ASTM D4175 Terminology Relating to Petroleum, Petroleum Products, and Lubricants
facultative anaerobe, n - a microorganism capable of growing in both oxic and anoxic environments.

DISCUSSION - Facultative anaerobes use oxygen when it is present, and use either organic or inorganic energy sources (nitrate, sulfate, and so forth) when oxygen is depleted or absent.

filler, n - in manufactured carbon and graphite product technology, carbonaceous particles comprising the base aggregate in an unbaked green-mix formulation.
film, n - thin, translucent layer that does not adhere to the wall of glass test tube.
filtering, n - in data acquisition, a means of attenuating signals in a given frequency range. They can be mechanical (volume tank, spring, mass) or electrical (capacitance, inductance) or digital (mathematical formulas), or a combination thereof. Typically, a low-pass filter attenuates the unwanted high frequency noise.
final boiling point (FBP) - the point at which a cumulative volume count equal to 99.5 % of the total volume count under the chromatogram is obtained.
final boiling point (FBP) - (Synonym - end point (EP).)
fire point, n - the lowest temperature at which a liquid or solid specimen will sustain burning for 5 s.
fire point, n - in petroleum products, the lowest temperature corrected to a barometric pressure of 101.3 kPa (760 mmHg), at which application of an ignition source causes the vapors of a test specimen of the sample to ignite and sustain burning for a minimum of 5 s under specified conditions of test.
fire-resistant fluid, n - any liquid that is able to withstand fire or give protection from fire.
firing, n - for the CFR engine, operation of the CFR engine with fuel and ignition.
fit-for-use, n - a product, system, or service that is suitable for its intended use.
flash point - the lowest temperature corrected to a pressure of 101.3 kPa (760 mm Hg) at which application of an ignition source causes the vapors of a specimen of the sample to ignite under specified conditions of test.

DISCUSSION - The specimen is deemed to have flashed when a flame appears and instantaneously propagates itself over the entire surface of the fluid.

DISCUSSION - When the ignition source is a test flame, the application of the test flame may cause a blue halo or an enlarged flame prior to the actual flash point. This is not a flash and should be ignored.

flash point, n - in petroleum products, the lowest temperature corrected to a barometric pressure of 101.3 kPa (760 mmHg), at which application of an ignition source causes the vapors of a specimen of the sample to ignite under specified conditions of test.[

DISCUSSION - The test specimen is deemed to have flashed when a flame appears and instantaneously propagates itself over the entire surface of the test specimen.

DISCUSSION - When the ignition source is a test flame, the application of the test flame may cause a blue halo or an enlarged flame prior to the actual flash point. This is not a flash point and shall be ignored.

flash point - the lowest temperature corrected to a pressure of 760 mmHg (101.3 kPa) at which application of a test flame causes the vapors of a specimen of the sample to ignite under specified conditions of test.

DISCUSSION - The specimen is deemed to have flashed when a flame appears and instantaneously propagates itself over the surface of the specimen.

DISCUSSION - Occasionally, particularly near the actual flash point, application of the test flame will cause a blue halo or an enlarged flame; this is not a flash and should be ignored.

flash point, n - the lowest temperature corrected to a pressure of 101.3 kPa at which application of an ignition source causes the vapors of a specimen of the sample to ignite momentarily under specified conditions of the test.

DISCUSSION - For the purpose of this test method, the test specimen is deemed to have flashed when the hot flame of the ignited vapor causes an instantaneous pressure increase of at least 20 kPa inside the closed measuring chamber.

flash point, n - lowest temperature corrected to a pressure of 101.3 kPa, at which application of a test flame causes the vapors of a test specimen of the sample to ignite momentarily under the specified conditions of the test.
flaw, n - a defect sufficiently greater than those typical of the morphology of a carbon or graphite body to influence a property.
flexural strength, n - a property of solid material that indicates its ability to withstand a flexural or transverse load.
floating piston cylinder (FPC) - a high pressure sample container, with a free floating internal piston that effectively divides the container into two separate compartments.
flocculation, n - of asphaltenes from crude oils or heavy fuel oils, the aggregation of colloidally dispersed asphaltenes into visibly larger masses which may or may not settle.
flood point, n - (in column distillation) the point at which the upflowing vapor flow obstructs the down-coming reflux and the column suddenly loads with liquid.
flood point, n - the point at which the velocity of the upflowing vapors obstructs the downcoming reflux and the column suddenly loads with liquid.

DISCUSSION - Under these conditions no vapor can reach the head and the heat to the distillation flask must be reduced to establish normal operations again. The flood point is normally determined during the efficiency evaluation of a column using the n-heptane-methylcyclohexane test mixture (see Annex A1).

flow line, n - a defect induced by discontinuous flow velocities during forming of molded or extruded bodies.
flow-proportioned average property value (FPAPV), n - the average property value of the collected material in the tank or vessel, calculated by using the flow-proportioned average technique described in the practice of all measurements performed on aliquots of the material while it is flowing into the tank or vessel.

DISCUSSION - The term property as used in this practice can be the physical, chemical, or performance property measurements as provided by on-line, at-line analyzer systems, or, can be the deviation of such measurements from a desired value.

DISCUSSION - The FPAPV can include a value contributed by material (commonly referred to as a tank heel) present in the collection tank or vessel before the start of delivery of the current process stream material.

fluid coke, n - petroleum coke with a granular, microscopic layered structure resulting from injection of petroleum feedstock into a flowing, loose bed of coke particles.
fluid, adj - describing a state of matter showing an ability to flow in a gaseous or liquid state.

DISCUSSION - A quantity of solid particles, powders, or pellets, for example, fluidized catalyst beds, can also flow like a liquid in the presence of an applied force. The state of the individual particles, nevertheless, remains a solid.

fluid, n - substance (matter) that flows, a liquid or a gas.

DISCUSSION - In automotive technology, often used to mean a liquid only, such as hydraulic fluid, a liquid.

DISCUSSION - Other fluids, such as supercritical fluids, behave with aspects of both gases and liquids under certain ranges of temperature and pressure.

foam, n - in liquids, a collection of bubbles formed in the liquid or on (at) its surface in which the air (or gas) is the major component on a volumetric basis.
foam, n - in liquids, a collection of bubbles formed in or on the surface of a liquid in which the air or gas is the major component on a volumetric basis.
foreflush, v - elution of HPLC mobile phase in the forward direction.

DISCUSSION - In this test method, the sample enters the cyano column first followed by elution through the silica gel column.

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry, n - form of infrared spectrometry in which an interferogram is obtained; this interferogram is then subjected to a Fourier transform calculation to obtain an amplitude-wavenumber (or wavelength) spectrum.
free alkali, n - in lubricating grease, unreacted basic (alkaline) material present in the product.

DISCUSSION - Many greases are made with a slight excess of alkali to ensure complete saponification. Free alkali is determined by acidification of a solvent-thinned specimen and back titration with standardized, alcoholic potassium hydroxide. It is expressed in terms of the predominating alkali and a mass % of the total grease composition (for example, mass % lithium hydroxide.)

free fatty acid, n - in lubricating grease, unreacted carboxcylic acid(s) present in the product.

DISCUSSION - Some greases are made with a slight excess of carboxcylic acid to ensure a non-alkaline product. Free fatty acid is determined by neutralization of a solvent-thinned specimen with standardized, alcoholic potassium hydroxide. Regardless of the actual composition of the carboxcylic acid(s), it is expressed as free oleic acid and as a mss % of the total grease composition.

free glycerin, n - a measure of the amount of glycerin remaining in the fuel.
free piston ring, n - in internal combustion engines, a piston ring that will fall in its groove under its own weight when the piston, with the ring in a horizontal plane, is turned 90°(putting the ring in a vertical plane).

DISCUSSION - In the determination of this condition, the ring may be touched slightly to overcome static friction.

freezing point, n - in aviation fuels, the fuel temperature at which solid hydrocarbon crystals, formed on cooling, disappear when the temperature of the fuel is allowed to rise under specified conditions of test.
fresh water environment, n - the aerobic, fresh water environmental compartment.
fresh water environment, n - the aerobic, aqueous compartment, characteristically with a salinity of less than five parts per thousand.
fretting wear, n - a form of attritive wear caused by vibratory or oscillatory motion of limited amplitude characterized by the removal of finely-divided particles from the rubbing surfaces.

DISCUSSION - Air can cause immediate local oxidation of the wear particles produced by fretting wear. In addition, environmental moisture or humidity can hydrate the oxidation product. In the case of ferrous metals, the oxidized wear debris is abrasive iron oxide (Fe2O3) having the appearance of rust, which gives rise to the nearly synonymous terms, fretting corrosion and friction oxidation. A related, but somewhat different phenomenon often accompanies fretting wear. False brinelling is localized fretting wear that occurs when the rolling elements of a bearing vibrate or oscillate with small amplitude while pressed against the bearing race. The mechanism proceeds in stages: (1) asperites weld, are torn apart, and form wear debris that is subsequently oxidized; (2) due to the small-amplitude motion, the oxidized detritus cannot readily escape, and being abrasive, the oxidized wear debris accelerates the wear. As a result, wear depressions are formed in the bearing race. These depressions appear similar to the Brinell depressions obtained with static overloading. Although false brinelling can occur in this test, it is not characterized as such, and instead, it is included in the determination of fretting wear.

friction, n - the resistance to sliding exhibited by two surfaces in contact with each other. Basically there are two frictional properties exhibited by any surface; static friction and kinetic friction.
friction force, n - the resisting force tangential to the interface between two bodies when, under the action of an external force, one body moves or tends to move relative to the other.
friction mean effective pressure, n - for spark-ignition engines, the measure of the difference between IMEP and BMEP or power absorbed in mechanical friction and any auxiliaries.
front end loss, n - loss due to evaporation during transfer from receiving cylinder to distillation flask, vapor loss during the distillation, and uncondensed vapor in the flask at the end of the distillation.
fuel contaminants - in principle, are any fuel component other than hydrocarbon oils. In the present context the contaminants are foreign materials that make the fuel less suitable or even unsuitable for the intended use. The contaminants of primary interest are foreign materials introduced subsequent to the manufacture of specification quality fuel. Hence they are materials introduced in the distribution system (that is storage tanks, pipelines, tank, trucks, barges, etc.), or in the user’s storage and handling systems, or generated within these systems (rust generated in steel pipes and tanks by moist fuel, etc.). Contaminants may be soluble or insoluble in the fuel.
fuel diluent, n - in used oil analysis, unburnt fuel components that enter the engine crankcase causing dilution of the oil.

DISCUSSION - In this test method, the fuel diluent components being determined are from gasoline.

fuel entering the combustor(s) - this term is used to designate the fuel that is actually burned in the gas turbine. Fuel may actually be sampled at a point upstream from the point of entry into the combustor(s), provided the sample is representative of the fuel actually entering the combustor(s).
fuel ethanol (Ed75-Ed85), n - a blend of ethanol and hydrocarbons of which the ethanol portion is nominally 75 to 85 volume % denatured alcohol.
fuel-air ratio, n - mass ratio of fuel to air in the mixture delivered to the combustion chamber.
fuel-air ratio for maximum knock intensity, n - for knock testing, that proportion of fuel to air that produces the highest knock intensity for each fuel in the knock testing unit, provided this occurs within specified carburetor fuel level limits.
full rich, n - condition in which the mixture control is at the full stop position with the fuel flow within manufacturer's recommended settings.
functional properties, n - those properties of the mineral lubricating oil that are required for satisfactory operation of the machinery.
fungus (pl. fungi), n - single cell (yeasts) or filamentous (molds) microorganisms that share the property of having the true intracellular membranes (organelles) that characterize all higher life forms (Eukaryotes).