ASTM Limits

The American Society of Testing and Materials is responsible for setting the standards by which commercial fuel quality is measured.  Refineries are required to incorporate these limits into their production specifications and resellers are inspected by state and federal agencies to make sure that these specifications are maintained. 

 

The following table documents the limits for the five categories of diesel fuel defined by ASTM.

 

​ASTM  D975 Requirements for Diesel Fuel ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
Property​	Test Method​	Low Sulfur  # 1-D​	# 1-D​	Low Sulfur # 2-D​	# 2-D​	# 4-D​
Flash, ° F, min​	D 93​	​100	​100	​126	​126	​131
Water and sediment, % volume, max​	D 2709 D 1796​	​0.05	​0.05	​0.05	​0.05	​0.05
Distillation temp °F @ 90% recovered min max​	D 86​	​550	​550	​540 640	​540 640	​NR
Viscosity, 104° F, cSt min max​	D 445​	​1.3 2.4	1.3 ​2.4	​1.9 4.1	​1.9 4.1	​5.5 24.0
Ash, %  max​	D 482​	​0.01	​0.01	​0.01	​0.01	​0.1
Sulfur, % max​	D 2622​	​0.05	​0.5	​0.05	​0.5	​2.0
Copper Strip Corrosion,  3 hr at 122° F max​	D 130​	​No. 3	​No. 3	​No. 3	​No. 3	​NR
Cetane #, min​	D613​	​40	​40	​40	​40	​30
Cetane #, min or Aromaticity, % vol, max​	D 976 D1319​	​40 35	​NR	​40 35	​NR	​NR
Ramsbottom 10% dist. carbon residue ​	D 524​	​0.15	​0.15	​0.35	​0.35	​NR

 

NR = Not Required