A low-viscosity synfuel composed of light oil, coal and water

A new type of synfuel composed of light oil, fine coal powder and water (OCWF) has been demonstrated as a promising clean fuel for replacement of light liquid fuel. This kind of fuel can offer several advantages over existing alternative fuels to oil such as coal-water mixture and coal-oil mixture in many respects, for example safety in transportation, lower ignition point than coal-water mixture, improved combustion efficiency due to microexplosion and water-gas process occurring during combustion, and low viscosity for fuel atomization through a nozzle. Coal powder used in this work was < 20 mu m in size. Water- and oil-based OCWF with light oil were prepared by adding suitable dispersants and emulsifiers. Conductivity measurement was used to distinguish the type of OCWF. The influences of ratio of components and nature of surfactants on the rheological properties and stability of OCWF were investigated. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.