ISO 20846:2026

Petroleum and related products — Determination of sulfur content of automotive fuels — Ultraviolet fluorescence method ISO 20846:2026

Publication date:   Jul 10, 2026

Scope

This document specifies an ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence test method for the determination of the sulfur content of the following products:

having sulfur contents in the range 3 mg/kg to 500 mg/kg:
motor gasolines containing up to a mass fraction of 3,7 % (3,7 % (m/m)) of oxygen [including those blended with a volume fraction of ethanol up to about 10 % (10 % (V/V))];
diesel fuels, including those containing up to a volume fraction of about 50 % of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME);
having sulfur contents in the range of 3 mg/kg to 45 mg/kg:
synthetic fuels, such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and gas to liquid (GTL);
having sulfur contents in the range of 3 mg/kg to 30 mg/kg:
neat FAME (B100) and diesel fuels containing volume fraction of more than 50 % of FAME.

Other products (for example process feeds and effluents) can be analysed and other sulfur contents can be determined according to this test method, however, no precision data for products other than automotive fuels and for results outside the specified range have been established for this document. Halogens interfere with this detection technique at concentrations above approximately 3 500 mg/kg.