SLOW-SPEED TWO-STROKE DIESEL ENGINE TESTS USING COAL-BASED FUELS

This paper describes recent performance tests of a diesel engine on coal-based fuels. The test fuels included two coal-derived liquids, a coal/oil slurry and a coal/water slurry. The concept of a coal-fueled diesel engine is not new. Direct combustion of coal dust and other dry fuels in diesel engines was investigated extensively in Germany prior to 1940. A number of small-scale experiments have also been performed in the United States since 1945. The present tests were run in a slow-speed two-stroke engine of the type used extensively for marine propulsion applications. Performance data are presented for each of the coal-based test fuels and compared with diesel fuel operation.