show JIS and the typical commercial product quality standards for motor gasoline and gas oil. Motor gasoline has two grades: premium and regular. A major difference between the two is the octane number which, according to JIS, is 96 minimum for premium and 89 minimum for regular. The octane number for typical commercial premium grade motor gasoline is almost 100. Both premium and regular motor gasoline have winter and summer grades. The difference between the two grades lies in the vapor pressure. Premium grade motor gasoline contains a high mix of reformate gasoline to raise the octane number. In some cases, alkylate or methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) are added as octane boosters. Regular grade motor gasoline contains a higher mix of FCC naphtha and straight-run gasoline than is the case in premium grade motor gasoline. Gas oil (diesel fuel) has five grades. These are divided into seasonal and regional grades. For reference, see Table 2 which shows only JIS and typical commercial product quality for mid-level No. 2 grade diesel oil in urban areas (e.g., the Tokyo area) during the winter. In Japan, gas oil is produced by mixing straight-run kerosine/gas oil and hydrodesulfurization kerosine/gas oil. Unlike in Europe and the United States, light cycle oil is almost never added. The law regarding petroleum product quality in Japan was revised in response to the abolition of the Provisional Measures Law at the end of March, 1996, at which time the Quality Preservation Law was enacted. An outline of the law is detailed below.

Quality Preservation Law (April, 1996)

Refiners and newcomers must guarantee the quality of oil products:
Gasoline

Kerosine:

Gas Oil:

In the future, the standard for benzene content in motor gasoline is scheduled to be tightened from the present level of 5% volume maximum to 1% volume maximum in April, 2000. In the case of gas oil, as well as the sulfur content being reduced from its present level of 0.2 wt. % maximum to 0.05 % maximum in July, 1997, the addition of lubricity improver is also required.

Table 1

Japanese Industrial Standards and Commercial Products

MOTOR GASOLINE Japanese Industrial Standards Commercial Products (Typical)
Premium Summer/Winter Regular Summer/Winter Premium Summer/Winter Regular Summer/Winter
Octane Number:
RON
MON		 96.0 min 89.0 min 99.8
88.1		 90.3
81.4
Density (g/cm3) 0.783 max 0.783 max 0.7509/0.7445 0.7365/0.7255
Distillation 10%, 1C 70 max 70 max 49.8/44.3 50.1/45.4
50%, 1C 75-110 75-110 93.7/89.7 90.0/84.6
90%, 1C 180 max 180 max 144.6/143.0 154.9/147.6
EBP, 1C 220 max 220 max 180.0/178.5 188.9/178.7
Residue Volume % 2 max 2 max 1.0 1.1
RVP, kPa at 37.81C 44-78/44-93 44-78/44-93 67.6/80.4 65.7/79.4
Copper Corrosion 1 max 1 max 1 1
Existing Gum (mg/100mL)
Washed:
Unwashed:

5 max
20 max

5 max
20 max

0.3
13.9

0.1
-
Oxidation Stability (min at 501°C,3 hours) 240 max 240 max 480 480
Lead unleaded unleaded nil nil
Sulfur wt. % 0.01 max 0.01 max 7.5 ppm wt 286 ppm wt
MTBE vol. % 7 max 7 max 4.0 0.0
Benzene vol. % 5 max 5 max 1.4 2.1
Kerosine vol. % 4 max 4 max 1 1
Methanol nil nil nil nil
Color orange orange orange orange
Aromatics vol. - - 36.3 24.3
Olefins vol. % - - 12.6 17.5

Table 2

Gas Oil (diesel fuel)

Japanese Industrial Standards No. 2 grade Commercial Products (typical) No. 2 grade
Density (g/cm3) - 0.834
Flash Point °C 50 min 69
Distillation: - 217.0
10%, °C - 280.8
50%, °C 350 max 332.4
90%, °C
Pour Point °C -7.5 max -13.8
CFPP °C -5 max -9.0
Carbon Residue on 10%
Residue wt. % 0.1 max 0.1
Cetane Index 45 min 59.0
Kinematic Viscosity at 30 °C 2.5 min 3.769
Sulfur Content wt. % 0.2 max 0.15