What are the characteristics of diesel fuel?

[DominicMarie]

Diesel fuel has the following characteristics: 1. Ignition quality: High-speed diesel engines require that diesel fuel rapidly mixes with air to form a uniform mixture upon injection into the combustion chamber and immediately auto-ignites and burns. Therefore, the fuel must be prone to spontaneous ignition. The time interval from when the fuel starts to be injected into the cylinder until ignition begins is called the ignition delay period or ignition lag. A lower auto-ignition point of the fuel means a shorter ignition delay period, indicating better ignition performance. Generally, the cetane number is used as an indicator to evaluate the auto-ignition quality of diesel fuel. 2. Fluidity: The pour point is an important indicator for assessing the fluidity of diesel fuel, representing the lowest temperature at which the fuel can be transported without heating. The pour point of diesel fuel refers to the highest temperature at which the oil loses its fluidity under specified cooling conditions. When diesel fuel contains a high proportion of normal alkanes with high boiling points, the pour point is also high. Generally, the selected diesel fuel should have a pour point that is 3 to 5°C lower than the ambient temperature.