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[quote user="MichaelSol"]When there is a 5:1 cost advantage in fuel, railroads are smart enough to figure out how to solve "the water problem", and plenty of financial incentive to do so.At $60/ton 11,500 BTU coal, and at $3.65 per gallon diesel, adjusted for 13% efficiency coal, 32% efficiency diesel, the current adjusted cost for 100,000 BTUs of coal is $2.01 and the equivalent cost of 100,000 BTUs of diesel is $8.21. The coal costs 3 cents per pound. Bulk Water costs between 0.1 and 0.5 cents per gallon. Historically, steam locomotives used 0.7 gallon per pound of coal used, so, the cost of water for each ton of coal used would be about $1.00-$2.20. Desalinated water would cost about $3.50-$5.00. That compares to the cost of lubricant saved over diesel operation of $10.21.The "water problem" is more of a "water excuse" that has little relevance to the overall cost of operation in comparing Diesel-electric with reciprocating Steam. [/quote]We had an extensive discussion on steam_tech@yahoogroups.com recently about using waternot suitable for other purposes. If we can do that we can kill two birds with one stone.
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