The Phillips Small Sample Research Octane Number Method

The Phillips Small Sample Octane Number Method (Research) was derived from the ASTM method by replacing the ASTM fuel metering system with a low dead volume induction system injection pump and by replacing the analog signal processing equipment. The pump, signal processing, and fuel sampling are under computer control. Important features include direct comparison of each test fuel with primary reference fuels, signal averaging to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, and frequency domain filtering. With a microprocessor-based system nine to ten routine determinations can be done each hour using less than 15 ml of test fuel. A more powerful computer should permit the rating of 25 to 30 test fuels each hour.

Except for the time and fuel requirements the results from this method are comparable to those obtained with the ASTM method.