Cleveland Flash and Fire Point

This method describes a test procedure for determining the flash and fire points, Cleveland Open Cup Tester, of all petroleum products except fuel oils and those having an opencup flash below 175°F. The flash point is the temperature at which a bituminous material, during heating, will evolve vapors that will temporarily ignites or flash when a small flame is brought in contact with them. The fire point is the temperature at which the evolve vapors will ignite and continue to burn.

To make the test, the material is heated in an open cup, and at intervals a small flame is applied near its surface. The lower temperature at which application of the test flame causes the vapors to ignite is recorded as the flash point while the temperature at which the vapors ignited and continue to burn for at least 5 seconds is recorded as the fire point. The flash and fire point test is purely a safety test. It indicates the maximum temperature to which the material can be safely heated.