⛽ Diesel fuel — requirements and test methods, PN-EN 590

Petrochemistry PN-EN 590

Overview

THE SCOPE FROM THE PKN CATALOGUE CARD, QUOTED VERBATIM: "This document specifies requirements and test methods for marketed automotive diesel fuel. This standard applies to automotive diesel fuel intended for use in vehicles fitted with compression-ignition engines designed to run on automotive diesel fuel containing up to 7.0 % (V/V) fatty acid methyl esters (FAME)."

SEVEN PER CENT FAME — THE FIGURE FROM THE SCOPE THAT MARKS THE LIMIT OF THE STANDARD'S APPLICATION. The scope does not say that the fuel MUST contain up to 7.0 % (V/V) FAME — it says that the standard covers fuel intended for vehicles DESIGNED to run on such fuel. The limit is therefore drawn on the side of the VEHICLE, not of the sample. Fuels with a higher ester content, used in adapted fleets, fall outside the scope of this standard. This is the only numerical value the catalogue card gives — all the actual requirements lie in tables we do not have.

WHAT A PRODUCT STANDARD IS AND HOW IT DIFFERS FROM A METHOD STANDARD. A method standard describes HOW to measure — the sulfur content, say, or the cold filter plugging point. A product standard says WHAT RESULT is admissible and by which method it may be obtained. Without it a test result is a bare figure: a laboratory will measure sulfur with full accuracy, but without the product standard it cannot decide whether the fuel is fit to be placed on the market.

THE TABLE OF REQUIREMENTS AND THE COLUMN OF METHODS — THAT IS THE HEART OF SUCH A STANDARD. A requirement in a product standard is not a bare figure: it is a triple — the parameter, the limit value and the SPECIFIED METHOD. The same quantity measured by a different method may give a slightly different result, so the specification of the method is part of the requirement. The sentence "the fuel meets PN-EN 590" therefore means: every parameter in the table lies within the limits, and each was measured by the method named beside it.

THE CHANGE OF EDITION ON 2 JANUARY 2026 — AND A SECOND STANDARD ON THE SAME DAY. The card of PN-EN 590:2022-08 gives the "Date of withdrawal" row as 02-01-2026 and "Superseded by" as PN-EN 590:2026-01. On exactly the same day PN-EN 228+A1:2017-06 was withdrawn — the standard for unleaded petrol, which has its own entry in this knowledge base. Both new items implement European documents of 2025 and both are available in English only: a Polish-version card for PN-EN 590:2026-01 does not exist, the address with the "p" suffix returning 404. A POLISH version of the 2022 edition did exist — published 26-06-2023 — and was withdrawn on the same day. The two basic fuel standards thus changed edition simultaneously and both ceased to be available in Polish at the same moment.

THE SUPERSESSION COVERED THE CORRIGENDUM TOO. The "Supersedes" field on the card of the 2026 edition lists PN-EN 590:2022-08/Ap1:2023-05 — the previous edition together with its corrigendum. The standard and its corrigendum formed one state of the text; the supersession covers both at once.

HOW THE REST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE BASE CITES THIS STANDARD. The string "PN-EN 590" occurs 50 times in the export and NOT ONCE is it accompanied by the year of edition (counted 15 September 2026). No entry therefore cites a withdrawn edition — but none settles which edition is meant either. With a product standard this matters more than with a method standard, because limit values are sometimes tightened between editions. WE RECORD HERE SOMETHING THAT MUST BE SAID PLAINLY: some method entries in this knowledge base attribute particular limit values to PN-EN 590 without stating which edition they come from. Those values need checking against the text of the standard — which this entry could not do.

WHY THE "LABORATORIES" TAB IS EMPTY AT THIS ENTRY — AND WHY THIS IS NOT AN ERROR. The number of this standard does not occur in the copy of the accreditation scopes of 1281 laboratories in ANY field: neither in the reference document, nor in the test object, nor in the methodology name, nor in the search text — zero in each of the four (measurement 23.09.2026; positive control on the test standard PN-EN ISO 3405 from the same domain: 22 laboratories). PN-EN 590 is a PRODUCT standard — a set of requirements that the fuel has to meet. Why no laboratory enters it into its scope, we have not established — and this is not a rule for product standards: PN-EN 197-1 (cement) stands in the reference-document field at 4 laboratories in 35 entries, among others for the calculation of reactive CaO and SiO2 and for loss on ignition (measurement 23.09.2026). The product itself appears in the scopes only as a WORD, in the test-object column: "olej napędowy" [diesel fuel] stands there at 26 laboratories in 431 entries, most often as "Paliwa ciekłe: olej napędowy" [Liquid fuels: diesel fuel] or in an enumeration together with light fuel oil and petrol. To find laboratories testing diesel fuel for compliance with this standard, one has to search by the name of the product in the test object and by the test methods listed in the table of requirements of the standard — not by its number.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We do not have the text of the standard — PKN supplies it for a fee (KT 222/PK 1 — the PKN technical committee for Liquid Fuels). Apart from the 7.0 % (V/V) FAME figure given by the scope itself, WE GIVE NO LIMIT VALUE: neither for sulfur content, nor cetane number, nor density, nor cold filter plugging point.

Method principle

Conformity of a fuel with a product standard is established by setting the test results against the table of requirements. For each parameter the standard gives a limit value and the method by which it is to be determined. The assessment covers all parameters at once: exceeding one makes the fuel non-conforming regardless of the rest.

Applications

• Assessing the conformity of diesel fuel with the requirements — testing for the purposes of fuel trading
• The reference document for seventeen method entries in this knowledge base: sulfur, cetane number, density, cold filter plugging point, FAME content, distillation
• Quality control of fuels at filling stations and in fuel depots
• Settling complaints about the quality of diesel fuel

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 590:2026-01 (wersja angielska; wprowadza EN 590:2025 [IDT])

Title (PL)

Paliwa do pojazdów samochodowych -- Oleje napędowe -- Wymagania i metody badań

Title (EN)

Automotive fuels — Diesel — Requirements and test methods

Step-by-step procedure

1. Establish the edition of the standard

   Check which edition is in force on the day of the test. Since 02-01-2026 it is PN-EN 590:2026-01; the 2022 edition together with its corrigendum has been withdrawn.

2. Check whether the fuel falls within the scope

   The standard covers fuel for vehicles designed for diesel with a FAME content of up to 7.0 % (V/V).

3. Read the test programme from the table of requirements

   The standard names the parameters to be determined and the method for each of them.

4. Carry out the determinations by the specified methods

   Using a method other than the one specified does not demonstrate conformity with the standard, however sound the result.

5. Assess as a whole

   The fuel conforms when ALL parameters lie within the limits.

6. Record in the report

   Give the full designation of the standard with the year of edition. "PN-EN 590" alone does not say against which thresholds the fuel was assessed.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Diesel fuel is a flammable and harmful liquid; it irritates the skin, and inhaling its vapours causes dizziness
• Diesel vapours contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — work under a fume hood
• TECHNICAL NOTE: conformity with a product standard is pronounced for the whole table of requirements; the result for one parameter is not a judgement about the fuel

Frequently asked questions