My impression was that the air went into the cylinder, and a separate air
starter isn't used, but I could be wrong. I wasn't a marine engineer, I was
the navigator. Maybe Dave Ficken could anwser that.

Diesel fuel was used when manuevering for greater reliabilty and ease of
starting.



"Malcolm Moore" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:56:37 GMT, "Tony" wrote:

The large Sulzers and MANs used compressed air to start the engine. Their
was enough compressed air to get a a couple of starts, then you might
have
to wait to build pressure again. There was a guage on the bridge as I
recall
that indicated the reserve pressure.

Is the compressed air injected directly into the appropriate
cylinder(s) or is there a separate starter?

The
ship used DFM (diesel fuel marine)
when manuevering (starting/stopping) and heavy oil when out at sea. I
don't
remember the grade of bunker fuel. Some diesels can run right off crude
oil.

Why is it necessary to change fuels? Does heavy oil only work well at
normal running speeds?

snip

Thanks
Regards
Malcolm.