ASTM D6890-03 - 10.6.2003
 
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

E29-22

Standard Practice for Using Significant Digits in Test Data to Determine Conformance with Specifications

E456-13a(2022)e1

Standard Terminology Relating to Quality and Statistics (Includes all amendments and changes 4/16/2024).

ISO 4010

Diesel EnginesCalibrating Nozzle, Delay Pintle Type

ISO 4259

D975-26c

Standard Specification for Diesel Fuel (Includes all amendments and changes 7/20/2026).

D1193-24

Standard Specification for Reagent Water

D4057-22

Standard Practice for Manual Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products

D4175-24e2

Standard Terminology Relating to Petroleum Products, Liquid Fuels, and Lubricants (Includes all amendments and changes 6/9/2026).

D4177-22e1

Standard Practice for Automatic Sampling of Petroleum and Petroleum Products (Includes all amendments and changes 3/24/2023).

D5854-25

Standard Practice for Mixing and Handling of Liquid Samples of Petroleum and Petroleum Products

D6708-24

Standard Practice for Statistical Assessment and Improvement of Expected Agreement Between Two Test Methods that Purport to Measure the Same Property of a Material

D6300-26

Standard Practice for Determination of Precision and Bias Data for Use in Test Methods for Petroleum Products, Liquid Fuels, and Lubricants

CAN/CGSB 3.520

CAN/CGSB-3.517

IP 41

Ignition Quality of Diesel FuelsCetane Engine Test Method Available from Institute of Petroleum, 61 New Cavendish St., London, W1G 7AR, U.K.

Automotive FuelsDieselRequirements and Test Methods Available from European Committee for Standardization. Central Secretariat: rue de Stassart, 36, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.

D6299-26

Standard Practice for Applying Statistical Quality Assurance and Control Charting Techniques to Evaluate Analytical Measurement System Performance

D613-26

Standard Test Method for Cetane Number of Diesel Fuel Oil