A New Method
November 17, 2010
BY Ron Kotrba
The ability to test low levels of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content in jet fuel has been sought by pipeline operators and jet fuel distributors for years. SetaAnalytics, a division of Stanhope-Seta, recently announced that the Energy Institute in London has now published a new test method, IP 583, the first for rapid screening of FAME in jet fuel. The patented "Fame In Jet Instrument" has been in development for more than three years and offers the industry a rapid and easy check on parts per million (ppm) levels of FAME in aviation fuel. FIJI utilizes state-of-the-art Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy technology and a patented sample preparation system allowing FAME detection accuracy down to the 20 ppm level. FIJI is fully automatic so no specialist operator training is involved. Tests take less than 20 minutes. A key advantage over current analytical FAME in Jet methods is FIJI's ability to detect all types of FAME in the range C8 to C22. Current DEF STAN 91-91 and ASTM D1655 specifications state a maximum safe limit of 5 ppm in aviation fuel, but an industry-wide research project is currently evaluating the effect of FAME at higher concentrations. The lifting of the 5ppm limit to a higher level is expected as a result of the research project, states SetaAnalytics.
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