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
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
ce′tane num′ber,
- Chemistrya measure of the ignition quality of a diesel engine fuel by comparison with various mixtures in which the alpha form of methylnaphthalene is given a standard value of 0 and cetane is given a standard value of 100. Also called ce′tane rat′ing.
- 1930–35
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