Patent ID: 7289900

Claim:
An apparatus for determining the cetane number of a fuel, comprising: a constant-volume combustion chamber ( 9 ), a fuel injection nozzle ( 7 ) in the form of a temperature controlled injector mounted onto the combustion chamber for injecting fuel into the combustion chamber ( 9 ), means ( 11 ) for filling the combustion chamber ( 9 ) with compressed air, means ( 8 ) for heating the combustion chamber ( 9 ) and means ( 11 , 14 ) for recording the pressure generated in the combustion chamber ( 9 ) during ignition and combustion of fuel injected into the combustion chamber ( 9 ), an automatic sample supplier ( 1 ) for storing and supplying fuel samples whose cetane numbers are to be determined, and a high pressure pump ( 3 ) for pressurizing a selected fuel sample and supplying it to a high pressure fuel storage ( 5 ) which is connected to the fuel injection nozzle ( 7 ) for injection of the high pressure fuel into the combustion chamber ( 9 ) via the fuel injection nozzle ( 7 ).