Future fuels and engines for railroad locomotives. Volume I: summary

Technical Report · Sun Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:5324406

Liddle, S G; Bonzo, B B; Purohit, G P; Stallkamp, J A

A study was made of the potential for reducing the dependence of railroads on petroleum fuel, particularly diesel No. 2. The study takes two approaches: (1) to determine how the use of diesel No. 2 can be reduced through increased efficiency and conservation, and (2) to use fuels other than diesel No. 2 both in diesel and other types of engines. The study consists of two volumes; volume 1 is a summary and volume 2 is the technical document. The study indicates that the possible reduction in fuel usage by increasing the efficiency of the present engine is limited; it is already highly energy efficient. The use of non-petroleum fuels, particularly the oil shale distillates, offers a greater potential. A coal-fired locomotive using any one of a number of engines appears to be the best alternative to the diesel-electric locomotive with regard to life-cycle cost, fuel availability, and development risk. The adiabatic diesel is the second-rated alternative with high thermal efficiency (up to 64%) as its greatest advantage. The risks associated with the development of the adiabatic diesel, however, are higher than those for the coal-fired locomotive. The advantage of the third alternative, the fuel cell, is that it produces electricity directly from the fuel. At present, the only feasible fuel for a fuel cell locomotive is methanol. Synthetic hydrocarbon fuels, probably derived from oil shale, will be needed if present diesel-electric locomotives are used beyond 1995. Because synthetic hydrocarbon fuels are particularly suited to medium-speed diesel engines, the first commercial application of these fuels may be by the railroad industry.

• Research Organization: Jet Propulsion Lab., Pasadena, CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AI01-78CS55151
• OSTI ID: 5324406
• Report Number(s): JPL-PUB-81-101-Vol.1-Summ.; ON: DE82011451
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
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33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
330102* -- Internal Combustion Engines-- Diesel
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DIESEL ENGINES
DIESEL FUELS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINES
EVALUATION
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL CELLS
FUEL CONSUMPTION
FUEL ECONOMY
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
FUELS
HEAT ENGINES
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
MATERIALS
MINERAL OILS
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
RAILWAYS
SHALE OIL
SYNTHETIC FUELS
SYNTHETIC PETROLEUM
TRAINS
VEHICLES