Low Sulfur and Other Trace Elements in Biodiesel Fuels

Renewable, low emissions fuels are set to play a growing role in powering our future. One such fuel, biodiesel, most commonly derived from reprocessed vegetable oil, is already in use today in diesel fuel vehicles. It is typically blended with traditional diesel fuel in the 5 to 20% range. All diesel fuels are required to have low sulfur content, and elemental analysis of sulfur (S), as well as other elements, is required to show compliance with actual specifications. In the USA, biodiesel fuel has to meet ASTM International specifications as described in ASTM D5761-11a, "Standard Specification for Biodiesel Fuel Blend Stock (B100) for Middle Distillate Fuels," and ASTM D7467-10, “Standard Specification for Diesel Fuel Oil, Biodiesel Blend (B6 to B20),” which specify the concentrations of sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), and calcium (Ca) allowable in biodiesel and biodiesel blends. The concentration limit for phosphorus is set at 10ppm, while the concentration limit for sulfur is set at 15ppm.

Energy dispersive X-ray Fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) is currently listed as one of the standard test methods for the elemental analysis of sulfur content in biodiesel in ASTM D6751.

Low Sulfur and Trace Element Determination in Biodiesel Fuels with Benchtop XRF

Testing for sulfur concentration and other trace element content in biodiesel fuels is a must for all biodiesel fuel manufacturers. Testing biodiesel for compliance with ASTM D6751 and other biodiesel standards in a cost effective and timely manner is essential to profitable, efficient operations. X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) is an accepted method for analysis of low sulfur, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and other elements in biodiesel.

Benchtop XRF is the leader in XRF analysis of biodiesel fuels. With a detection limit of = 0.5 ppm sulfur, a Benchtop XRF Analyzer provides some of the lowest limits of detection and best accuracy of any EDXRF system on the market. Feature-rich and easy-to-use, Benchtop XRF represents the best value in XRF for the analysis of biodiesel.

A detailed applications report describing the accuracy, precision, and ease-of-use of Benchtop XRF is available.

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