While selecting an ideal fuel for domestic or industrial purpose we should keep in mind that the fuel selected

must possess the following

characteristic properties.
1. It should possess high calorific value.
2. It should have proper ignition temperature. The ignition temperature of the fuel should neither be too low nor too high.
3. It should not produce poisonous products during combustion. In other words, it should not cause pollution o combustion.
4. It should have moderate rate of combustion.
5. Combustion should be easily controllable i.e., combustion of fuel should be easy to start or stop as and when required.
6. It should not leave behind much ash on combustion.
7. It should be easily available in plenty.
8. It should have low moisture content.
9. It should be cheap.
10. It should be easy to handle and transport.

Heating value[edit]
The heating value (or energy value or calorific value) of a substance, usually a fuel or food (see food energy), is the amount of heat released
during the combustion of a specified amount of it. The energy value is a characteristic for each substance. It is measured in units of energy per
unit of the substance, usually mass, such as: kJ/kg, kJ/mol, kcal/kg, Btu/lb. Heating value is commonly determined by use of a bomb calorimeter.

Higher heating value[edit]

The quantity known as higher heating value (HHV) (or gross energy or upper heating value or gross calorific value (GCV) or higher calorific
value (HCV)) is determined by bringing all the products of combustion back to the original pre-combustion temperature, and in particular
condensing any vapor produced. Such measurements often use a standard temperature of 25C. This is the same as the thermodynamic heat of
combustion since the enthalpy change for the reaction assumes a common temperature of the compounds before and after combustion, in which
case the water produced by combustion is liquid.
The higher heating value takes into account the latent heat of vaporization of water in the combustion products, and is useful in calculating
heating values for fuels where condensation of the reaction products is practical (e.g., in a gas-fired boiler used for space heat). In other words,
HHV assumes all the water component is in liquid state at the end of combustion (in product of combustion) and that heat below 150C can be
put to use.

lower heating value[edit]

The quantity known as lower heating value (LHV) (net calorific value (NCV) or lower calorific value (LCV)) is determined by subtracting the heat
of vaporization of the water vapor from the higher heating value. This treats any H 2O formed as a vapor. The energy required to vaporize the
water therefore is not released as heat.
LHV calculations assume that the water component of a combustion process is in vapor state at the end of combustion, as opposed to the higher
heating value (HHV) (a.k.a. gross calorific valueor gross CV) which assumes that all of the water in a combustion process is in a liquid state after
a combustion process.
The LHV assumes that the latent heat of vaporization of water in the fuel and the reaction products is not recovered. It is useful in comparing fuels
where condensation of the combustion products is impractical, or heat at a temperature below 150C cannot be put to use.

The above is but one definition of lower heating value adopted by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and uses a reference temperature of
60F (15.56C).
Another definition, used by Gas Processors Suppliers Association (GPSA) and originally used by API (data collected for API research project 44),
is the enthalpy of all combustion products minus the enthalpy of the fuel at the reference temperature (API research project 44 used 25C. GPSA
currently uses 60F), minus the enthalpy of the stoichiometric oxygen (O2) at the reference temperature, minus the heat of vaporization of the
vapor content of the combustion products.
The distinction between the two is that this second definition assumes that the combustion products are all returned to the reference temperature
and the heat content from the condensing vapor is considered not to be useful. This is more easily calculated from the higher heating value than
when using the preceding definition and will in fact give a slightly different answer.
Octane number is the measure of the resistance of gasoline against detonation or preignition of the fuel in the engine. it is measured
relative to the mixture of iso octane (2,2,4 trimethylpentane) and n-heptane. A fuel with 100 octane has the same preignition properties
as 100% 2,2,4 trimethylpentane.
Higher octane fuel has a greater resistance to autoignition under higher combustion pressure and heat. While octane is not a measure of
power, higher octane allows more power to be extracted from the fuel by using higher compression and
Cetane number is the measure of combustion quality of diesel oil or it is the measure of the ignition delay. the higher the cetane number
of diesel the shorter the ignition delay, and the greater the fuel quality, and vice versa. A short delay affords more time for diesel fuel to
burn completely.

Both Cetane Number (CN) and Octane Number, known also as Research Octane Number (RON), are expressions of the autoignition
resistance of a fuel. The differences are significant for each fuel type. In diesel fuel, the fuel needs to ignite quickly to provide more time
to complete burning. Cetane expresses the speed to autoignite in a diesel engine. Diesels need early ignition since they do not have
spark plugs and distributors. A high cetane fuel acts like a timing advance, igniting the fuel during the compression stroke, thereby
allowing a more complete burn as the piston gets to the top dead center.

Gasoline engines use ignition systems to trigger the combustion process in fuel. The higher Octane Number means the opposite that a
high Cetane Number means, but offers the same for performance. In a gasoline engine with higher compression, the ignition system
starts combustion before the piston finishes compressing the fuel. A high octane fuel supports even flame propagation under high heat
and compression. This means that the fuel burns at a steady rate and speed even under high pressure. Lower octane fuels will
predetonate under high heat and pressure conditions. This means that the fuel will have multiple unstable flames. Without a single front,
this causes pressure wakes in the combustion chamber, and robs the engine of power. The fuel is consumed in small explosions, like
popcorn in a pan, rather than one single explosion pushing the piston. This preigniting popcorn is known as knocking and pinging
because of the sound, and is indicative of this loss of power due to combustion instability.

High cetane in diesel allows the fuel to start burning early in the compression stroke of a diesel for more performance. Higher
cetane means more performance in diesel, since no diesel has no external ignition timing control.

High octane in gasoline allows the fuel to resist preignition under high pressure and heat, and allows a steady propagation of
a single explosion to push the piston once the fuel is combusted by the ignition system.

Cetane and diesel are opposite in what they measure, but the result is the same. High cetane has a low resistance to
preignition, while high octane has a high resistance to preignition; both high cetane and high octane provide the ability to extract more
power from fuel.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/The_difference_between_octane_rating_and_cetane_number_or_rating#ixzz2rL36EoZG