Both techniques have proven to be suitable for determination of oxygenates in gasoline, since the results are comparable with each other and in line with the expected values for each component and with the tolerances specified in the respective ASTM standards.

From an operational point of view, ASTM 4815 requires a more time-consuming and delicate instrument set-up with the most critical aspect involving the setting of the gas-switching valve timings. An inappropriate setting may indeed lead to incorrect calculations due to the loss of compounds not completely eluted from the pre-cut column.

On the other hand, the O-FID analyzer (ASTM 5599) does not require any extensive set-up procedure. This configuration also avoids secondary effects of column aging such as retention time shifts, which are extremely critical in multidimensional systems.