Foreword

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This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 28, Petroleum and related products, fuels and lubricants from natural or synthetic sources, in collaboration with Technical Committee ISO/TC 35 Paints and varnishes and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 19, Gaseous and liquid fuels, lubricants and related products of petroleum, synthetic and biological origin, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

This fifth edition cancels and replaces the fourth edition (ISO 2719:2016), which has been technically revised. It also incorporates the Amendment ISO 2719:2016/Amd 1:2021.

The main changes are as follows:

revisions to 3.1, 5.2, 6.1, 7.1, 7.2, 7.5, 10.1.1, 11.2, 14, C.2 and Table A.1;
revision of Annex A and status changed to normative;
new normative Annex D.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

Flash point values are used in shipping, storage, handling and safety regulations, as a classification property to define “flammable” and “combustible” materials. Precise definitions of the classes are given in each regulation.

A flash point value can indicate the presence of highly volatile material(s) in a relatively non-volatile or non-flammable material and flash point testing can be a preliminary step to other investigations into the composition of unknown materials.

It is not appropriate for flash point determinations to be carried out on potentially unstable, decomposable or explosive materials, unless it has been previously established that heating the specified quantity of such materials in contact with the metallic components of the flash point apparatus, within the temperature range required for the method, does not induce decomposition, explosion or other adverse effects.

Flash point values are not a constant physical-chemical property of materials tested. They are a function of the apparatus design, the condition of the apparatus used, and the operational procedure carried out. Flash point can therefore be defined only in terms of a standard test method and no general valid correlation can be guaranteed between results obtained by different test methods or with test apparatus different from that specified.

ISO/TR 29662^[6^] gives useful advice in carrying out flash point tests and interpreting their results.

1 Scope

This document specifies three procedures, A, B and C, using the Pensky-Martens closed cup tester, for determining the flash point of combustible liquids, liquids with suspended solids, liquids that tend to form a surface film under the test conditions, biodiesel and other liquids in the temperature range of 40 °C to 370 °C.

NOTE 1 Although, technically, kerosene with a flash point above 40 °C can be tested using this document, it is standard practice to test kerosene according to ISO 13736.^[5^] Similarly, lubricating oils are normally tested according to ISO 2592.^[2^]

Procedure A is applicable to distillate fuels (diesel, biodiesel blends, heating oil and turbine fuels), new and in-use lubricating oils, paints and varnishes, and other homogeneous liquids not included in the scope of procedures B or C.

Procedure B is applicable to residual fuel oils, cutback residuals, used lubricating oils, mixtures of liquids with solids, and liquids that tend to form a surface film under test conditions or are of such kinematic viscosity that they are not uniformly heated under the stirring and heating conditions of procedure A.

Procedure C is applicable to fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) as specified in specifications such as EN 14214^[11^] or ASTM D6751.^[13^]

This document is not applicable to water-borne paints and varnishes.

NOTE 2 Water-borne paints and varnishes can be tested using ISO 3679.^[3^] Liquids containing traces of highly volatile materials can be tested using ISO 1523^[1^] or ISO 3679.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Principle

5 Chemicals and materials

5.1

5.2

6 Apparatus

6.1

6.2

6.3

6.4

7 Apparatus preparation

7.1 General

7.2 Location of the apparatus

7.3 Cleaning the test cup

7.4 Apparatus assembly

7.5 Apparatus verification

8 Sampling

8.1

8.2

8.3

8.4

9 Sample handling

9.1 Petroleum products

9.2 Paints and varnishes

10 Procedure

10.1 General

10.2 Procedure A

10.3 Procedure B

10.4 Procedure C

11 Calculation

11.1 Conversion of barometric pressure reading

11.2 Correction of detected flash point

12 Expression of results

13 Precision

13.1 General

13.2 Repeatability, r

13.3 Reproducibility, R

14 Test report

Bibliography

ISO 2719:2025

Determination of flash point. Pensky-Martens closed cup method

Current

Published:

21 Nov 2025