ABSTRACT
Energy characteristics of specific solid fuel resources and the combustion systems they require for power generation were considered in some detail in Chapter 6. In this chapter, however, attention will be given to general energy properties of important liquid fuel resources. Availability of crude oil reserves, ease of storage and handling of distillate liquid fuels, along with the broad utilization of oil-fired combustion systems have contributed to making liquid hydrocarbon fuels a major energy resource in today's world economy. The critical dependency on petroleum-based fuels of mobility propulsion systems such as spark and compression engines, as well as gas turbine engines, is basic to their present state of development. The combustion characteristics and specific nature of each of these three liquid fuel-engine interfaces will be treated in detail separately in later chapters. With the projected shortage in future oil reserves, power and propulsion engineering will require a greater emphasis on utilizing liquid fuel alternates and potential application of synthetic liquid fuels.
