Abstract
This paper represents an analysis of the economic impact of firing natural gas/diesel and natural gas/by-product oil mixtures in diesel engine power plants. The objects of analysis is a power plant with electricity generation capacity (300 kW). Using performance data of original diesel engines, the fuel consumption characteristics of the duel fuel engines were simulated. Then, economic assessment was carried out using the performance data and the net present value method. A special focus was given to the evaluation of fuel cost saving when firing natural gas/diesel and natural gas/by-product oil mixtures instead of the pure diesel firing case. Analyses were performed by assuming fuel price changes in the market as well as by using current prices. The analysis results showed that co-firing of natural gas/diesel and natural gas/by-product oil would provide considerable fuel cost saving, leading to meaningful economic benefits.