Sprintcyclist wrote on Oct 13
th, 2020 at 7:29pm:
I'm pretty vague on this, thought ship engine ran on heavy diesel fuel.
One of the posts mentioned ' ........ Heavy Fuel Oil ....... '
Quote:............... Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) is a category of fuel oils of a tar-like consistency identified as a "worse case substance".[This quote needs a citation]
Also known as bunker fuel, or residual fuel oil, HFO is the result or remnant from the distillation and cracking process of crude oil.
For this reason, HFO is contaminated with several different compounds including aromatics, sulfur and nitrogen, making emission upon combustion more polluting compared to other fuel oils.[1]
HFO is predominantly used as a fuel source for marine vessel propulsion due to its relatively low cost compared to cleaner fuel sources such as distillates.[2][3]
The use and carriage of HFO on-board vessels presents several environmental concerns, namely the risk of oil spill and the emission of toxic compounds and particulates including black carbon.
Presently, the use of HFOs is banned as a fuel source for ships travelling in the Antarctic as part of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code).[4]
For similar reasons, an HFO ban in Arctic waters is currently underway as IMO committed to the prohibition of the use or carriage of HFO within the next several years. ...................
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_fuel_oil You are talking about two different eras/engines.
The one linked by Carl D was in the Titanic. It "ran" on steam (or more correctly the expansion of steam). That ship carried some 6000 tons of coal to fire its boilers.
At the time locomotives, too, were steam powered.
Diesel engines were more efficient, producing more power/torque per fuel unit consumed. As a result Steam engines fell out of favour.
The engine I linked does, indeed, run on heavy fuel oil (a very basic distillate).
That engine was in service in the mid noughties (I believe several still are, in various sizes/configurations).