a measure of the quality of a diesel fuel expressed as the percentage of cetane in a mixture of cetane and 1-methylnapthalene of the same quality as the given fuel
Also called: cetane rating. Compare octane number
cetane number in American English
a number that increases with higher quality, representing the ignition properties of diesel engine fuel oils: it is determined by the percentage of cetane that must be mixed with a standard liquid to match the fuel oil's performance in a standard test engine
see also octane number
cetane number in Automotive Engineering
(siteɪn nʌmbər)
noun
(Automotive engineering: Fuels, oils, emissions, and other fluids)
A cetane number is a measure of how long it takes fuel to ignite after injection. A high cetane number indicates a short lag.
The cetane number has an effect on the pollutants emitted by a direct-injection engine.
This diesel has a minimum cetane number of 51, up from 48, which could lead to a five percent reduction in diesel consumption.
The higher the cetane number, the shorter the delay between injection and ignition, and the better the ignitionquality.