ISO 3987:2010
Petroleum products - Determination of sulfated ash in lubricating oils and additives

Standard No.

ISO 3987:2010

Release Date

2010

Published By

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Status

Withdraw

Replace By

ISO 3987:2010/Cor 1:2010

Latest

ISO 3987:2010/cor 1:2011

Scope

WARNING — The use of this International Standard may involve hazardous materials, operations and equipment. This International Standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this International Standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. This International Standard describes a procedure for the determination of the mass percentage of sulfated ash from unused lubricating oils containing additives and from additive concentrates used in compounding. These additives usually contain one or more of the following metals: barium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, sodium and tin. The elements sulfur, phosphorus and chlorine can also be present in combined form. Application of this procedure to sulfated ash levels below 0,02 % (m/m) is restricted to oils containing ashless additives. The lower limit of applicability of the procedure is 0,005 % (m/m) sulfated ash. NOTE 1 For the purposes of this International Standard, the terms % (m/m) and % (V/V) are used to represent the mass fraction and volume fraction of a material, respectively. This International Standard is not intended for the analysis of used engine oils containing lead, nor is it recommended for the analysis of non-additive lubricating oils, for which ISO 6245 is suitable. NOTE 2 There is evidence that magnesium does not react in the same manner as alkali metals in this procedure. If magnesium additives are present, it is advisable to interpret the data with caution. NOTE 3 There is evidence that samples containing molybdenum can give low results, since molybdenum compounds are not fully recovered at the temperature of ashing. The sulfated ash may be used to indicate the concentration of known metal-containing additives in new lubricating oils. When phosphorus is absent, barium, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium are converted to their sulfates, and tin (IV) and zinc to their oxides. NOTE 4 Since zinc sulfate slowly decomposes to its oxide at the ignition temperature specified in the procedure, samples containing zinc may give variable results unless the zinc sulfate is completely converted to the oxide. Sulfur and chlorine do not interfere, but when phosphorus is present with metals, it remains partially or wholly in the sulfated ash as metal phosphates. NOTE 5 Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) conforming to EN 14213 and EN 14214, when tested using this International Standard, were shown to meet its precision.

ISO 3987:2010 Referenced Document

• ISO 3170 Petroleum liquids - Manual sampling
• ISO 3171 Petroleum liquids; automatic pipeline sampling
• ISO 3696:1987 Water for analytical laboratory use; Specification and test methods

ISO 3987:2010 history

• 2011 ISO 3987:2010/cor 1:2011 Petroleum products - Determination of sulfated ash in lubricating oils and additives; Technical Corrigendum 1
• 2011 ISO 3987:2010/Cor 1:2010 Petroleum products — Determination of sulfated ash in lubricating oils and additives — Technical Corrigendum 1
• 2010 ISO 3987:2010 Petroleum products - Determination of sulfated ash in lubricating oils and additives
• 1994 ISO 3987:1994 Petroleum products - Lubricating oils and additives - Determination of sulfated ash
• 1980 ISO 3987:1980 Petroleum products — Lubricating oils and additives — Determination of sulphated ash