Diesanol
Page 11
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THE FIRST MAN diesel engine adapted to use pure methanol has gone into service with the Berlin Passenger Transport Authority.
Although methanol can be ignited purely by compression, it would require a compression ratio of over 25 to 1 which would overload the mechanical components.
So the methanol is injected in the same way as a diesel engine, but is ignited by a sparking plug. The compression ratio has not been changed and the exhaust emissions are claimed to be extremely low.
The engine used for the conversion is the in-line six cylinder D2566 and other modifications, in addition to the spark ignition system, involve using methanol-resistant materials for the fuel line components.
Methanol has approximately half the calorific value of diesel, so the fuel tank capacity has been doubled to maintain the operational range.