cetane number
n. A performance rating for diesel fuels, with a higher number indicating greater fuel efficiency. The number corresponds to the percentage of cetane in a cetane-heptamethylnonane mixture, or (and originally) in a cetane-methylnaphthalene mixture, with the same ignition performance as the fuel being rated. Also called cetane rating.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
cetane number
n (Chemistry) 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 Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ce′tane num`ber
n. a measure of the ignition quality of diesel fuel.
[1930–35]
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