Pioneering a New Age of Precision in Vapour Pressure Testing

AMETEK Grabner Instruments (Austria) has extended its vapour pressure tester product portfolio with the launch of a new automatic tester for low-volatility measurements. Grabner developed the MINIVAP VPXpert-L to automate the manual ASTM D2879 Standard Test Method for Vapour Pressure by Isoteniscope used by the chemical industry. The MINIVAP VPXpert-L analyser measures gasoline, jet fuels, solvents and chemicals as well as food, flavour and fragrance products with vastly improved precision. The analyser is optimised for a pressure range from 0.1 to 100 kPa and shows a measuring repeatability better than 0.1 kPa.

Government regulations mandate the measurement of the vapour pressure of virtually any liquid manufactured, stored or shipped to ensure transportation safety and to protect the environment. The MINIVAP VPXpert-L is the first completely automatic analyser that accurately tests fuels and chemicals down to 0.1 kPa vapour pressure in a temperature range from 0 to 120°C. The pressure range of this new tester is limited to 100 kPa, which results in an optimized measuring repeatability of less than 0.1 kPa. The instrument requires only 1 mL of sample per test, eliminates the need for vacuum pump and manual filling, and yields results within minutes.

“AMETEK Grabner Instruments is the recognised leader in vapour pressure testing. With its introduction of the MINIVAP VPXpert-L, Grabner paves the way for a new era in vapour pressure testing,” explains Oliver Sauer, Head of Marketing & Sales at AMETEK Grabner Instruments. “In terms of precision, the new instrument is about five times more precise when compared with other testers.”

“With this analyser, we are able to meet two key market requirements. First, we fulfill the demand of the petroleum industry for higher precision in routine gasoline and jet fuel testing. And, we offer a solution for the chemical, flavours and food industries, which have a specific need for low-volatility testing.”

The MINIVAP VPXpert-L includes all standard vapour pressure methods for testing fuels and incorporates new static methods for testing chemical compounds. These new “VOC”-methods measure the absolute vapour pressure based on the static Triple Expansion Method and yield results equivalent to the static ASTM D2879 Isoteniscope method.

While experienced personnel are needed to operate an Isoteniscope, the VPXpert-L is easy to use. When the sample is connected to the instrument, a fully automatic measurement can be started immediately. To prevent composition changes of chemicals during the test, a sample evacuation is not required. Instead, dissolved and entrained air is automatically removed from the measurement result. Cross contamination between low volatile samples is minimised through a clever combination of high-quality Sampling Pro valves and automatic rinsing. To ensure proper sample outgassing and to reduce equilibrium time, a sample shaker is installed in every unit.