Oxidation and thermal stability measurement with the Rancimat method

The Rancimat method is widely recognized by international standards for determining the oxidation stability of fats, oils, and biodiesel. It is included in several standards, including:

• ISO 6886 Animal and vegetable fats and oils – Determination of oxidative stability (accelerated oxidation test)
• AOCS Cd 12b-92 Oil stability index. Sampling and analysis of commercial fats and oils
• EN 14112 Fat and oil derivatives – Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) – Determination of oxidation stability (accelerated oxidation test) (also referenced in DIN EN 14214)
• ASTM D6751 Standard Specification for Biodiesel Fuel Blend Stock (B100) for Middle Distillate Fuels

Yes, the OSI is a synonym for the induction period, which is the time at a specific temperature and gas flow until the oil turns rancid. This is exactly what the Rancimat determines.

There are different norms available to determine the oxidation stability index. Each norm has slightly different parameters. Find out more about the parameters of the norms in this application note:

Application Note: Oxidation stability comparison of AOCS Cd 12b-92 and EN ISO 6886

The shelf life of materials is influenced by various factors including:

• temperature
• oxygen exposure
• UV light
• microbial growth

The Rancimat method exclusively measures oxidation stability at elevated temperatures, making it unsuitable for direct shelf-life determination. However, the induction time provides an indication of oil stability when other influencing factors are excluded. Our software allows extrapolation to room temperature using the Arrhenius equation, offering a rough shelf-life estimate.

For accurate shelf-life determination, samples must be stored under defined conditions, and test results should then be correlated with the induction time.

The sample size varies depending on the norm and the sample type.

• For edible oil samples, the sample size is typically 3 g
• For solid food samples, e.g., grinded nuts, the sample size is 0.5 g.
• For Biodiesel samples, the size varies between 3.5 g and 7.5 g.
• For PVC samples, the sample size is typically 0.5 g.

Find more information about the recommended sample sizes in our application documents:

Applications for stability measurements

Emulsions cannot be measured directly with the Rancimat. However, we developed two methods to make it possible.

The first method is a cold extraction. For this, the fat of the emulsion is extracted with a non-polar solvent like low boiling petrol ether. The solvent which contains the oil is then separated from the matrix and evaporated in a rotavapor. The left-over oil is measured as a normal oil.

As the extraction process includes some labor-intensive steps, we developed an alternative method. In this second method, we measure the antioxidation capacity of the emulsion on a material that normally decomposes very quickly at elevated temperatures. We use PEG3000 as carrier material and we call the method PEG Method.

Find out more about the PEG method