What is a cetan number?
The
cetan number is a number from 0 to 100, which points to the relative flammable properties of diesel fuel. It is one of a number of measurable factors that indicate the overall characteristics and quality of diesel fuel. It is also one of the most important of these factors. If the diesel fuel consisted of pure cetane, a diesel fuel component that lights the easiest way, it would be assigned to a number of 100. In general, the higher the cyanus number of a particular fuel, the higher the quality of the fuel.
The diesel fuel contains hundreds of different hydrocarbons, of which Cetan is only one. The fuel must be ignited under compression, and because Cetane ignites most often under the conditions inside the internal combustion chambers of diesel engines, it was chosen as a standard for description of relative diesel engdition. In fact, the cetane number of any diesel fuel is on average all Cetan's numbers of different hydrocarbons found in this fuel.
Cobsustibility of diesel fuel affects how the diesel engine runs. FuelWith a low number of cetane, the diesel engine can run slowly and has higher emissions because the fuel is not burned as effectively as it could be. It can also cause the engine to be more difficult to run. Diesel fuel with a high cetane number is easier to ignite, burn more accurately and deliver more energy than fuels with lower numbers.
Thedesign of diesel engines and diesel fuel components dictates that most diesel engines will achieve maximum fuel efficiency with a cetanus number of approximately 55. The higher number of general does not produce more energy, fuel efficiency or reduce emissions, although in some very high dietiel engines it may be worldwide. Cetan numbers for matricisel fuel. Most of these assessments ranges from 40 to 51.
To determine the number of cetanus, the fuel is tested using a specially designed diesel engine with variable compression. INObviously, these engines are relatively expensive and can be difficult to gain access to testing; This number is obtained by another method and is not the same as the number of cetane, although these two are often considered interchangeable.