Fuel biocomponents: new Polish regulation on quality requirements and test methods — tighter chloride and sulphate limits for bioethanol
A regulation of Poland’s Minister of Climate and Environment of 18 May 2026 (Journal of Laws 2026 item 710), in force since 16 June 2026, sets the quality requirements, test methods and sampling procedure for bioethanol, fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and liquid biohydrocarbons. It replaced the 2021 regulation; the maximum inorganic chloride content of bioethanol falls from 6.0 to 1.5 mg/kg and sulphate from 4.0 to 3.0 mg/kg.
- The new rules do not cover biocomponents produced by co-hydrogenation, gaseous biocomponents or biocomponents for aviation and marine fuels; the 2021 regulation had a separate annex with requirements for bio-propane-butane.
- Inorganic chloride in bioethanol is now determined only by ion chromatography (the standard implementing EN 15492) — potentiometric titration to PN-EN 15484 has been dropped. Methods are described by their measuring principle with a reference to “the current state of knowledge, described in particular in the Polish Standard implementing EN…”, instead of the former “specified by standard PN-EN…”.
- For biohydrocarbons for compression-ignition engines the requirements are cut to seven properties (including density, sulphur, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, flash point and total contamination up to 24 mg/kg); acid and bromine numbers, halogens and phosphorus, silicon, sodium, potassium, zinc and copper, among others, are gone. For FAME the limits are unchanged — e.g. ester content ≥ 96.5 % (m/m), water ≤ 0.050 % (m/m), group I and group II metals ≤ 5.0 mg/kg each.
- Results are interpreted using the criteria of the standard implementing EN ISO 4259-2. The sampling annex provides, among other things, for containers of up to 5 dm³ (0.5 l or 1 l for FAME samples for contamination testing, filled to 80–85 %), at least 5 % free space and a leak check by turning the container upside down for 30 seconds.