To prevent styrene from polymerization at ambient temperature, tertiary-butylcatechol (TBC) must be added as a stabilizer during storage and transport. TBC concentration levels in styrene need to be maintained between 10 - 15 mg/L. With optimum storage conditions, the process analyzers from Metrohm Applikon for photometric analyses ensure that the TBC concentration in styrene does not fall below this value. The method is based on ASTM D4590.
