ASTM D2879 - Vapor Pressure-Temperature Relationship and Initial Decomposition Temperature of Liquids by Isoteniscope

Significance and Use

5.1 The vapor pressure of a substance as determined by isoteniscope reflects a property of the sample as received including most volatile components, but excluding dissolved fixed gases such as air. Vapor pressure, per se, is a thermodynamic property which is dependent only upon composition and temperature for stable systems. The isoteniscope method is designed to minimize composition changes which may occur during the course of measurement.

Scope

1.1 This test method covers the determination of the vapor pressure of pure liquids, the vapor pressure exerted by mixtures in a closed vessel at 40 +/- 5 % ullage, and the initial thermal decomposition temperature of pure and mixed liquids. It is applicable to liquids that are compatible with borosilicate glass and that have a vapor pressure between 133 Pa (1.0 torr) and 101.3 kPa (760 torr) at the selected test temperatures. The test method is suitable for use over the range from ambient to 748 K. The temperature range may be extended to include temperatures below ambient provided a suitable constant-temperature bath for such temperatures is used.

NOTE 1—The isoteniscope is a constant-volume apparatus and results obtained with it on other than pure liquids differ from those obtained in a constant-pressure distillation.

1.2 Most petroleum products boil over a fairly wide temperature range, and this fact shall be recognized in discussion of their vapor pressures. Even an ideal mixture following Raoult’s law will show a progressive decrease in vapor pressure as the lighter component is removed, and this is vastly accentuated in complex mixtures such as lubricating oils containing traces of dewaxing solvents, etc. Such a mixture may well exert a pressure in a closed vessel of as much as 100 times that calculated from its average composition, and it is the closed vessel which is simulated by the isoteniscope. For measurement of the apparent vapor pressure in open systems, Test Method D2878, is recommended.

Extracted, with permission, from ASTM D2879-10 - Vapor Pressure-Temperature Relationship and Initial Decomposition Temperature of Liquids by Isoteniscope, copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428. A copy of the complete standard may be purchased from ASTM International, astm.org