1. Scope
1.1 This automated laboratory test method covers the quantitative determination of the ignition characteristics of conventional diesel fuel oil, oil-sands based fuels, blends of fuel containing biodiesel material, diesel fuel oils containing cetane number improver additives, and is applicable to products typical of ASTM Specification D 975 grades No. 1-D and 2-D regular and low-sulfur diesel fuel oils, European standard EN 590, and Canadian standards CAN/CGSB-3.517 and 3.6-2000. The test method may also be applied to the quantitative determination of the ignition characteristics of diesel fuel blending components.
1.2 This test method measures the ignition delay and utilizes a constant volume combustion chamber with direct fuel injection into heated, compressed air. An equation converts an ignition delay determination to a derived cetane number (DCN).
1.3 This test method covers the ignition delay range from 3.6 to 5.0 milliseconds (55.3 to 40.5 DCN). The combustion analyzer can measure shorter and longer ignition delays but precision may be affected.
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard.
1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) 
The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.
ASTM Standards
D613 Test Method for Cetane Number of Diesel Fuel Oil
D975 Specification for Diesel Fuel Oils
D1193 Specification for Reagent Water
D4057 Practice for Manual Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products
D4175 Terminology Relating to Petroleum, Petroleum Products, and Lubricants
D4177 Practice for Automatic Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products
D5854 Practice for Mixing and Handling of Liquid Samples of Petroleum and Petroleum Products
D6299 Practice for Applying Statistical Quality Assurance and Control Charting Techniques to Evaluate Analytical Measurement System Performance
D6300 Practice for Determination of Precision and Bias Data for Use in Test Methods for Petroleum Products and Lubricants
D6708 Practice for Statistical Assessment and Improvement of Expected Agreement Between Two Test Methods that Purport to Measure the Same Property of a Material
E456 Terminology Relating to Quality and Statistics
ISO Standards
ISO4259 Petroleum products--Determination and application of precision data in relation to methods of test
EN Standard
EN590 Automotive Fuels--Diesel--Requirements and Test Methods
Energy Institute Standard
IP41 Ignition Quality of Diesel Fuels--Cetane Engine Test Method
Canadian Standards
CAN/CGSB3.6-2000 Automotive Diesel Fuel--Specification
Index Terms
cetane number; derived cetane number; diesel performance; ignition characteristic; ignition delay; Automated procedures--petroleum products analysis; Cetane number; Constant volume chamber; Derived cetane number (DCN); Diesel engine fuel oils; Diesel performance; Performance--petroleum products/applications; Ignition--petroleum products;
DOI: 10.1520/D6890-03A
ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.
Citing ASTM Standards
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