Why cant coal gas be made to power diesel engines?

Question

Why cant coal gas be made to power diesel engines?

Answer 1

maybe if steam powered cars make a sstrong showing at the next auto shows!

Answer 2

Its very inefficient, but not new. The answer to reduce oil dependency is, lighter smarter cars, with modern Diesel engines. I drove in 1978 a VW Diesel in Germany with 68mpg. Today, it is possible to get 80-90 mpg, but not in a 8000lbs SUV.

Answer 3

They can so easy but, it a problem because of gov and big oil. With the help of the greenies.

Answer 4

In the museum at Invercargill NZ is an electric generator powered with coal gas which provided Invercargill's first electricity grid power.

Answer 5

It can most likely.   It's simmilar to natural gas, which can be used in niesel engines if they are set up for its use.

Answer 6

It can, and the technology to do so is anything but high-tech - the Germans were doing this during most of the Second World War; the problem is its environmental impact.

Using coal for fuel is problematic when you consider what comes out of your tailpipe.....

Answer 7

Diesels work on high compression igniting the fuel, so coal gas would't work. However, a petrol (low compression) engine may run on coal gas, as during World War 2, some cars were adapted to run on the gas (methane) from chicken manure,which was carried on the roof of the vehicle in large mattress sized bags. Re-fueling must have been an adventurous operation !!!!!.