Representative samples of petroleum and petroleum products are required for the determination of chemical and physical properties, which are used to establish standard volumes, prices, and compliance with commercial and regulatory specifications.

The following concepts must be considered when selecting a specific sampling procedure.

Objective of Manual Sampling:

The objective of manual sampling is to obtain a small portion (spot sample) of material from a selected area within a container that is representative of the material in the area or, in the case of running or all-level samples, a sample whose composition is representative of the total material in the container. A series of spot samples may be combined to create a representative sample.

Required Conditions for the Application of Manual Sampling:

Manual sampling may be applied under all conditions within the scope of this practice, provided that the proper sampling procedures are followed.

In many liquid manual sampling applications, the material to be sampled contains a heavy component (such as free water) which tends to separate from the main component. In these cases, manual sampling is appropriate under the following conditions.

(1) Sufficient time must have elapsed for the heavy component to adequately separate and settle.

(2) It must be possible to measure the level of the settled component in order to stay well above that level when drawing representative samples, unless all or part of the heavy component will be included in the portion of the tank contents to be identified.

(3) When one or more of these conditions cannot be met, sampling is recommended and is accomplished by means of an automatic sampling system (see Practice D4177 (API MPMS Chapter 8.2)).

1.1 This practice covers procedures for manually obtaining representative samples of petroleum products of a liquid, semi-liquid, or solid state whose vapor pressure at ambient conditions is below 101 kPa (14.7 psia). If sampling is for the precise determination of volatility, use Practice D5842 (API MPMS Chapter 8.4) in conjunction with this practice. For sample mixing and handling of samples, refer to Practice D5854 (API MPMS Chapter 8.3). The practice does not cover sampling of electrical insulating oils and hydraulic fluids.

Note 1—The procedures described in this practice may also be applicable in sampling most noncorrosive liquid industrial chemicals, provided that all safety precautions specific to these chemicals are strictly followed.

Note 2—The procedure for sampling liquefied petroleum gases is described in Practice D1265; the procedure for sampling fluid power hydraulic fluids is covered in ANSI B93.19 and B93.44; the procedure for sampling insulating oils is described in Practice D923; and the procedure for sampling natural gas is described in Test Method .

Note 3—The procedure for special fuel samples for trace metal analysis is described in an appendix to Specification D2880.