The effect of extended storage on the properties of tung oil

Summary Tung oil has been stored in clean, well-filled gallon containers for more than three years and at the end of that time still met A.S.T.M. specifications. Storage locale (indoor, outdoor, sheltered, or unsheltered containers) and the exterior coating on the containers in exposed locations were found to be of less importance than protection of the stored oil from atmospheric oxygen. The most pronounced effect of prolonged storage on tung oil is a shortening of the heat test (gel time at 282°C.). Uncontaminated tung oil does not spontaneously isomerize during storage. One of the laboratories of the Bureau of Agricultural and Industrial Chemistry, Agricultural Research Administration, U. S. Department of Agriculture.