Empirical approach for the prediction of cetane number from the FAME composition

Cetane number is a prime indicator in evaluating the quality of biodiesel fuel in the realm of diesel engines. Standards have been established world wide for cetane number determination, for example ,ASTM D 613 in the USA, internationally, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard ISO 5165, etc. These methods are usually arduous and expensive; the values obtained are mostly subjected to some experimental error. Four biodiesels are considered as reference fuel for present investigation. Data are collected from the literature on the cetane number, physical properties and the FAME compositions of various biodiesel fuels. Initially, the cetane index is calculated by ASTM D 976 and ASTM D 4737, compared with the standard literature values for the reference biodiesels. The regression equations are developed for predicting the cetane number from their physical properties and FAME compositions. Finally, comparative study is made to suggest better options among the methodologies under study.