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Concept
Cetane number
Summary
Cetane number (cetane rating) is an indicator of the combustion speed of diesel fuel and compression needed for ignition. It plays a similar role for diesel as octane rating does for gasoline. The CN is an important factor in determining the quality of diesel fuel, but not the only one; other measurements of diesel fuel's quality include (but are not limited to) energy content, density, lubricity, cold-flow properties and sulphur content.
The cetane number (or CN) of a fuel is defined by finding a blend of cetane and isocetane with the same ignition delay. Cetane has a cetane number defined to be 100, while isocetane's measured cetane number is 15, replacing the former reference fuel alpha-methylnaphthalene, which was assigned a cetane number of 0. Once the blend is known, the cetane number is calculated as a volume-weighted average, rounded to the nearest whole number, of cetane's 100 and heptamethylnonane's 15.
cetane number = % n-cetane + 0.15(% heptamethylnonane)
Cetane number is an inverse function of a fuel's ignition delay, the time period between the start of ignition and the first identifiable pressure increase during combustion of the fuel. In a particular diesel engine, higher cetane fuels will have shorter ignition delay periods than lower cetane fuels. Cetane numbers are only used for the relatively light distillate diesel oils. For heavy (residual) fuel oil two other scales are used, CCAI and CII.
Generally, diesel engines operate well with a CN from 48 to 50. Fuels with lower cetane number have longer ignition delays, requiring more time for the fuel combustion process to be completed. Hence, higher speed diesel engines operate more effectively with higher cetane number fuels.
In Europe, diesel cetane numbers were set at a minimum of 38 in 1994 and 40 in 2000. The standard for diesel sold in European Union, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland is defined by standard EN 590. Since 1 January 2001 EN 590 demands a minimum cetane index of 46 and a minimum cetane number of 51. Premium diesel fuel can have a cetane number as high as 60.
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