Property Standard Test Method
Calculated
ASTM D 4737 Calculated Cetane
Cetane Index
Index by Four Variable Equations
ASTM D 976-80 Calculated
Cetane Index of Distillate Fuels
Description
Use Procedure B for Grade No. 2D S500.
Procedure B
CCI = -386.26 (D) + 0.1740 (T10) + 0.1215 (T50) + 0.01850
(T90) + 297.42 Where:
CCI = Calculated Cetane Index
D= Density at 15C, g/ml determined by Test Methods
D 1298 or D 4052
T10 = 10 percent recovery temperature, C, determined by test method
D 86 and corrected to standard barometric pressure
T50 = 50 percent recovery temperature, C, determined by test method
D 86 and corrected to standard barometric pressure
T90 = 90 percent recovery temperature, C, determined by test
method D 86 and corrected to standard barometric pressure At the time
of publication, Procedure B is commonly used to determine the
Calculated Cetane Index of S15. Work is in progress at ASTM
International to determine if a third procedure is required for ultra-low
sulfur diesel fuels.
While this method is listed in Table 1 of ASTM D 975, its use is not
recommended for low sulfur diesel fuel. ASTM D 4737 should
be used for ultra-low sulfur diesel fuels in the U.S. ASTM
D 976 is retained for use by the U.S. Navy and others
outside the U.S. where they use high-sulfur distillates
which can have higher aromatic levels and higher end
points and where the Calculated Cetane Index determined
by ASTM D 976 correlates better with the cetane number
determined by ASTM D 613.
Derived Cetane ASTM D 6890 Ignition Delay and
Number Derived Cetane Number (DCN) of
Diesel Fuel Oils by Combustion in a
Constant Volume Chamber
ASTM D 7170 Derived Cetane Number
(DCN) of Diesel Fuel
Oils Fixed Range Injection Period,
Constant Volume Combustion
Chamber Method
Aromaticity ASTM D 1319 Hydrocarbon Types in
Tests Liquid Petroleum Products by
Fluorescent Indicator Adsorption
(IP 156)
ASTM D 5186 Determination of
Aromatic Content of Diesel Fuels by
Supercritical Fluid Chromatography
A small specimen of diesel fuel oil is injected into a heated, temperature-
controlled constant volume chamber, which has previously been charged
with compressed air. Each injection produces a single-shot, compression
ignition combustion cycle. Ignition Delay (ID) is measured using sensors
that detect the start of fuel injection and the start of significant
combustion for each cycle. A complete sequence comprises 15
preliminary cycles and 32 further cycles. The ID measurements for the
last 32 cycles are averaged to produce the ID result. An equation converts
the ID result to a DCN.
A small specimen of diesel fuel oil is injected into a heated, temperature-
controlled constant volume chamber, which has previously been charged
with compressed air. Each injection produces a single-shot, compression
ignition combustion cycle. Ignition Delay (ID) is measured using sensors
that detect the start of fuel injection and the start of significant
combustion for each cycle. A complete sequence comprises two
preliminary cycles and 25 further cycles. The ID measurements for the
last 25 cycles are averaged to produce the ID result. An equation converts
the ID result to a DCN.
A small amount of sample is placed at the top of a special glass
adsorption column packed with activated silica gel. The top layer of the
silica gel in the column is treated with fluorescent dyes. Isopropyl alcohol
is used to transport the sample and the fluorescent dyes down the column.
Hydrocarbons are separated into bands of aromatics, olefins, and
saturates according to their affinity for the silica gel. The fluorescent dyes
are also selectively separated and make the boundaries of the aromatic,
olefin, and saturate zones visible under ultraviolet light. The volume
percentage of each hydrocarbon type is calculated from the length of each
zone in the column.
The sample is chromatographed on silica gel using supercritical carbon
dioxide as the mobile phase to separate the aromatics from the rest of the
sample and to separate the aromatics into monoaro-