Determination of Organic Impurities in Bioethanol Using JIS K2190

User Benefits

- Determination of methanol and organic impurities in bioethanol can be conducted in accordance with JIS K2190. - Using GC with inlet splitting allows simultaneous analysis on two different columns. - GC/MS analysis enables separation of coeluting compounds by their mass spectra, providing high-confidence identification.

Introduction

To achieve carbon neutrality, practical use of bioethanol fuel produced from feedstocks such as sugarcane and corn is undergoing. To avoid competition with food resources, worldwide efforts are accelerating toward next-generation bioethanol fuel derived from non-food sources. In Japan, seven leading companies involved in automotive and fuel production formed the raBit (Research Association of Biomass Innovation for Next Generation Automobile Fuels) to advance technology research for next-generation bioethanol fuel. raBit conducts research aimed at efficiently producing automotive bioethanol fuel to realize a carbon-neutral society. Shimadzu participates as a supporting member and contributes analytical-technology cooperation to promote R&D. Impurities occurring during bioethanol fuel production and the purity of product ethanol affect bioethanol fuel quality and therefore require careful control. ASTM D4806 specifies denatured ethanol used as automotive fuel. In Japan, JIS K2190 specifies requirements for ethanol used as automotive fuel or as feedstock for ETBE (ethyl tert-butyl ether), a gasoline additive. In this application news, analysis of organic impurities in bioethanol in accordance with JIS K2190 using the BrevisGC-2050 was conducted. The standard requires the use of two columns with different stationary phases, which normally requires two separate analyses per sample. By using an inlet split, analyses on two columns can be obtained in a single run, enabling more efficient quality control of bioethanol. We also present results from a simple GC/MS single-column configuration.

April 7, 2026 GMT