Isocetane
Encyclopedia
Isocetane is a highly branched alkane
Alkane
Alkanes are chemical compounds that consist only of hydrogen and carbon atoms and are bonded exclusively by single bonds without any cycles...

 used as a reference in determining the cetane number
Cetane number
Cetane number or CN is a measurement of the combustion quality of diesel fuel during compression ignition. It is a significant expression of diesel fuel quality among a number of other measurements that determine overall diesel fuel quality.- Definition :...

 of diesel. It is given a cetane number of 15. Isocetane replaced 1-methylnaphthalene
1-Methylnaphthalene
1-Methylnaphthalene is an aromatic hydrocarbon. It has a cetane number of zero, and was previously used as the lower reference for cetane number. However, due to the expense and handling difficulty of 1-Methylnaphthalene, it was replaced in this capacity by isocetane, with a CN of 15.-External...

as the lower reference for cetane number (1-methylnaphthalene has cetane number zero) owing to the expense of 1-methylnaphthalene, and difficulty in safe handling.
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