Formerly under the jurisdiction of Committee D02 on Petroleum Products, Liquid Fuels, and Lubricants, this test method was withdrawn in October 2017 because the method is no longer being maintained and updated by a subcommittee.
The following language was added editorially to the withdrawn statement in May 2018:
This standard is withdrawn with no replacement. D1837 still references the use of mercury thermometers. Replacement of the armored mercury thermometer currently specified in D1837 is not a simple replacement by a non-mercury liquid-in-glass thermometer or a digital contact thermometer. Some initial test work showed serious discrepancies in temperature measurements, thus a significant work program would have to be carried out to validate a replacement, non-mercury thermometer. D1837 was originally published in 1961 as a rudimentary means of limiting heavier components in LPG products. Gas chromatography was in the early stages of development at that time, and was not available for routine commercial use. Current gas chromatographic methods are far more accurate and precise in identifying and measuring heavy components in LPG products, and are the preferred analytical method to accurately determine the composition or presence of heavy components in LPG. There is no research report or other documentation showing that the current limits in D1837 correlate with the quantified compositional limits specified in D1835, the specification for LPGs. Therefore Test Method D1837 has been withdrawn. A withdrawn ASTM test method is still available for use, and the last published issue (D1837-17) will continue to be available from ASTM International as an historical document after it is withdrawn. The significance of withdrawing a standard is to identify that the method is no longer being maintained and updated by a subcommittee.
4.1 Volatility, expressed in terms of the 95 % evaporated temperature of the product, is a measure of the amount of least volatile components present in the product. Coupled with a vapor pressure limit, it serves to ensure essentially single-component products in the cases of commercial grades of propane and butane. When volatility is coupled with a vapor pressure limit which has been related to density, as in the case of the commercial PB-mixture, the combination serves to assure essentially two component mixtures for such fuels. When coupled with a proper vapor pressure limit, this measurement serves to assure that special-duty propane products will be composed chiefly of propane and propylene and that propane will be the major constituent.
1.1 This test method is a measure of the relative purity of the various types of liquefied petroleum (LP) gases and helps to ensure suitable volatility performance. The test results, when properly related to vapor pressure and density of the product, can be used to indicate the presence of butane and heavier components in propane-type LP-gas, and pentane and heavier components in propane-butane and butane-type fuels. The presence of hydrocarbon compounds less volatile than those of which the LP-gas is primarily composed is indicated by an increase in the 95 % evaporated temperature.
1.2 When the type and concentration of higher boiling components is required, chromatographic analysis should be used.
1.3 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.
1.3.1 Exception—The non-SI values are provided for information only.
1.4 WARNING—Mercury has been designated by many regulatory agencies as a hazardous material that can cause central nervous system, kidney and liver damage. Mercury, or its vapor, may be hazardous to health and corrosive to materials. Caution should be taken when handling mercury and mercury containing products. See the applicable product Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for details and EPA’s website—http://www.epa.gov/mercury/faq.htm—for additional information. Users should be aware that selling mercury and/or mercury containing products into your state or country may be prohibited by law.
1.4.1 Note that thallium in a mercury-thallium thermometer is also a hazardous material.
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.