SubscribeFollowing many years of development the ACM20 will shortly be specified as an alternative test method to establish the levels of contamination within jet fuel.
It is hoped that in the future this method will be used to replace the existing subjective test methods, Clear & Bright and Gravimetric. The Energy Institute have now published the draft test method IP PM DK 07B that will be referenced when DefStan 91-91 is issued, which we expect to see in late September / early October 2007.
When will it be mandatory to use a particle counter?
The inclusion of particle counting will be mandatory in the Jet Fuel specification DefStan 91-91/Issue 6 following a 12 month implementation period which commences upon its formal release into the public domain. After this time, refineries manufacturing fuel to the DefStan 91-91 / Issue 6 specification must use one of the particle counters specified, of which the ACM20 is one, to report cleanliness levels of sampled fuels for all 6 channels (>4μ(c), >6μ(c), >14μ(c), >21μ(c), >25μ(c) & >30μ(c)) using the ISO 4406:99 format.
At this stage a limit for the amount of contamination when measured using particle counters has not been set
or agreed upon. It is therefore the view of the Specification Authority that those labs using the equipment will only REPORT the results so to allow DefStan 91-91 to fully assess particle counting as an alternative method to those currently used and then set a meaningful pass/fail limit.
What kit is available from Parker?
The DefStan specification will call for equipment as per EI test method IP.PM.DK07B. It will not specify the
equipment by its name or manufacturer. It is the responsibility of the end user to contact the EI and request supplier details.
The Parker part number for the Laboratory kit of parts as per the test method IP.PM.DK is ACM20.2024.UK/US/EUR. When purchasing the user must specify either UK/US/EUR as this relates to the type of power supply lead included in the box. These 2 methods are only applicable at this time to refinery labs and independent lab companies who test fuel manufactured to DefStan 91-91. ASTM-D-1655 does not at this time call for particle counting, but we believe it may do so in the future.
