How to effectively increase the Cetane number of the fuel?

FLYING-DUTCHMAN

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 28, 2001
Location
Netherlands
Can somebody tell me what to do to increase the cetane rating of diesel fuel.

Are there some products on the market yet? (who are effective, I am NOT talking about 1 or 2 points improvement)
 
S

SkyPup

Guest
Any product with an alkyl nitrate additive at 500ppm will boost cetane levels 4-6 units. Since you are in Europe with premium high quality high paraffinic content diesel fuel with a minimum 51 cetane units already, the addition of Amsoil Cetane Boost containing 2-Ethylhexyl Nitrate will raise your cetane level above 55. Power Service Diesel Kleen is another excellent product with the same cetane enhancer as is Redline Diesel Cetane Boost.

Ric flaming deleted by moderator


[ January 24, 2002: Message edited by: BKmetz ]</p>
 
S

SkyPup

Guest
The effectiveness of cetane-improvement additives tends to be linear with addition rate;

however, the improvement can vary with different blendstocks and in particular with hydrocarbon type.

Paraffins, which already have a high cetane number, respond best to additives;

and aromatics, which have a lower intrinsic cetane value, have a poorer response.

In practice, 500 ppm of the standard alkyl nitrate can increase the cetane number of typical diesel fuels by about 2 to 5 numbers.

The cost of additives needed to increase a diesel blend by 5 cetane numbers is about $0.50 per barrel.

However, because peroxides increase the rate of gum, varnish and sediment formation in borderline unstable fuels, they have been used only in extremely stable fuels.

With your high quality diesel fuel, the effect will be even better than with the crud sold as diesel here in North America.
 

jhewitt3

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2000
Location
Houston, Texas USA
TDI
2008 V10 Touareg 2 Sport
The maximum gain you can get with any additive (in small amounts) is about 6 cetane numbers. I use Synergyn 20+ cetane boost to achieve 6 numbers higher. I also sell an additive with a cetane number of 63. The synthetic diesel can be mixed with other diesels to achieve the desired cetane number or btu - but it is extremely expensive and should only be used for performance events where cetane is critical. Any fredTDi member gets a $10 discount when spending $40 by using the coupon code "fredtdi" ALL LOWERCASE SynDiesel
 

GeWilli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 6, 1999
Location
lost to new england
TDI
none in the fleet (99.5 Golf RIP, 96 B4V sold)
Adding a chemical cetane boost like Alkyl Nitrate really won't make a significant change, except in certain circumstances and with certain fuel.

it will help in colder climates, and Ric is actually right in that adding a BioDiesel you will naturally add the longer chain oils that boost the cetane.

I notice a difference when adding cetane boost to fuels other than Amoco Premier but not in the smoke level as much as the smoothness of the engine.

The A4 might be an easier platform to discern those changes than the A3/B4 as the older has different engine mounts and less noise isolation and thus masking some of the subtle differences. If the sound levels are lower it is easier to distinquish the difference IMHO.

If you are at 45 or so it is probably worth it to boost up to 50 at 41 the fuel is so crappy that it will help but you will still have problems.
 
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