# What is ASTM Table 53B?

> Explains ASTM D1250-80 Table 53B: the table that converts an observed density to density at 15 °C for refined products, how to read it and why Indian petrol pumps must use it.

Canonical: https://dipdensity.watsinfo.com/guides/what-is-table-53b/
Last updated: 2026-11-02

**Short answer:** Table 53B is part of ASTM D1250, the Petroleum Measurement Tables. It converts a hydrometer reading taken at any temperature into the density the fuel would have at 15 °C. Petrol pumps in India use it to check the density of every tanker against its invoice.

## The problem it solves

Fuel expands as it gets warmer. A litre of petrol at 35 °C weighs less than a litre of the same petrol at 15 °C, so its hydrometer reading is lower. If you compared a hot afternoon reading with a cool morning invoice, the fuel would look wrong when it is not.

Table 53B removes the temperature. It tells you what the density would be if the sample were at 15 °C, the reference temperature used across the oil industry.

## How the table is laid out

- **Across the top:** the hydrometer reading, the "observed density", in kg/m³.
- **Down the side:** the temperature of the sample, in steps of 0.5 °C.
- **In each cell:** the density at 15 °C.

A reading of **741 kg/m³ at 26.5 °C** gives **751.2 kg/m³** at 15 °C. A reading of **815 kg/m³ at 27.5 °C** gives **823.8 kg/m³**. Try your own reading in the [Table 53B look-up](https://dipdensity.watsinfo.com/table-53b/).

## Why a petrol pump must use it

The Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 tell the dealer to check that "the Density of product @ 15°C using ASTM Tables (53B) is within +/- 3.0 Kg/M3" of the invoice density, before decanting a tanker. The same guidelines ask for a morning density each day and keep the dealer's density register as a required record. Every one of those figures is a Table 53B figure.

## 53B and 54B

Table 53B gives you **density** at 15 °C. Table 54B uses that density to give the **volume correction factor**: how many litres at 15 °C your litres at the tank's temperature are worth. You need 53B first, because 54B is looked up by density at 15 °C. More in [Table 53B against 54B](https://dipdensity.watsinfo.com/guides/table-53b-vs-54b/).

## Reading between the lines

Your reading rarely falls exactly on a printed figure. Read in a straight line between the two nearest columns and the two nearest rows. The [calculator](https://dipdensity.watsinfo.com/tools/density-at-15-calculator/) does this for you and rounds to 0.1 kg/m³, the precision the table is printed to.

## Questions

### What does the B in 53B mean?

B is the set of tables for generalized refined products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel. A is for crude oil. 53 is the density table; 54 is the volume table.

### Is Table 53B the same for IOCL, BPCL and HPCL?

Yes. It is an international standard, not a company table. The same reading at the same temperature gives the same density at 15 °C at every pump.

### Which edition is used in India?

The printed tables issued to dealers follow ASTM D1250-80, the 1980 edition.

## Sources

- [BPCL, Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024, clause 1.2 (iv)](https://www.bharatpetroleum.in/images/files/MDG-2024-Effective-24-10-2024.pdf)