Development of the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) Cetane Index

Early in 1980 a task force was formed under the auspices of the Canadian General Standards Board to develop a cetane index which predicts the cetane number of diesel fuels produced from synthetic crudes as equally well as fuels from conventional petroleum crudes. Using a series of diesel fuels, with cetane numbers in the range 28 to 63, an index using the fuel properties, aniline point, distillation range, density and viscosity was developed. This index is shown to be superior to other indices currently in use, particularly for synthetic and part synthetic fuels. The index is currently in use by a number of Canadian refiners and is expected very shortly to receive full Petroleum Committee approval as a CGSB Test Method.