Glass test tubes and graduated cylinders filled with blue solution on a white bench

Home/Comparison

Grades Compared

Six Grades

Six Grades, One Table

Every Sasol ethyl acetate grade starts from the same ester. What separates them is how far water, ethanol, acidity and residue are pushed down, and which document the numbers come from.

Read the table across, not down: the column that decides your process is usually water or residue, not the purity figure.

  • One published specificationSasol publishes a product specification for the 99.8% grade. Every other row is labelled for what it is, typical or monograph.
  • Monographs are separateThe NF/USP and EP rows quote their own pharmacopoeial documents, so their units and test bases differ from the solvent grades.

Grade Matrix

Limits Side by Side

Six grades against seven limits. The grade column stays in place while the rest of the table moves.

Limits across the six Sasol ethyl acetate grades. The 99.8% row follows the Sasol product specification (Version 9a); the industrial grades show typical values; the NF/USP and EP rows quote their monographs.
Grade Purity Water max Ethanol max Acidity max Residue max Colour max Data type
99.5% Grade ≥99.5 wt% ≤0.10 wt% ≤0.10 wt% ≤0.005 wt% ≤5 mg/100 ml ≤10 Pt-Co Typical values
99.8% Grade min 99.8 wt% max 0.03 wt% max 0.02 wt% max 0.005 wt% max 2 mg/100 ml max 5 Pt-Co Sasol spec, v9a
99.9% Grade ≥99.9 wt% ≤0.02 wt% ≤0.02 wt% ≤0.003 wt% ≤1 mg/100 ml ≤5 Pt-Co Typical values
Urethane Grade ≥99.8 wt% ≤0.02 wt% ≤0.02 wt% ≤0.005 wt% ≤2 mg/100 ml ≤5 Pt-Co Typical values
NF/USP Grade 99.0–100.5% ≤0.2% Not in monograph ≤0.0009 meq/g ≤0.02% ≤10 NF/USP monograph
EP Grade 99.80% mass ≤0.1% Not in monograph Passes test ≤30 ppm Passes test Ph. Eur. monograph
Swipe the table sideways to reach the last columns; the grade column stays fixed.

The 99.8% row follows the Sasol product specification, Version 9a. Industrial grades carry typical values, not a specification; the certificate of the shipped lot governs. NF/USP and EP rows quote their monographs and are verified against the current edition before release.

Selection

Which Grade Fits

  • 01

    General coating, cleaning and ink thinning

    Cost-optimal where the line tolerates 0.10% water. If a film clouds, dries slowly or a can corrodes, check water and acidity first, then step up.

    99.5% Grade
  • 02

    A specification written into the contract

    The only grade with a published Sasol product specification: water 0.03% max, ethanol 0.02% max, residue 2 mg/100 ml max, with the test method named on every line.

    99.8% Grade
  • 03

    Sensitive reaction or precision cleaning

    Water and residue drop one more step to 0.02% and 1 mg/100 ml. The price is a higher unit cost and a lead time that follows the production run.

    99.9% Grade
  • 04

    Polyurethane, pharma or food

    On PU lines water and ethanol decide, not the assay figure. For pharma and food, the destination market picks the monograph: NF/USP in the Americas, EP in Europe.

    Urethane Grade NF/USP EP
Technician loading sample tubes into a laboratory analyser

Reading the Matrix

Water and residue move together as grades go up; purity moves in smaller steps than the price does. A 0.2 point purity difference is easy to quote and hard to feel on a coating line, while a 0.07 point water difference shows up in the first shift.

Compare Like With Like

Results only compare when the method matches. Karl Fischer and ISO 760 water readings differ by a few ppm on the same sample, and colour read on two instruments rarely agrees to the last unit.

Ask for a Grade Recommendation

Gains and Costs

Upgrade Arithmetic

One step up the range buys a tighter limit and costs a little on every kilogram. The two columns below are the whole case.

Upgrade Gains

  • Water 0.10% to 0.03%Fewer pinholes, less blush on clear coats and a wider window before a drum needs re-testing.
  • Residue 5 to 2 mg/100 mlLess tail in a concentrate and fewer cleaning cycles between colours.
  • A tighter dry pointEvaporation rate holds steady from lot to lot, which is what a repeatable film needs.

Upgrade Costs

  • Unit priceEach step up costs more per kilogram, and the gap widens sharply at 99.9%.
  • Lead timeTighter grades are produced less often, so plan against a stock position rather than a spot order.
  • Order sizeSome grades only make sense from IBC or ISO tank volume, not from a single drum.

A grade change is a process change. Run an A/B trial on the same formula before a full switch, and record water, residue and appearance after 24 hours.

Contact

Talk to Our Team

Send the grade, the volume and the destination port. A named contact replies within one working day.

Kristy Chen

Request a Quote