🔥 Gross calorific value of liquid fuels in a bomb calorimeter and net calorific value calculated from empirical formulae — fuel oils, heavy fuel oil (mazut), diesel fuels, aviation fuels, PN-C-04062

Petrochemistry PN-C-04062

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The scope from the PKN catalogue card, quoted in full: "This standard specifies a method for determining the heat of combustion of liquid fuels in a bomb calorimeter and for calculating their net calorific value. The method is used for determining the heat of combustion and calculating the net calorific value of motor gasoline and aviation gasoline, aviation turbine fuels, diesel fuels, gas turbine fuels, fuel oils and liquid fuel components" (our translation of the Polish card). The title adds that the net calorific value is calculated "using empirical formulae". The card does not say which formulae these are or what data they need, how the calorimeter is calibrated, or with what precision.

STATUS (state of the card on 29 September 2026). The card of PN-C-04062:2018-05 (Polish version) has no "Wycofana" (withdrawn) header — the standard is CURRENT. Published 18-05-2018, 32 pages, price group P, Chemical Sector, PKN technical committee KT 222/PK 1 (Liquid Fuels), ICS 75.160.20, "Supersedes: PN-C-04062:1986 - Polish version"; a national standard, without an "Introduces" field. The PKN search for "PN-C-04062" (29 September 2026) shows four editions: 2018-05 and the withdrawn 1986, 1971 and 1954 editions, each replaced by the next; the title of the 1986 edition did not yet have the ending about empirical formulae.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database, data up to 17 September 2026, read on 28 September 2026). All records of number 04062: 22 entries at 14 laboratories — each has the heat of combustion and each gives the net calorific value "(calculated)", seven as a separate entry (AB 009, AB 054, AB 103, AB 387, AB 735, AB 939, AB 1091). Forms: "PN-C-04062:2018-05" — 11 laboratories, without the year — AB 009 and AB 387, "PN-C 04062:2018-05" (a space instead of the hyphen) — AB 1091. The "Laboratories" tab searches for records BEGINNING with "PN-C-04062" and will show 13 laboratories — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 29 September 2026: 13; AB 1091 is visible only under "PN-C 04062" (1). Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 29 September 2026, issues from 20 November 2025 to 30 July 2026): all entries stand in the valid issues, every pair of range limits from the copy appears in the current document and no entry is suspended (in the scopes of AB 009, AB 054, AB 103 and AB 484 the footnotes on suspension concern other entries; AB 054 was checked on the page image, because the file does not carry the typeface).

TEST ITEM, TECHNIQUE AND RANGES. Heavy fuel oil (mazut) — AB 009, AB 054, AB 079, AB 484, AB 735, AB 786, AB 939, AB 1091; light fuel oil — AB 009, AB 079, AB 484, AB 688, AB 713, AB 1120; "fuel oils" without distinction — AB 103; diesel fuel — AB 054, AB 079, AB 103 (also with FAME), AB 474; fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) — AB 009; marine fuel, kerosene and aviation turbine fuel — AB 474; vacuum residue (tar) — AB 484; "liquid fuels" without further detail — AB 387. In the scope of AB 474 the heat of combustion stands in a group of rows whose test item covers, besides fuels, lubricants (base oils, engine oils, industrial oils, used oils) and other petroleum products (paraffins, slack wax, distillates) — the card of the standard lists only liquid fuels and their components. Technique: "calorimetric method" (AB 103 records "heat effect"). Ranges: the widest (20000 – 50000) kJ/kg (AB 103), then (26 500 – 46 300) kJ/kg (AB 484, with tar), (30000 – 45000) kJ/kg (AB 079), (30.00 – 50.00) MJ/kg (AB 474), (35 000 - 46 000) J/g (AB 054), and the narrowest (45300 – 46200) kJ/kg (AB 1120, light fuel oil); AB 387 gives no range.

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. The heat of combustion of liquid fuels with a calorimeter under in-house procedures: AB 041 (PB-02/SG-1 issue 4 of 10 October 2013 — coal, fuel oil, diesel fuel, (15000 – 48000) J/g) and AB 550 (IB_SL_15_05 of 11 May 2021 — bioliquids, fuel oil, mazut, tar, waste 07 01 99, (6000 – 48000) kJ/kg). The net calorific value of aviation fuels without a calorimeter, only "calculated", is given under ASTM D3338/D3338M by AB 098, AB 297 (aviation gasoline) and AB 484 (aviation turbine fuel — next to this standard for fuel oils), and under ASTM D4529 by AB 297. The heat of combustion of solid fuels and solid biofuels is determined under other standards, described separately in the Knowledge Base (PN-ISO 1928, PN-EN ISO 18125); PN-EN ISO 18125 is also cited by five of these 14 laboratories (AB 079, AB 688, AB 713, AB 1091, AB 1120).

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — PKN sells it (32 pages). We do not give the sample mass, the way volatile and heavy fuels are burned in the bomb, the oxygen pressure, the calibration of the calorimeter, the corrections, the empirical formulae for the net calorific value, or repeatability and reproducibility.

Method principle

According to the PKN card, the heat of combustion of a liquid fuel is determined by burning a sample in a bomb calorimeter, and the net calorific value is calculated from the heat of combustion using empirical formulae. We do NOT GIVE the combustion conditions, calibration or formulae — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Heavy fuel oils (mazut) and light fuel oils, diesel fuels, FAME, marine fuel, kerosene and aviation fuels — in the scopes of 14 laboratories
• Net calorific value "calculated" — given by all 14 laboratories next to the heat of combustion
• According to the card also motor and aviation gasoline, gas turbine fuels and liquid fuel components

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-C-04062:2018-05 (wersja polska)

Title (PL)

Przetwory naftowe — Oznaczanie ciepła spalania paliw ciekłych w bombie kalorymetrycznej i obliczanie wartości opałowej z zastosowaniem wzorów empirycznych

Title (EN)

Petroleum products — Determination of the heat of combustion of liquid fuels in a bomb calorimeter and calculation of the net calorific value using empirical formulae

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status of the document

   PKN card: PN-C-04062:2018-05 current, superseded the 1986 edition (state of the card on 29 September 2026).

2. Burning the sample

   The liquid fuel sample is burned in a bomb calorimeter; the sample mass, how it is placed and the oxygen pressure are NOT GIVEN.

3. Heat of combustion

   Heat of combustion from the calorimetric measurement; calibration and corrections NOT GIVEN.

4. Net calorific value

   Calculation from the heat of combustion using empirical formulae (title and scope from the card); the formulae themselves are NOT GIVEN.

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• The combustion bomb works under high oxygen pressure — the tightness and condition of the bomb are checked before each combustion; light fuels (gasolines) are flammable and volatile
• SUBSTANTIVE NOTE: the net calorific value under this standard is the result of a calculation, not a separate measurement — laboratories list it in their scopes as "calculated"

Frequently asked questions