Determination of Sulfur in Bioethanol Certified Reference Material

Abstract

A bioethanol certified reference material (CRM), NMIJ CRM 8301-a, has been issued by the National Metrology Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (NMIJ, AIST). The raw material for this CRM is fermented bioethanol made from rice. Certified values have been provided for the contents of water, methanol, sulfur and copper. This CRM can be used for calibration and validation of water, methanol, sulfur and copper analysis in bioethanol fuel and similar matrices. This paper describes the methods for the determination of the certified value of sulfur for CRM 8301-a. The certified value was determined by analysis of the sample candidate reference material subdivided in ampoules. The measurement of sulfur in the candidate reference material was performed using combustion ultraviolet fluorescence detection and combustion ion chromatography detection. The certified sulfur value is 2.43 mg kg ⁻¹ and the expanded uncertainty (k = 2) is 0.23 mg kg ⁻¹.