Cetanes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A class of hydrocarbons found in diesel fuel that serve as a standard for measuring combustion quality
2. Specific aliphatic hydrocarbons that are used to evaluate the ignition properties of diesel fuels
3. Organic compounds that impact the efficiency of diesel engines by influencing their combustion characteristics

Etymology: Cetane is named after the whale. The chemical was named from Latin "cetus", meaning "whale", because the substance was first obtained from spermaceti, the waxy oil found in the head cavity of the sperm whale. The "-ane" ending is the standard chemistry suffix used for saturated hydrocarbons, the same ending found in methane and propane, so the name marks the compound as a member of that family. The plural "cetanes" refers to the family of compounds with this rating-related role, or to several different samples of the substance. In diesel fuel, cetane is the reference hydrocarbon against which ignition quality is measured: a higher cetane number means the fuel ignites more readily under compression, which smooths combustion in the engine.