CIRCULAR

PROMULGATING THE “NATIONAL TECHNICAL REGULATION ON LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GASES (LPG)”

Pursuant to The Law on Technical Regulations and Standards dated June 29^th 2006;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 127/2007/NĐ-CP dated August 01^st 2007 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Technical Regulations and Standards;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 28/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 14^th 2008 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;

At the proposal of the Director of the Directorate for Standards, Metrology, and Quality,

The Minister of Science and Technology promulgates the National Technical Regulation on Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG).

Article 1. Promulgating together with this Circular the National Technical Regulation on Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG) (QCVN 8:2012/BKHCN).

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Article 3. From June 01^st 2013, LPG may only be traded on the market after having the certificate of conformity and the declaration of conformity according to QCVN 8:2012/BKHCN.

Article 4. Within the period as from this Circular takes effect until the date prescribed in Article 3 of this Circular, the organizations and individuals engaged in the import, production, processing, preparation, distribution, and retailing of LPG must prepare the necessary conditions for applying this National Technical Regulation.

Article 5. The director of the Directorate for Standards, Metrology, and Quality, Heads of relevant organizations and individuals are individual for the implementation of this Circular.

Organizations and individuals are recommended to send feedbacks on the difficulties arising during the course of implementation to the Ministry of Science and Technology for consideration and settlement./.

FOR THE MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Tran Viet Thanh

QCVN 8 : 2012/BKHCN

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 ON LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GASESES (LPG)

Foreword

QCVN 8:2012/BKHCN is written by the Compilation board of the Regulations on the quality control of petroleum gas, submitted by the Directorate for Standards, Metrology, and Quality, and promulgated together with the Circular No. 10/2012/TT-BKHCN dated April 12^th 2012 by the Minister of Science and Technology..

NATIONAL TECHNICAL REGULATION

ON LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GASESES (LPG)

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1.1. Scope of regulation

This Regulation provides the limits to the technical norms and the requirements for quality control of Liquefied Petroleum Gases (hereinafter abbreviated to LPG) used as flammable gas and fuel for engines of road vehicles.

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This Regulation is applicable to the organizations and individuals engaged in the import, production, processing, preparation, distribution, and retailing of LPG in Vietnam.

1.3. Interpretation of terms

In this Regulation, the terms below are construed as follows:

1.3.1. LPG: is the hydrogen: is a hydrocarbon derived from petroleum, primarily composed of Propane (C₃H₈) or Butane (C₄H₁₀)  or their mixtures. These hydrocarbons are in the form of gas at normal temperature and pressure, and become liquid when being compressed at a certain pressure or cooled at a certain temperature.

1.3.2. Commercial propane: is a hydrocarbon primarily composed on propane, other constituents are isomers of alkanes from C₂ to C₄.

1.3.3. Commercial butane: is a hydrocarbon primarily composed on butane, other constituents are isomers of alkanes from C₃ to C₅.

1.3.4. Mixture of commercial butane and propane is a mixture of primarily commercial butane and propane.

2. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT

The basic technical norms of LPG must suit the table below:

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Commercial propane

Commercial butane

Mixture of commercial butane and propane

Test method

1. Gas pressure at 37.8 ^oC, in kPa, not exceeding

1430

485

1430

TCVN 8356
(ASTM D 1267)

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0.05

0.05

0.05

TCVN 3165
(ASTM D 2158)

3. Copper strip corrosion, not exceeding

Type 1

Type 1

Type 1

TCVN 8359
(ASTM D 1838)

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185

140

140

TCVN 8363
(ASTM D 2784) or ASTM D 6667

5. Butadiene content, in % mol, not exceeding

0.5

0,5

0.5

TCVN 8360
(ASTM D 2163)

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2.0

2.0

TCVN 8360
(ASTM D 2163)

7. Butane and heavier substances, % of volume, not exceeding

2.5

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_

TCVN 8360
(ASTM D 2163)

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- civil flammable gases ¹⁾

- engine fuel

- Industrial flammable gases ²⁾

To be announced

10.0

-

To be announced

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To be announced

10.0

­-

TCVN 8360
(ASTM D 2163)

¹⁾ Organizations and individuals that import, produce, process, and distribute LPG must announce the olefin content.

²⁾ According to the agreement of relevant parties in commercial sale contracts.

3. TEST METHOD

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The samples for determining the norms in this regulation are taken according to TCVN 8355:2010 (ASTM D 1265-05) - Standard Practice for Sampling Liquefied Petroleum (LP) Gases, Manual Method.

TEST METHOD

The LPG norms prescribed in Section 2 of this Regulation is determined according to the following methods:

- TCVN 8356:2010 (ASTM D 1267-02) - Standard Test Method for Gage Vapor Pressure of Liquefied Petroleum (LP) Gases (LP-Gas Method).

- TCVN 3165:2008) (ASTM D 2158-05) - Standard Test Method for Residues in Liquefied Petroleum (LP) Gases.

- TCVN 8359:2010 (ASTM D 1838-07) - Standard Test Method for Copper Strip Corrosion by Liquefied Petroleum (LP) Gases.

- TCVN 8363:2010 (ASTM D 2784-06) -Standard Test Method for Sulfur in Liquefied Petroleum Gases (Oxy-Hydrogen Burner or Lamp).

- ASTM D 6667-04(2010) Standard test method for determination of total volatile sulfur in gaseous hydrocarbons and Liquefied Petroleum Gases by ultraviolet fluorescence.

- TCVN 8360:2010 (ASTM D 2163-07) - Standard Test Method for Determination of Hydrocarbons in Liquefied Petroleum (LP) Gases and Propane/Propene Mixtures by Gas Chromatography.

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The LPG test data shall be utilized to assess the conformance according to TCVN 6702:2007 (ASTM D 3244-04) - Standard Practice for Utilization of Test Data to Determine Conformance with Specifications.

4. QUALITY CONTROL

4.1. The conformity of the LPG imported, produced, and processed to the Section 2 of this Regulations must be assessed before being sold onto the market.

4.2. The conformity with this Regulation shall be assessed by assessing organizations or certifying organizations appointed or accredited by competent State management agencies.

The appointment or accreditation of assessing and certifying organizations shall be carried out in accordance with the Circular No. 09/2009/TT-BKHCN dated April 08^th 2009 of the Minister of Science and Technology, on the requirements and procedure for appointing conformity-assessing organizations, and the Circular No. 11/2011/TT-BKHCN dated June 30^th 2011 of the Minister of Science and Technology, amending and supplementing some regulations of the Circular No. 09/2009/TT-BKHCN.

4.3. The methods of assessing the conformity and the rules for application to LPG:

a) The assessment of the conformity of LPG to the technical provisions in this Regulation is carried out according to one of the methods provided in the Decision No. 24/2007/QĐ-BKHCN dated September 28^th 2007 of the Minister of Science and Technology, in particular:

Method 5: “Testing typical samples and assessing the process of production; supervising through testing samples taken from the production place or from the market, together with assessing the process of production”

a) After the conformity to this Regulation of the LPG produced and processed at home is assessed according to one of the methods stated above, the conformity must be declared as prescribed in the Decision No. 24/2007/QĐ-BKHCN dated September 28^th 2007 of the Minister of Science and Technology.

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The imported LPG that have undergone the quality inspection at an inspecting agency, as prescribed in the Circular No. 17/2009/TT-BKHCN dated June 18^th 2009, is exempted from the Declaration of conformity as prescribed in the Decision No. 24/2007/QĐ-BKHCN dated September 28^th 2007.

4.4. The LPG being traded on the market must ensure the quality according to this Regulation, and be conformable with the standards announced by the supplier (importer, producer).

The LPG being traded on the market must be added with substances that produce distinctive smell in order to be aware of and ensure the safety during the transport and use.

The LPG bottles must be labels as prescribed by current regulations.

4.5. The LPG imported, produced, processed, and traded on the market must undergo quality inspection carried out by the State as prescribed by law.

5. RESPONSIBILITY OF ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS

5.1. The organizations and individuals that import, produce, process, and distribute LPG must announce the standards being apply in accordance with this Regulation, ensure that the quality is conformable with this Regulation, and adhere to the announced standards.

5.2. The LPG retailers must provide goods of which the quality is conformable with this Regulation.

5.3. The LPG distributors must provide the following information to their buyers:

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- The proof of the conformity of the quality to this Regulation.

+ The Reception note of the Declaration of conformity, issued by the Sub-department Standards, Metrology and Quality of the province or city, applicable to LPG produced at home;

+ The Notice of the State inspection of quality, issued by the inspection agency, applicable to imported LPG.

- The proof pf the conformity of the quality to the standards announced by the LPG supplier.

6. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

6.2. the Directorate for Standards, Metrology, and Quality shall guide, inspect, and cooperate with relevant functional agencies in the organization of the implementation of this Regulation.

Depending on the management requirements, the Directorate for Standards, Metrology, and Quality shall request the Ministry of Science and Technology to amend and supplement this Regulation.

6.2. When the legal documents and standards cited in this Regulation is amended, supplemented, or superseded, the new documents shall apply./.