The single most expensive mistake in this trade is agreeing a number without agreeing the method. Chlorine measured by combustion ion chromatography and chlorine measured by a field kit are not the same measurement, and a cargo can pass one and fail the other without anything changing in the tank. Name the method, name the laboratory, and agree in advance who pays for the umpire analysis. Everything below is orientation on which method is normally named for which parameter; the contract governs.
The product standards people actually reference
| EN 14214 | Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) for use in diesel engines, at 100 percent or as a blend component with EN 590. The reference standard for biodiesel quality in Europe. |
|---|---|
| EN 15940 | Paraffinic diesel from synthesis or hydrotreatment, which is the standard HVO is sold against. Permits up to 7.0 percent by volume FAME. Do not confuse HVO under this standard with FAME under EN 14214: they are chemically different products. |
| ASTM D7566 | Aviation turbine fuel containing synthesised hydrocarbons, the SAF specification. Structured as annexes per production pathway, including Fischer Tropsch SPK, HEFA SPK, synthesised iso paraffins, SPK with aromatics, alcohol to jet and catalytic hydrothermolysis. Blend limits are set per pathway and reach 50 percent for several of them. |
| ASTM D1655 | Conventional aviation turbine fuel. A SAF blend that has been correctly produced and certified under D7566 is redesignated as meeting D1655 once blended, which is why you will see both quoted on the same parcel. |
| ASTM D7544 | Pyrolysis liquid biofuel from BIOMASS, for industrial burners. Covers gross heat of combustion, water, pyrolysis solids, kinematic viscosity, density, sulphur, ash, pH, flash point and pour point. Note carefully: this is a biomass bio oil standard and it does NOT describe plastic or tyre derived pyrolysis oil, though it is frequently misquoted for both. |
| ASTM D8577 | Standard Guide for Waste Plastic Process Oil Analyses, approved in 2025. The first dedicated framework for characterising plastic derived pyrolysis oil, covering composition, physical properties and contaminants. If you are producing PPO, this is the document your laboratory should be working from. |
That last pair is worth dwelling on. Until recently there was no standard written for plastic derived oil, so the market improvised with crude oil and biomass methods that were never designed for it. ASTM D8577 closes that gap, and quoting it marks you out as a producer who has done the work. See plastic pyrolysis oil.
Parameter by parameter, and why each one costs money
| Chlorine, organic | ASTM D4929 for organic chloride in crude oil, by sodium biphenyl reduction, microcoulometry or XRF. ASTM D7359 determines total fluorine, chlorine and sulphur by combustion ion chromatography. Field kits such as ASTM D5384 exist and are useful for screening, not for settlement. This is the number that decides whether pyrolysis oil reaches a cracker at all. |
|---|---|
| Sulphur | UV fluorescence for low levels, X-ray fluorescence for higher ranges. The method has to suit the expected concentration: a method chosen for the wrong range produces a confident wrong answer. |
| Water | Karl Fischer titration, which measures water specifically. Distillation methods measure water plus anything else that comes over, so the two disagree on wet or volatile material and the difference is not noise. |
| Acid value / FFA | Titration. For fats and oils the acid value routes are well established; for FAME the ester specific method applies. Free fatty acid content and acid value express the same underlying property in different units, which is a routine source of confusion in offers. |
| Density | Hydrometer or oscillating U tube, at a stated reference temperature. The temperature is part of the number: quoting density without it is quoting nothing. |
| Kinematic viscosity | Capillary viscometer at a stated temperature, normally 40 degrees Celsius for fuels. Decides pumpability and whether a receiving terminal can handle the parcel at ambient. |
| Flash point | Closed cup, normally Pensky Martens. Drives transport classification and storage requirements, so a wrong flash point is a safety problem before it is a commercial one. |
| Ash and carbon residue | Ash by ignition; carbon residue by micro method or Conradson. Both indicate what will be left behind in a burner or a reactor. |
| Metals and silicon | ICP-OES. Silicon is the parameter most often missing from a pyrolysis oil COA and one of the most likely to end a conversation with a refiner, because it poisons catalyst. |
| Pour point, cloud point, CFPP | Three different cold flow properties measured three different ways, and they are not interchangeable. See additives and blending for what actually moves each one. |
| Oxidation stability | Accelerated ageing, commonly the Rancimat approach for FAME. Predicts how a parcel behaves after weeks in a tank rather than on the day it was made. |
What makes a COA usable, and what makes it worthless
- A date, and a parcel it belongs to. An analysis with no batch reference is a marketing document. If it predates the material it claims to describe, somebody is hoping you will not check.
- The method next to every value. A number without a method cannot be reproduced and therefore cannot be defended.
- A laboratory the counterparty will accept. Agree this before loading, not after a dispute. Recognised inspection companies exist precisely so that neither side has to trust the other's laboratory.
- The parameters that matter for the destination, not just the easy ones. For pyrolysis oil that means chlorine and silicon, which is exactly where thin COAs go quiet.
- Consistency across batches. One good analysis proves one good drum. Buyers building a process around your material want two or three that look alike, which is a different and harder claim.
When load and discharge disagree
It happens on perfectly honest cargoes. Material settles, water separates, a sample is drawn from a different level, or the two laboratories ran different methods. The question is never who is lying, it is whose number the contract makes binding.
Retained sealed samples from load, taken jointly and held by both sides, are the only thing that reliably settles this. Agree the umpire laboratory in the contract while everyone is still friendly, because agreeing one afterwards is close to impossible. The practical route through a dispute is set out on cargo claims, and if the parcel is already off specification, off-spec and distressed cargoes covers where it can still go.
Frequently asked questions
How is chlorine measured in pyrolysis oil?
Several ways, and they do not agree. ASTM D4929 covers organic chloride determination by sodium biphenyl reduction, microcoulometry or X-ray fluorescence. ASTM D7359 determines total fluorine, chlorine and sulphur together by combustion ion chromatography. Field kits exist for screening. Because the results differ, the method has to be named in the contract, and total chlorine and organic chloride are different quantities: agreeing one number while each side means a different measurement is how disputes start.
Is there an ASTM standard for plastic pyrolysis oil?
Yes, and it is recent. ASTM D8577, Standard Guide for Waste Plastic Process Oil Analyses, was approved in 2025 and is the first dedicated framework for characterising plastic derived oil, covering composition, physical properties and contaminants. Before it, the market borrowed crude oil and biomass methods that were never written for this material. Do not use ASTM D7544 for plastic oil: that is a biomass pyrolysis liquid specification for industrial burners.
What standard does HVO have to meet?
EN 15940, the European standard for paraffinic diesel from synthesis or hydrotreatment, which also covers XTL fuels. It permits up to 7.0 percent by volume FAME. HVO is not FAME and is not covered by EN 14214, and quoting the wrong standard in an offer signals inexperience faster than almost anything else.
Which ASTM standard covers SAF?
ASTM D7566, for aviation turbine fuel containing synthesised hydrocarbons. It is organised as annexes by production pathway, including Fischer Tropsch SPK, HEFA SPK, synthesised iso paraffins, SPK with aromatics, alcohol to jet and catalytic hydrothermolysis, each with its own blend limit, reaching 50 percent for several. Once correctly blended, the resulting fuel is treated as meeting ASTM D1655, the conventional jet specification, which is why both numbers appear on one parcel.
Why do two laboratories give different results on the same cargo?
Usually because they ran different methods, sampled from different points, or tested at different times while the material settled. None of that requires anyone to be dishonest. It is why sealed samples retained by both sides at load, an agreed test method, and a named umpire laboratory belong in the contract rather than in the argument afterwards.
What does a good certificate of analysis look like?
It names the parcel and the date, lists the method beside every value, comes from a laboratory the buyer will accept, and covers the parameters that matter for the destination rather than only the flattering ones. For pyrolysis oil that means chlorine and silicon are present rather than absent. A COA without methods is a number you cannot defend.
Do you carry out the testing yourselves?
No, and no broker should. Analysis has to come from an accredited laboratory that both sides accept, otherwise it settles nothing. What we do is arrange inspection and sampling through recognised inspection companies, make sure the right parameters are on the list before anyone loads, and tell you when a COA in front of you is not going to survive contact with a buyer.
Sources and further reading
Primary sources for the rules and figures on this page, so you can check them yourself. Legislation is amended: always read the consolidated text on the date that matters to you.
Who to ask about Test methods
Ask us. Send us a COA and we will tell you what it does not say. That is usually the part that matters. We answer the same working day, in English or Dutch, and across the team also in French, Portuguese, Polish, Czech and Russian. There is no charge and no obligation for a market read or a second opinion on a specification.
You get Bart van den Brug directly, not a call centre and not a form that goes nowhere. We are an independent broker: we never take title, we do not trade our own book, and we are paid a commission only on business that actually concludes. That is why we will also tell you when the answer is no.
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Sustainable Commodities 3 B.V., Lemmer, the Netherlands
Last reviewed 09 August 2026. Regulatory references are given for orientation and are not legal advice: verify against the current Official Journal text before contracting.