Schedule 2
(Section 16)
DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING AND USING APPARATUS FOR TESTING PETROLEUM
The apparatus used for testing Petroleum shall be the Abel Petroleum Testing Apparatus.
Directions for Drawing the Sample and Preparing it for Testing
1. Drawing The Sample
In all cases the testing officer or some person duly authorised by him or her shall personally superintend the drawing of the sample from an original unopened tin or other vessel.
An opening sufficiently large to admit of the oil being rapidly poured or siphoned from the tin or other vessel shall be made.
Two bottles each of the capacity of about 40 fluid ounces are to be filled with oil. One of these, the contents of which is intended to be preserved for reference in case of need, is to be carefully corked, the cork being well driven home, cut off level with the neck, and melted sealing-wax worked into it. The other bottle may be either stoppered or corked.
2. Preparing The Sample For Testing
About 10 fluid ounces of the oil, sufficient for 3 tests, are transferred from the bottle into which the sample has been drawn to a pint flask or bottle which is to be immersed in water artificially cooled until a thermometer, introduced into the oil, indicates a temperature not exceeding 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Manner of Testing Petroleum
3. Construction Of Apparatus
The Abel apparatus shall be constructed in accordance with the specification contained in Part I of Schedule 2 to the British Petroleum (Consolidation) Act, 1928 of the United Kingdom and verified and stamped by the Board of Trade in London.
4. Placing of Apparatus
The test apparatus shall be placed for use in a position where it is not exposed to currents of air or draughts.
5. Preparing The Heating Vessel Or Water-Bath
The heating vessel or water-bath shall be filled by pouring water into the funnel until it begins to flow out at the spout of the vessel. The temperature of the water at the beginning of the test shall be 130 degrees Fahrenheit and no heat shall be applied to the water-bath during the test. When a test has been completed and it is desired to make another test the water-bath shall be again raised to 130 degrees Fahrenheit which may conveniently be done while the petroleum cup is being emptied, cooled and refilled with a fresh sample to be tested. The next test is then proceeded with.
6. Preparing The Test-Lamp
If an oil test-lamp is being used it shall be prepared by fitting it with a piece of flat plaited candle-wick, and filling it with colza or rape-oil up to the lower edge of the opening of the spout or wick tube. The lamp shall be trimmed so that when lighted it gives a flame of about 0.15 of an inch diameter, and this size of flame, which is represented by the projecting white bead on the cover of the oil-cup, is readily maintained by simple manipulation from time to time with a small wire trimmer. A gas test-lamp may be employed, and if so, the size of the jet of flame shall be adjusted to the size laid down above.
7. Filling The Oil-Cup
Before the test is begun the temperature of the oil shall be determined and the temperature of the oil-cup shall be brought to approximately 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The oil-cup may be cooled by placing it bottom downwards in water at a temperature not exceeding 50 degrees Fahrenheit, care being taken to prevent any water entering the interior of the cup. The bath having been raised to the proper temperature, the cup shall be placed on a level surface in a good light, and the oil to be tested shall be poured into it, until the level of the liquid just reaches the point of the gauge which is fixed in the cup. The cover, with the slide closed, shall then be put on to the cup and pressed down so that its edge rests on the rim of the cup, and the cup shall be placed into the bath or heating vessel, every care being taken to avoid wetting the sides of the cup with the oil. The thermometer in the lid of the cup has been adjusted so as to have the correct immersion when the brass collar of the thermometer is properly seated, and its position shall not in any circumstances be altered. When the cup has been placed in the proper position, the scale of the thermometer faces the operator.
8. Application Of The Test
The test-lamp shall then be placed in position upon the lid of the cup. When the temperature reaches 66 degrees Fahrenheit the operation of testing shall be begun, the test flame being applied once for every rise of one degree, in the following manner—
The slide shall be slowly drawn open while a metronome, set so as to beat at the rate of 75 to 80 beats in the minute, beats 3 times and shall be closed during the fourth beat. A pendulum of 24 inches effective length may be used in place of the metronome, counting one beat from one extremity of the swing to the other.
9. Taking of Flash Point
The flash point shall be taken as the temperature read on the oil cup thermometer at the time of the flame application which causes a distinct flash in the interior of the oil cup. If a temperature of 73 degrees Fahrenheit has been reached without a flash occurring the testing officer shall certify that the petroleum has a flash point above 73 degrees Fahrenheit and is not “volatile petroleum” within the meaning of the Petroleum Act.