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Vol. 38 No. 10 (2026): Vol 38, Issue 10, 2026

Copyright (c) 2026 Abdullah S. AlOwaysi, Abdulrahman R. AlAskar, Adel B. Shehata

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Preparation and Certification of Propane in Nitrogen as Reference Material for Ensuring Traceability of Hydrocarbon Emission Measurements

https://doi.org/10.14233/ajchem.2026.35537
Abdullah S. AlOwaysi
Department of Chemistry, National Measurement and Calibration Center, Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), Riyadh 11471, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9177-843X
Abdulrahman R. AlAskar
Department of Chemistry, National Measurement and Calibration Center, Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), Riyadh 11471, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9846-5265
Adel B. Shehata
Department of Chemistry, National Measurement and Calibration Center, Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), Riyadh 11471, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6818-4825

Corresponding Author(s) : Adel B. Shehata

adelshehata63@yahoo.com

Asian Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 38 No. 10 (2026): Vol 38, Issue 10, 2026

Abstract

Propane in nitrogen (C3H8/N2) gas mixtures are widely used as calibration standards for hydrocarbon measurements in environmental monitoring, energy production and industrial process control. Five C3H8/N2 gas mixtures, covering the range of 804.8148-12053.8148 µmol/mol, were gravimetrically prepared according to ISO 6142 using a two-step dilution approach with high-purity propane and nitrogen. The prepared mixtures were validated by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) in accordance with ISO 6143. The GC-FID results showed good agreement with the gravimetric values, confirming the validity of the preparation method. The certified values determined by gravimetry were established for 4 mixtures (B, C, D, E) as 12053.81 ± 97.49, 9013.23 ± 78.11, 5998.011 ± 57.72 and 2987.29 ± 66.91 µmol/mol, respectively. The mole fraction of the mixture F, 804.81 ± 35.97 µmol/mol was considered an information value since it was associated with large uncertainty of 7.016%. The performance of the produced certified reference materials (CRMs) was checked by using them to calibrate the GC-FID, then measure a CRM sample of 8010 µmol/mol as an unknown. The precision (%RSD) and accuracy of the measured results were found to be 0.12% and 99.75%, respectively. These results confirm that the prepared C3H8/N2 mixtures meet the criteria for certified reference materials and are suitable as calibrants for hydrocarbon emission measurement instruments in industrial gas analysis and environmental monitoring.

Keywords

Propane Nitrogen Gravimetry Hydrocarbon emission GC-FID Certified value Uncertainty
(1)
AlOwaysi, A. S.; AlAskar, A. R.; Shehata, A. B. Preparation and Certification of Propane in Nitrogen As Reference Material for Ensuring Traceability of Hydrocarbon Emission Measurements. ajc 2026, 38, 2559-2566.
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