Cetane Number A rating on a scale used to indicate how quickly a fuel will ignite in a diesel engine, a figure of merit

for diesel fuel.( as the octane number is a figure of merit for gasoline burned in spark ignition engines ) A diesel engine run on a fuel with a lower cetane number than it was designed for will be harder to start, noisier, operate roughly and have higher emissions

 A substance that ignited very quickly, cetane (nhexadecane) was arbitrarily given a rating of 100, and a substance that was slow to ignite, alphamethylnapthalene (later called 1methylnapthalene), was assigned a rating of zero.
Values on this scale were named cetane numbers

 The cetane number is the percentage by volume of cetane in the mixture that has the same performance as the fuel being tested

 Often the cetane number is not determined experimentally by an engine test. Instead an estimate is made from the fuels specific gravity and the temperature at which half of a sample will boil away.1 Such estimates are called cetane indexes, not cetane numbers. An improved method relies on the temperatures at which 10%, 50% and 90% of the sample boils away.

 Cetane Number is a measure of the ignition quality of a diesel fuel. It is often mistaken as a measure of fuel quality. Cetane number is actually a measure of a fuel's ignition delay. This is the time period between the start of injection and start of combustion (ignition) of the fuel. In a particular diesel engine, higher cetane fuels will have shorter ignition delay periods than lower cetane fuels.

 Diesel fuels with cetane number lower than minimum engine requirements can cause rough engine operation. They are more difficult to start, especially in cold weather or at high altitudes. They accelerate lube oil sludge formation. Many low cetane fuels increase engine deposits resulting in more smoke, increased exhaust emissions and greater engine wear.

 Octane Number( for gasoline engines) Definition: A value used to indicate the resistance of a motor fuel to knock. Octane numbers are based on a scale on which isooctane is 100 (minimal knock) and heptane is 0 (bad knock).
Also Known As: Octane Rating

 Octane The octane quality of a gasoline is its ability to resist detonation, a form of abnormal combustion. Detonation occurs when the air-fuel mixture reaches a temperature and/or pressure at which it can no longer keep from self igniting. Two types of abnormal combustion are common: the first is detonation as previously mentioned and the other is pre-ignition.

 octane number figure of merit representing the resistance of gasoline to premature detonation when exposed to heat and pressure in the combustion chamber of an internal-combustion engine. Such detonation is wasteful of the energy in the fuel and potentially damaging to the engine; premature detonation is indicated by knocking or pinging noises
that occur as the engine operates

 If an engine running on a particular gasoline makes such noises, they can be lessened or eliminated by using a gasoline with a higher octane number

 The octane rating is a measure of the autoignition resistance of gasoline (petrol) and other fuels used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines. It's a measure of anti-detonation of a gasoline or fuel.

Octane number is the number which gives the percentage, by volume, of iso-octane in a mixture of isooctane and normal heptane, that would have the same anti-knocking capacity as the fuel which is under consideration.