Cetane Increasement

[romad]

I finally received an answer from the Arizona Department of Agriculture on the AZ cetane number and it is 40! Since I'm used to 53 (CARB D2) and 70 (Propel Renewable Diesel), how much cetane additive will I have to add to a 16 gallon tank to raise it from 40 to 53?

 

[Lightflyer1]

The spec is a minimum of 40. I doubt anyone actually sells 40 cetane fuel though. Most will be at least slightly above this. Look at the 2018 Infineum fuel report for info. The cars still run fine on it. You are going to have to add a huge amount of additive (depending on the one you use to some extent too) to cover that big a spread. Most claim a gain of 5 points so go figure from there. A waste of money though if you ask me.

https://www.infineuminsight.com/media/2228/infineum-wdfqs-2018-v10-14112018.pdf

 

[romad]

Yes, I saw the report; it is totally useless without actual locations and brands. AFAIK, there is only U.S. region that has good Cetane number D2 and that is California with its 53 Cetane minimum. This is the only thing I feel CARB has done right. Since the other 49 states and the Federal government refuse to require anything higher than 40, I sincerely doubt the oil companies would spend the money to produce anything higher.



I looked at Amsoil Diesel Cetane Boost and it looks like it will be the best as about 3 oz/10 gallons will give a boost of 10 or a boost of 7 for 15 gallons. That should be OK, though I may use 4 oz.

 

[Lightflyer1]

I don't know what fuel you are buying but all of the fuel I have bought since ULSD started, has worked just fine for me, regardless of the cetane number. Why the insistence on 50 to 70 cetane fuel? I just don't see the reason. I have tried many additives over the years and have seen no benefit to using them except for very cold weather use.

 

[romad]

Since I bought it in 2011, it has mainly been CARB Diesel which has a minimum number of 53, but for about a year and a half I was using Propel Renewable Diesel with its 70 number. The month I drove to TDIFest in 2012 and used D2 with minimum 40 Cetane the car smoked like crazy and was much more "noisy". With me moving to AZ, I'd like to keep it running closer to what it does on CARB Diesel. I've just been adding Standyne Lubricity additive but wanted to see what I'll need to use for the lower quality fuel in AZ.