ASTM D6074-08 - 15.10.2008
 
Significance and Use

The consistent performance of hydrocarbon lubricant base oils is a critical factor in a wide variety of applications such as engine oils, industrial lubricants, and metalworking fluids. In addition, in many of these applications humans are exposed to the base oils as a component of a formulated product such that health or safety considerations may need to be addressed. This guide suggests a compilation of properties and potential contaminants that are understood by those knowledgeable in the manufacture and use of hydrocarbon lubricants to be of significance in some or all applications. A discussion of each of the suggested properties and potential contaminants is provided in Appendix X1, with each listed alphabetically within four categories.

Potential sources of base oil variation include the raw material, manufacturing process, operating conditions, storage, transportation, and blending.

The test methods, base oil properties, and potential contaminants suggested are those that would likely be useful in many common situations, although it is recognized that there are specific applications and situations that could have different requirements. Performance testing related to the specific application should serve as the basis for acceptability.

Issues such as frequency of testing and the specifics of how the test results are to be applied are not addressed in detail. It is the responsibility of the buyer and seller to determine and agree upon the implementation of this guide. This guide serves as a basis for that discussion.

 
1. Scope

1.1 This guide suggests physical, chemical, and toxicological test methods for characterizing hydrocarbon lubricant base oils derived from various refining processes including re-refining used oils and refining crude oil. This guide does not purport to cover all tests which could be employed. It is the responsibility of the buyer and seller to determine and agree upon the implementation of this guide.

1.2 This guide applies only to base oils and not to finished lubricants.

1.3 This guide is relevant to base oils composed of hydrocarbons and intended for use in formulating products including automotive and industrial lubricants. These base oils would typically have a viscosity of approximately 2 to 40 mm2/s (cSt) at 100°C (50 to 3740 SUS at 100°F).

1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are for information only.

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

 
2. Referenced Documents

D6304-25

Standard Test Method for Determination of Water in Petroleum Products, Lubricating Oils, and Additives by Coulometric Karl Fischer Titration

D445-26

Standard Test Method for Kinematic Viscosity of Transparent and Opaque Liquids (and Calculation of Dynamic Viscosity)

D524-15(2025)e1

Standard Test Method for Ramsbottom Carbon Residue of Petroleum Products (Includes all amendments and changes 8/11/2025).

D664-24

Standard Test Method for Acid Number of Petroleum Products by Potentiometric Titration

D974-22

Standard Test Method for Acid and Base Number by Color-Indicator Titration

D341-20(2025)

Standard Practice for Viscosity-Temperature Equations and Charts for Liquid Petroleum or Hydrocarbon Products

D1298-24

Standard Test Method for Density, Relative Density, or API Gravity of Crude Petroleum and Liquid Petroleum Products by Hydrometer Method

D1401-21

Standard Test Method for Water Separability of Petroleum Oils and Synthetic Fluids

D1500-24

Standard Test Method for ASTM Color of Petroleum Products (ASTM Color Scale)

D2007-19(2024)e1

Standard Test Method for Characteristic Groups in Rubber Extender and Processing Oils and Other Petroleum-Derived Oils by the Clay-Gel Absorption Chromatographic Method (Includes all amendments and changes 4/8/2024).

D287-22

Standard Test Method for API Gravity of Crude Petroleum and Petroleum Products (Hydrometer/Method)

E1687-25

Standard Test Method for Determining Carcinogenic Potential of Virgin Base Oils in Metalworking Fluids

D4739-26

Standard Test Method for Base Number Determination by Potentiometric Hydrochloric Acid Titration

D4927-26

Standard Test Methods for Elemental Analysis of Lubricant and Additive Components—Barium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Zinc by Wavelength-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy

D4177-22e1

Standard Practice for Automatic Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products (Includes all amendments and changes 3/24/2023).

D4291-21(2025)

Standard Test Method for Trace Ethylene Glycol in Used Engine Oil

D4294-24

Standard Test Method for Sulfur in Petroleum and Petroleum Products by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

D4530-25

Standard Test Method for Determination of Carbon Residue (Micro Method)

D4628-23

Standard Test Method for Analysis of Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc in Unused Lubricating Oils by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

D4629-24

Standard Test Method for Trace Nitrogen in Liquid Hydrocarbons by Syringe/Inlet Oxidative Combustion and Chemiluminescence Detection

D4175-24e2

Standard Terminology Relating to Petroleum Products, Liquid Fuels, and Lubricants (Includes all amendments and changes 6/9/2026).

D5800-21(2026)

Standard Test Method for Evaporation Loss of Lubricating Oils by the Noack Method

D7095-23

Standard Test Method for Rapid Determination of Corrosiveness to Copper from Petroleum Products Using a Disposable Copper Foil Strip

D7777-24

Standard Test Method for Density, Relative Density, or API Gravity of Liquid Petroleum by Portable Digital Density Meter

D91-24

Standard Test Method for Precipitation Number of Lubricating Oils

D92-24

Standard Test Method for Flash and Fire Points by Cleveland Open Cup Tester

D93-26

Standard Test Methods for Flash Point by Pensky-Martens Closed Cup Tester

D97-17b(2022)

Standard Test Method for Pour Point of Petroleum Products (Includes all amendments and changes 11/29/2022).

D130-26

Standard Test Method for Corrosiveness to Copper from Petroleum Products by Copper Strip Test

D189-24

Standard Test Method for Conradson Carbon Residue of Petroleum Products

D4951-14(2019)

Standard Test Method for Determination of Additive Elements in Lubricating Oils by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

D5185-26

Standard Test Method for Multielement Determination of Used and Unused Lubricating Oils and Base Oils by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES)

D5293-25

Standard Test Method for Apparent Viscosity of Engine Oils and Base Stocks Between –10 °C and –35 °C Using Cold-Cranking Simulator

D5453-25

Standard Test Method for Determination of Total Sulfur in Light Hydrocarbons, Spark Ignition Engine Fuel, Diesel Engine Fuel, and Engine Oil by Ultraviolet Fluorescence

D5762-24

Standard Test Method for Nitrogen in Liquid Hydrocarbons, Petroleum and Petroleum Products by Boat-Inlet Chemiluminescence

D4052-22

Standard Test Method for Density, Relative Density, and API Gravity of Liquids by Digital Density Meter

D4057-22

Standard Practice for Manual Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products

D4059-00(2018)

Standard Test Method for Analysis of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Insulating Liquids by Gas Chromatography

D2270-24

Standard Practice for Calculating Viscosity Index from Kinematic Viscosity at 40 ?C and 100 ?C

D2501-24

Standard Test Method for Calculation of Viscosity-Gravity Constant (VGC) of Petroleum Oils

D2622-26

Standard Test Method for Sulfur in Petroleum Products by Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

D2887-24

Standard Test Method for Boiling Range Distribution of Petroleum Fractions by Gas Chromatography

D2896-26

Standard Test Method for Base Number of Petroleum Products by Potentiometric Perchloric Acid Titration

D3120-25

Standard Test Method for Trace Quantities of Sulfur in Light Liquid Petroleum Hydrocarbons by Oxidative Microcoulometry

D3339-21

Standard Test Method for Acid Number of Petroleum Products by Semi-Micro Color Indicator Titration

D6749-24

Standard Test Method for Pour Point of Petroleum Products (Automatic Air Pressure Method)

D6822-25

Standard Test Method for Density, Relative Density, and API Gravity of Crude Petroleum and Liquid Petroleum Products by Thermohydrometer Method

D6892-25

Standard Test Method for Pour Point of Petroleum Products (Robotic Tilt Method)

D7042-25

Standard Test Method for Dynamic Viscosity and Density of Liquids by Stabinger Viscometer (and the Calculation of Kinematic Viscosity)

D7094-25

Standard Test Method for Flash Point by Modified Continuously Closed Cup (MCCCFP) Tester

D7419-24

Standard Test Method for Determination of Total Aromatics and Total Saturates in Lube Basestocks by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with Refractive Index Detection

D7500-24

Standard Test Method for Determination of Boiling Range Distribution of Distillates and Lubricating Base Oils—in Boiling Range from 100 ?C to 735 ?C by Gas Chromatography

D7751-16(2021)

Standard Test Method for Determination of Additive Elements in Lubricating Oils by EDXRF Analysis

D2161-20(2025)

Standard Practice for Conversion of Kinematic Viscosity to Saybolt Universal Viscosity or to Saybolt Furol Viscosity

D4929-24

Standard Test Method for Determination of Organic Chloride Content in Crude Oil

D7279-26a

Standard Test Method for Kinematic Viscosity of Transparent and Opaque Liquids by Automated Houillon Viscometer (Includes all amendments and changes 5/11/2026).

D7346-15(2021)

Standard Test Method for No Flow Point and Pour Point of Petroleum Products and Liquid Fuels

D5949-16(2022)

Standard Test Method for Pour Point of Petroleum Products (Automatic Pressure Pulsing Method)

D5950-25

Standard Test Method for Pour Point of Petroleum Products (Automatic Tilt Method)

D6375-24

Standard Test Method for Evaporation Loss of Lubricating Oils by Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA) Noack Method

D6417-25

Standard Test Method for Estimation of Engine Oil Volatility by Capillary Gas Chromatography

D3828-16a(2021)

Standard Test Methods for Flash Point by Small Scale Closed Cup Tester (Includes all amendments and changes 7/26/2021).

D6443-24

Standard Test Method for Determination of Calcium, Chlorine, Copper, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Zinc in Unused Lubricating Oils and Additives by Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (Mathematical Correction Procedure)

D6481-24

Standard Test Method for Determination of Phosphorus, Sulfur, Calcium, and Zinc in Lubrication Oils by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy

D5984-23

Standard Test Method for Semi-Quantitative Field Test Method for Base Number in New and Used Lubricants by Color-Indicator Titration

D5985-25

Standard Test Method for Pour Point of Petroleum Products (Rotational Method)

D6160-21(2025)

Standard Test Method for Determination of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Waste Materials by Gas Chromatography