IROX Diesel - New Biodiesel method implemented

Grabner Instruments introduces a new method, which allows for the fast and accurate determination of Biodiesel content in Diesel.

The new Biodiesel method is used in IROX Diesel, a portable, fully automatic and extremely compact mid-FTIR spectrometer to analyze the composition of Diesel. The instruments spectrometer is finetuned for Diesel components and measures the content of total aromatics, poly nuclear aromatics and Biodiesel. Based on a stored number of calibration samples it predicts such important properties as Cetane number, Cetane index or distillation properties like (T85, T90, T95).

Derived from information from the spectrum the new method calculates Biodiesel content in Diesel. Two areas in the spectrum are used for the measurement, around 1745cm-1 for lower and around 1170cm-1 for higher Biodiesel content. FAME concentration is then determined by calculating spectrum area rather than determining the height of the ester peaks compared to the baseline. The new method yields results with better accuracy than required by the Biodiesel method EN 14078 and is suitable for the determination of FAME up to 40 wt.%. A complete Diesel measurement can be done in only 3 minutes, making the IROX Diesel the ideal instrument for fast and accurate testing of Diesel and Biodiesel blends in the laboratory or directly on site.