This method is for determining aromatic, olefinic and saturatedhydrocarbons by column chromatography in petroleum distillates thatboil below 315°C. It is designed for full boiling range materials,not narrow cuts, especially near the 315°C limit. Samples of higherboiling range can be analyzed using UOP Method 501. Depentanizationof the sample by UOP 79 is recommended (see Note 1) if it containsmore than 2 liq-uid volume percent (LV-%) C4 or 15 LV-% C5hydrocarbons. The lower detection limit for a hydrocarbon type is0.4 LV-%. The presence or absence of olefins below 0.4 LV-% can beconfirmed by UOP Method 304. The indicated aromatic hydrocarbonscan include some diolefins, aromatic olefins, compounds con-tainingsulfur and nitrogen, or higher boiling oxygenated compounds.Oxygenated gasoline blending com-ponents such as methanol, ethanolor methyl-tert-butyl ether do not interfere with the determinationof hy-drocarbon types. The oxygenated components are not detected,since they elute with the alcohol desorbent. Interference fromother oxygenated compounds shall be individually verified. Whensamples containing oxygenated blending components are analyzed, thehydrocarbon type results can be reported on an oxygen-ate-freebasis. Otherwise, the oxygenated blending components can bedetermined by either ASTM Method D 4815 or D 5599, and the resultscorrected to a total sample basis. Samples that containdark-colored com-ponents that interfere in reading thechromatographic bands cannot be analyzed. Alternative methods forspecific hydrocarbon type analysis include: 1) ASTM Method D 6379,an HPLC method for determination of aromatic hydrocarbon types inaviation kerosene and petroleum distillates boiling in the rangefrom 50 to 300°C; 2) ASTM Method D 5186, an SFC method fordetermination of the aromatic content and polynu-clear aromaticcontent of diesel fuels and aviation turbine fuels; and 3) ASTMMethod D 6550, an SFC method for determination of the olefincontent of gasoline.