🌱 Size distribution of agricultural limes and other liming materials — method A (dry sieving) and method B (wet sieving), PN-EN 12948

Physicochemistry PN-EN 12948

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The scope from the PKN card of the 2010 edition, quoted in full: "This European Standard specifies two methods for the determination of the size distribution of liming materials. The dry sieving method (method A) is applicable to all liming materials except moist and paste-like products. Method A is not suitable if blinding, caking, agglomeration or electrostatic charging occurs after pre-drying. The wet sieving method (method B) is applicable to products which after pre-drying are prone to blinding, caking, agglomeration or electrostatic charging. Method B can be used for determining the primary size distribution of granulated products. Method B is not applicable to quicklime and liming materials containing water-soluble components" (our translation of the Polish card). The scope on the card of the 2004 edition describes the same two methods more briefly and has no sentences on granulated products or on quicklime. The cards do not give the set of sieves, the mass of the test portion, the sieving time or the way the fractions are dried.

STATUS (state of the cards on 29 September 2026). The card of PN-EN 12948:2010 (Polish version) has no "Wycofana" (withdrawn) header — the edition is CURRENT: Polish version published 26-08-2015, 14 pages, price group G, Chemical Sector, PKN technical committee KT 156 (Fertilizers), ICS 65.080, "Introduces: EN 12948:2010 [IDT]", "Supersedes: PN-EN 12948:2004 - Polish version". Card of PN-EN 12948:2004 (Polish version): "withdrawn and replaced by PN-EN 12948:2010 - English version", published 07-06-2004, "Withdrawal date: 15-12-2010", 12 pages, "Introduces: EN 12948:2002 [IDT]", "Supersedes: PN-EN 12948:2002 - English version", "Replaced by: PN-EN 12948:2010 - English version, PN-EN 12948:2010 - Polish version". The PKN search for "PN-EN 12948" (29 September 2026) shows four items: the 2010 edition in the Polish and English versions and the withdrawn 2004 and 2002 editions.

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 12948: 17 entries at 12 laboratories (AB 312, AB 820, AB 921, AB 930 and AB 1186 — separately for limes without and with magnesium). The 2010 edition — 11 laboratories, the 2004 edition — AB 312 (in one entry next to PN-C-87007-16:1993). Method A explicitly ("met. A", "metoda A", "Metoda A") — 9 laboratories, without the letter — AB 006, AB 333 and AB 339; nobody names method B. The "Laboratories" tab searches for records BEGINNING with "PN-EN 12948" and will show all 12 laboratories — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 29 September 2026: 12. Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 29 September 2026, issues from 7 March 2025 to 5 August 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 scope of AB 339 the footnote on suspension concerns other entries).

TEST ITEM, TECHNIQUE AND RANGES. Agricultural limes (including those containing magnesium) — AB 312, AB 759, AB 820, AB 921, AB 1186; agricultural limes and liming materials — AB 006, AB 180, AB 339, AB 779; liming materials — AB 333; calcium fertilizers — AB 284 and AB 930, calcium-magnesium fertilizers — AB 930 (at AB 930 together with liming materials). Name of the test: "uziarnienie" (size distribution) — most, "skład ziarnowy" (grain composition) — AB 006, "uziarnienie z podziałem na frakcje" (size distribution divided into fractions) — AB 339, "(analiza sitowa)" (sieve analysis) — AB 284 and AB 1186. Technique: "metoda wagowa" (gravimetric method) — most, "sitowa" (sieve) — AB 333, "sitowo-wagowa" (sieve-gravimetric) — AB 779 and AB 820, "wagowo-sitowa" (gravimetric-sieve) — AB 921. Ranges (share of a fraction in percent): most often (0.10 – 100) %; narrower at AB 284 (1.0 – 100), AB 339 (1.0 – 99.0), AB 759 (0.10 - 99.50), AB 779 (1.00 – 100), AB 820 (0.5 - 90.0), AB 921 (0.10 − 90.0) and AB 1186 (0.50 – 100.0).

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. No laboratory in the copy determines the size distribution of agricultural limes and liming materials under another document — except AB 312, which in one entry adds PN-C-87007-16:1993. The size distribution of mineral fertilizers is determined by the same laboratories under PN-EN 1235:1999+A1:2004 (test sieving of solid fertilizers): AB 006, AB 180, AB 312 and AB 333, and outside these twelve also AB 277 and AB 1616; in the same entry (mineral fertilizers and urea — particle size distribution) AB 006 additionally cites PN-EN 15924:2011 and PN-EN 15928:2010, and AB 180 cites CEN/TS 17760:2022.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — PKN sells it (14 pages). We do not give the set of sieves, the mass of the test portion, the sieving time, the way the fractions are dried and weighed, or the formula. We read a preview of ISO 20977:2018, which according to its own introduction was prepared on the basis of EN 12948:2002, i.e. the edition introduced by PN-EN 12948:2004 — but it is a separate document and we do not transfer its details to this standard.

Method principle

According to the PKN card, the size distribution of a liming material is determined by sieving: by method A dry (for all materials except moist and paste-like ones, provided that after pre-drying they do not blind the sieves, cake, agglomerate or become electrostatically charged) or by method B wet (for products with such tendencies and for the primary size distribution of granules; not for quicklime and materials with water-soluble components). Result — mass fractions of the size fractions. Details of the sieving are NOT GIVEN — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Agricultural limes (including those containing magnesium), calcium fertilizers and liming materials — in the scopes of 12 laboratories, by method A
• According to the card, method B — for products that blind the sieves after drying and for the primary size distribution of granules

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 12948:2010 (wersja polska; EN 12948:2010 IDT)

Title (PL)

Środki wapnujące — Oznaczanie uziarnienia za pomocą przesiewania na sucho i na mokro

Title (EN)

Liming materials — Determination of size distribution by dry and wet sieving

Step-by-step procedure

1. Choice of method

   Method A — when the product after pre-drying does not blind the sieves, cake, agglomerate or become electrostatically charged; otherwise method B (PKN card).

2. Sieving

   Dry or wet through a set of sieves; the mass of the test portion and the sieving time are NOT GIVEN.

3. Result

   Mass fractions of the size fractions in percent; the way the fractions are dried and weighed is NOT GIVEN.

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Dust of quicklime and hydrated lime irritates the skin and respiratory tract and can seriously damage the eyes — protect the respiratory tract, eyes and skin when sieving
• SUBSTANTIVE NOTE: method B is not suitable for quicklime — when asking for the test, state the type and form of the liming material

Frequently asked questions