The quality of petroleum products of all kinds is often related to the properties of the hydrocarbons of which they are composed. Hence, analysis for hydrocarbon types is frequently useful in performance studies. Furthermore, to utilize available crudes to best advantage the refiner needs methods of analysis for determining the general types of hydrocarbons in his refinery streams. A number of Standards are available for determining hydrocarbon types and are discussed under the following headings:

1. Hydrogen by Lamp Combustion

2. Unsaturated Light Hydrocarbons by Silver Mercuric Nitrate

3. Bromine Number

4. Hydrocarbon Types by Acid Treat and Bromine Number

5. Hydrocarbon Types by Adsorption

6. Aromatics in Olefin-Free Gasoline by Adsorption

7. Benzene and Toluene by Ultraviolet Spectrophotometry

8. Purity by Freezing Point

9. Refractive Index and Refractive Dispersion

10. Composition of Reference Fuel Blends by Infrared Spectrophotometry