45 Years of Experience in Petroleum Density Checks

Based on 45 years of experience in developing digital density meters and close cooperation with users, Anton Paar (Austria) provides instrumentation for a wide variety of samples and process steps from research to conversion of crude oil to the point of final quality checks of refined products.

Intake control: Things are not always what they seem
Be it crude, edible or refined oil – a quick density check using the portable density meter DMA 35 Ex Petrol makes sure the type and quality of incoming material is what it is supposed to be. The sample is taken directly from the drum or tanker and measured there without needing to transport samples back and forward to a lab.

Storage and blending: Quality from the bottom to the top
During blending and long-term storage the content of an oil tank is an accumulation of different temperature and density layers. For a qualified statement on the composition of the product in the tank, samples from different positions in the tank are taken and measured with the intrinsically safe portable density meter (Ex marking II 2 G EX ib IIC T4) – to check for water contamination, stratification and status of blending. The new ASTM standard D7777-12 makes the DMA 35 Ex Petrol an officially accepted field test method.

Be sure: At decisive milestones within the process chain
Maximum reliability is demanded when investigating the refinery process in R&D facilities or performing decisive quality control routines in QC labs. Sophisticated lab analysis with DMA Generation M density meters cover samples taken during the whole process of converting crude oils to products like gasoline, diesel fuel or lubricating oils. These petroleum products are complex mixtures of various hydrocarbons, characterised by their physical properties such as density.

DMA Generation M from Anton Paar provides reliable information about density according to ASTM D 4052 and ASTM D 5002 as well as density converted to API (American Petroleum Institute) gravity. It measures at temperatures from 0 °C to 95 °C and gives quick results. When combined with a heated sample changer the system heats, fills and measures highly viscous samples fully automatically.

At the borders of liquid state of aggregation: Density from LPG to asphalt
Checking the quality of crude oil or blended bitumen and testing the density of asphalt and vacuum tower bottoms or even LPG? The equipment of choice is the DMA HP, a high temperature and high pressure density cell. The DMA HP measures the density of all these samples at elevated temperatures (up to 200 °C) and pressures up to 700 bar (14,000 psi).

Digital density meters from Anton Paar provide benefits over alternative measuring equipment: Easy handling regardless of the exact sample formulation combined with low sample volume.