ORIGINAL: gcb
Andy,
You seem to have made a great discovery.
We have probably all discovered having to increase compression when the ether content gets low. Since kero is the power ingredient, it definitely runs hotter. I have always added ether so it will run at a lower compression setting...less stress on the parts. I'm wondering how much running at a higher compression will shorten the life of the engine. Still, considering the decrease in fuel cost, perhaps it will be justified.
You have tried ABC and AAO, I wonder if iron/steel will run OK or perhaps get thermal runaway.
I wonder if you could use a glow that has not been converted to diesel. I think you could adjust head shims to get the optimum compression setting, and you could use the glow plug with booster to heat the engine up to running temp. When you disconnect the booster, the glow plug should assume the ambient temp of the combustion chamber since there is no alcohol to sustain a catalytic reaction. The glow plug might eliminate the need for a ether prime.
Hmmm. all the possibilities!
George
Hi George,
Yes, there seem to be a lot of possibilities. As in working on engine design to ENHANCE its capacity to run on just kerosene. The very early diesels had primitive metallurgy, fits and finishes. To get them to run, ether was an absolute necessity. And the world proceeded from there.
So far, subjectively, it DOES appear that an all kero fuel makes the engine run hotter. Hotter, but so far, not TOO hot,,, so far. Hundreds of diesel engines to try.
I have a PAW and a Frog of some sort that will be abused today. Stay tuned.
The glow plug boost is something that I'll be trying, in due time. The device has a means to adjust compression on the fly. Two contras have been made. One with a shallow trumpet shaped combustion chamber and one that is flat simulating what you get within a standard diesel. This device will also be run on glow to see what can be learned.