Cetane Testing of Stored Diesel
Cetane number or ignition quality, cleanliness, and stability are things we think about when we have stored diesel fuel.
The Cetane number is a measure of the fuel’s ability to ignite and should be a minimum of 40. A higher number does not necessarily mean better fuel but a lower cetane number indicates fuel that will not meet the standards of most engine manufacturers.
Cost- Cetane testing can be expensive, as much as $1200 per sample, but mostly because of the shipping requirements involved with sending fuel to a lab. Cetane testing by your fuel polishing company on site or when the sample is transported back to the company office to be graded is more convenient and less expensive – $ 150.00 to $ 200.00.
Definitions: A gasoline’s octane number is a measure of its ability to resist knocking as it burns in the combustion chamber of an engine. The cetane number is one of the most commonly cited indicators of diesel fuel quality. It measures the readiness of the fuel to auto-ignite when injected into the engine. It is generally dependent on the composition of the fuel and can impact the engine’s start ability, noise level, and exhaust emissions.
Building Engineers usually like to know what the cetane levels are and want a cetane test for stored generator diesel tanks because those fuels sit in the tank for over a year in most cases waiting to be used for emergencies. Having an annual cetane test of standby generator fuel is recommended along with annual full filtering or fuel polishing of your fuel and reduces liability for the building engineer.
Annual full filtering or fuel polishing does ensure the cleanliness and maintain cetane in stored fuels. What is cetane in Diesel fuel?
Contact us for more information or to have your fuel polished and cetane or octane tested.
