DIESEL ENGINES ARE NOTICEABLY NOISIER THAN SPARK IGNITION ENGINES.

DIESEL ENGINES ARE NOTICEABLY NOISIER THAN SPARK IGNITION ENGINES. AS A RESULT, MILITARY USE OF THE FUEL-EFFICIENT DIESEL ENGINE FOR ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION PURPOSES INCREASES THE NOISE-ABATEMENT PROBLEM. THE RESULTING INCREASED RISK OF ENEMY DETECTION FROM DIRECT-INJECTION MILITARY DIESELS PLACES A HIGH VALUE ON METHODS OF REDUCING THE COMBUSTION NOISE. WILLIAM C. PFEFFERLE ASSOCIATES (WCP) HAS INVENTED A PROPRIETARY CATALYTICALLY-ENHANCED MODIFICATION OF A DIESEL ENGINE WHICH OFFERS A NUMBER OF PROMISING FEATURES, INCLUDING SIGNIFICANTLY-REDUCED COMBUSTION NOISE LEVELS. USING CATALYSTS PLACED PERMANENTLY IN THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER OF A DIESEL ENGINE, WCP HAS DEMONSTRATED RAPID CONSTANT-VOLUME COMBUSTION OF DIESEL FUEL ACCOMPANIED BY A NOTICEABLY-LOWER NOISE LEVEL (CONFIRMED BY A PRESSURETRACE WITHOUT HIGH FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS) AND A COMBUSTION CHAMBER FREE OF VISIBLE SOOT. WE BELIEVE THIS SYSTEM CAN INEXPENSIVELY BUT SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER NOISE EMISSIONS IN FIELD DIESEL GENERATORS (AS WELL AS OTHER MILITARY DIESELS) WHILE IMPROVING FUEL ECONOMY AND POWER AND ALSO OFFERING OTHER IMPORTANT ADVANTAGES NOT WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS RFP. THIS PHASE I STUDY WILL CONDUCT FEASIBILITY EXPERIMENTATION TO MEASURE THE NOISE LEVEL REDUCTION OF THIS CATALYTIC DIESEL AT VARIOUS OPERATING CONDITIONS.