I asked on the Trains Locomotive forum if a GTEL could run on diesel fuel. The answer was yes.
BaltACD replied:
My understanding is they could burn anything that was liquid and flammable. Jetting and fuel pump changes would be necessary for the different viscosity of the fuels. Any other changes are beyond me.
Blue Streak 1 replied
Balt is correct . The main changes are fuel pumps, filters, fuel lines, burner can designs, igniters.
So a gas trubine powered locomotive CAN run on just about any liquid fuel with the necessary changes to accomodate the fuel type.
I believe UP had a propane fired turbine an an expermint. but was later converted back into a gas turbine due to fuel problems.
Liquid fuel can also damage turbine blades. In the '70's, I worked on a project to coat Pratt and Whitney turbine blades to minimize such damage. I was nowhere near high enough in the project to know what fuels were used. I still have one of the sample blades around here, somewhere.
Ed
The turbines could burn just about any fuel. Availability and cost are the limiting factors. UP used low cost petroleum products. As the price/availability of fuel increased, the turbine solution was dropped. I was aware that the 'coal' turbine experiment ran into issues with blade damage.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
I have read that after time, the use of heavy fuel oil (Bunker C) had an adverse effect on the fuel delivery systems, and corroded of the turbine blades in the GETL. Did Union Pacific ever consider the use of aviation fuels (jet fuel)? Or would this have been too volatile?