Thanks for posting this article. After reading it, I did a lot of googling. To my surprise, a german oil company already seems to add this kind of oil to its premium high cetane diesel.
Originally Posted By: Shannow
II or III by the looks of it.
Wonder how similar regular hydrocarbons would perform on the cetane test.
Good question, although regular hydrocarbons is a broad term. I believe this is where the idea of 2-stroke oil as a combustion improver for diesel engines stems from. All this may be kind of internet hearsay, but it has been suggested that long straight chained paraffins feature the best autoignition. On the other hand there is the fact that these long chained molecules have:
1.) a higher viscosity = poorer spray pattern
2.) a lower volatility = poorer atomization
Imho, overall combustion quality depends on more than just the cetane number. Point 2 is especially valid for FAME biodiesel also, albeit it has a cetane no in the high 50s.
Hopefully we will see hydrotreated vegetable oils being commercialized in the near future or even replacing FAME.
