CETANE NUMBER

The cetane number is a measure of how readily

the fuel starts to burn (autoignites) under diesel
engine conditions. A fuel with a high cetane
number starts to burn shortly after it is injected
into the cylinder; therefore, it has a short ignition
delay period. Conversely, a fuel with a low
cetane number resists autoignition and has a
longer ignition delay period. Although the cetane
number of a fuel is assumed to predict its ignition
delay in any engine, the actual delay represented
by the cetane number is valid only for the single
cylinder engine in which it was measured. The
fuels performance in other engines may differ.
A fuels ignition delay is determined by
its chemistry. In a warm engine, the delay is
independent of the physical characteristics, such
as volatility and viscosity of the fuel.
Increasing the cetane number improves fuel
combustion, reduces white smoke on startup, and
tends to reduce NOx and PM emissions. NOx
seems to be reduced in all engines, while PM
reductions are engine-dependent. These cetane
number effects also tend to be non-linear in the
sense that increasing the cetane number produces
the greatest benefit when starting with a
relatively low cetane number fuel. Cetane
number also varies systematically with
hydrocarbon structure.
Normal paraffins have high cetane numbers that
increase with molecular weight.
Isoparaffins have a wide range of cetane
numbers, from about 10 to 80. Molecules with

many short side chains have low cetane numbers;

whereas those with one side chain of four or
more carbons have high cetane numbers.
Naphthenes generally have cetane numbers from
40 to 70. Higher molecular weight molecules
with one long side chain have high cetane
numbers; lower molecular weight molecules with
short side chains have low cetane numbers.
Aromatics have cetane numbers ranging from
zero to 60. A molecule with a single aromatic
ring with a long side chain will be in the upper
part of this range; a molecule with a single ring
with several short side chains will be in the lower
part. Molecules with two or three aromatic rings
fused together have cetane numbers below 20.
CETANE NUMBER AND OCTANE NUMBER
Cetane number (diesel fuel) and octane number
(gasoline) both measure the tendency of the fuel
to ignite spontaneously.
In the cetane number scale, high values represent
fuels that readily ignite and, therefore, perform
better in a diesel engine.
In the octane number scale, high values represent
fuels that resist spontaneous ignition and,
therefore, have less tendency to knock in a
gasoline engine. Because both scales were
developed so that the higher numbers represent
higher quality for the respective use, high cetane
number fuels have low octane numbers and vice
versa.
Hexadecane (cetane), cetane number = 100
1-Methylnaphthalene, cetane number = 0