Main definitions In
chemistry,
IUPAC changed its definition of standard temperature and pressure in
1982: • Until 1982, STP was defined as a
temperature of and an
absolute pressure of exactly . • Since 1982, STP has been defined as a temperature of and an absolute pressure of exactly . IUPAC also defines SATP (Standard Ambient Temperature and Pressure) as a temperature of and an absolute pressure of exactly . This standard is also called
normal temperature and pressure (abbreviated as
NTP). However, a common temperature and pressure in use by NIST for
thermodynamic experiments is and . NIST also uses for the temperature compensation of refined
petroleum products, despite noting that these two values are not exactly consistent with each other. The
ISO 13443 standard reference conditions for
natural gas and similar
fluids are and ;
Past uses Before 1918, many professionals and scientists using the
metric system of units defined the standard reference conditions of temperature and pressure for expressing
gas volumes as being and . During those same years, the most commonly used standard reference conditions for people using the
imperial or
U.S. customary systems was and because it was almost universally used by the
oil and gas industries worldwide. The above definitions are no longer the most commonly used in either system of units.
Current use Many different definitions of standard reference conditions are currently being used by organizations all over the world. The table below lists a few of them, but there are more. Some of these organizations used other standards in the past. For example, IUPAC's new value and follows the metric system (
Pascal is a metric unit, while
atmosphere is not). Natural gas companies in
Europe,
Australia, and
South America have adopted and as their standard
gas volume reference conditions, used as the base values for defining the
standard cubic meter. Also, the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) each have more than one definition of standard reference conditions in their various standards and regulations.
Comparison table ==International Standard Atmosphere==