I get updates from T Boone Pickens here and there. His latest update talks about a different fuel for semi trucks. Since they are all diesel engines, what other fuels could be used in locomotives?
Basically about anything that will fit thru the injectors. They have been run in tests on Pure Veggie oil of all types there even was a Dash-8 that ran on a Coal Slurry in the late 80’s early 90’s IIRC that never got beyond Prototype. One company I drove for dumped all their USED motor oil into the Fuel tanks after a service for disposal. Yeah we smoked a little more but the POWER went up alot. Kerosene works great in the super cold Artic as a fuel since it will not gel up. Heck I know of a few guys that have even tried JET FUEL and made it work til their heads flew off.
It is not a matter of an alternative. It all gets down to the costs involved. If piston steam were cheaper, it would still be in use.
BNSF had some engines modiied to run LNG (natural gs) with a tank car between the engines.
The tests for LNG, propane and similar fuels required the diesels to be equipped with spark plugs. What fuel is used can be determined in part by how much extra maintenance expense you are willing to accept.
The BN (pre BNSF)_ and UP test units did not use spark plugs.
The Burlington Northern and Union Pacific test locomotives used locomotives modified to run on “Dual Fuel”. That means that a small amount of diesel fuel is injected into the cylinders along with the Natural gas and acts as an ignition source during the compression stroke. The diesels had modified injectors but were not spark initiated (i.e no spark plugs, they were still diesel cycle engines)
Here is the website of the company that supplied the equipment:
http://www.energyconversions.com/loco2.htm
The MK Rail built MK1200G switch engines do utilize CAT built spark initiated engines (based on the CAT 3500 series Diesel engine but spark plug equipped).
I’ve read that one issue with Dual Fuel diesels is that the NOx emissions can be higher than a regular diesel fueled engine. spark initiated gas engines are apparently better in this regard…
Technically “Diesel” Fuel is the Alternative fuel already since Diesel originally designed the engine to work on non-petroleum fuels.
Actually, the first Diesel engine was designed to work on mineral oil, but unmodified it ran on vegetable oil as well.
BTW would loco class diesel engines running on biodiesel have the same ‘maintainability’ issues (e.g. degraded gaskets) as automobile ones?
I thought the first diesel ran on coal dust.
"Trains to go nuclear
Plans are being prepared by the German railways for an atomic locomotive powered by a gas-cooled reactor using enriched uranium…"
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19325874.600-this-week-50-years-ago.html
Whatever happened to all the promises of the past. Atomic powered bombers carrying atom bombs, the N. S. Savannah, atomic powered locomotives, no more home electric meters with electricity from the atom, etc. when does that bright future arrive?