Abstract
Small diesel engines are in common use for electrical power generation in many remote areas. These engines may be readily converted to burn alternative fuels such as alcohols which may be produced locally from indigenous raw materials. The highly turbulent combustion chambers in these rugged engines are ideally suited to burning lean, spark-ignited mixtures thereby improving economy whilst reducing exhaust emissions. This paper describes the conversion of a 7. 5 kW divided chamber engine to spark ignition and its combustion performance with lean methanol mixtures.