Since the beginning of the 21st century, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has implemented a series of measures to promote the introduction and use of renewable fuels, with the goal of blending 136 billion liters of renewable fuel with gasoline by 2022. Currently, ethanol is the primary renewable fuel used in transportation in the United States.

Meanwhile, the production of vehicles using high ethanol gasoline blends (i.e. flexible fuels) has increased. This fuel has attracted attention due to its reduced greenhouse gas emissions (at least 40% compared to gasoline) and reduced volatility/vapor loss during transportation and storage compared to traditional high petroleum gasoline blends. Before using flexible fuels, it is necessary to analyze them to determine the ethanol and methanol content, in order to support the evaluation of product quality and determine their ultimate use.

ASTM method D55016 (last updated in 2020) provides guidelines for analyzing flexible fuels using a 150 meter detailed hydrocarbon analysis (DHA) column. Flexible fuels allow ethanol content between 51% and 83% w/w, while methanol content cannot exceed 0.6% w/w. The range of target analyte concentrations is wide, therefore a stable quantitative process is required. The long analytical column improves the separation of methanol from the co flowing C4 hydrocarbon isomers.

This application article demonstrates the performance of PerkinElmer GC 2400 system in analyzing E85 according to ASTM method D5501. The GC 2400 system provides ideal separation efficiency and quantitative repeatability for ASTM method D5501-20 analysis. As long as the operator is connected to the VPN, PerkinElmer Simplicity Chromium ™ The chromatographic data system (CDS) software and split touch screen interface can achieve intuitive, high-throughput laboratory workflow and real-time data monitoring. The PerkinElmer Elite DHA-150 chromatographic column provides an inert separation environment and excellent peak shape for polar hydrocarbon analysis.