A spectroscopic method of determining color of petroleum products using CIELab color space with LED illumination

摘要

Color is an important metric for determining the quality of petroleum products, as it is a characteristic readily observed by operators and end users and can also be indicative of the degree of refinement of a petroleum product. There are two primary color standards covering a wide range of petroleum color in industry; ASTM D 156 (Saybolt Color Scale) and ASTM D 1500 (ASTM Color Scale). For highly refined petroleum products the industry uses the Saybolt color scale, ranging from 30 at the clearest to -16 at the darkest. Fuels that are darker in color than -16 on the Saybolt scale are tested using the ASTM Color scale, which ranges from 0.5 at the clearest to 8 at the darkest. As fuels age (increased time from the point of refinement), their color darkens because of oxidizing olefins, such as ethylene and propylene. Traditionally, this color scale is measured using a series of photodiodes and optical filters with a blackbody light source. The spectroscopic method described in this paper incorporates a white LED designed for maximizing color measurements. The spectra are processed using CIE 1931 color space, which is then converted into CIELab color space. Results using this method are accurate and repeatable.