95-457: The diesel engine , named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel , is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression ; thus, the diesel engine is called a compression-ignition engine (CI engine). This contrasts with engines using spark plug -ignition of the air-fuel mixture, such as
190-413: A carcinogen or "probable carcinogen" and is known to increase the risk of heart and respiratory diseases. In principle, a diesel engine does not require any sort of electrical system. However, most modern diesel engines are equipped with an electrical fuel pump, and an electronic engine control unit. However, there is no high-voltage electrical ignition system present in a diesel engine. This eliminates
285-428: A petrol engine ( gasoline engine) or a gas engine (using a gaseous fuel like natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas ). Diesel engines work by compressing only air, or air combined with residual combustion gases from the exhaust (known as exhaust gas recirculation , "EGR"). Air is inducted into the chamber during the intake stroke, and compressed during the compression stroke. This increases air temperature inside
380-638: A barrow. He attended a Protestant -French school and soon became interested in social questions and technology. Being a very good student, 12-year-old Diesel received the Société pour l'Instruction Elémentaire bronze medal and had plans to enter Ecole Primaire Supérieure in 1870. At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War the same year, his family were deported to England, settling in London, where Diesel attended an English-speaking school. Before
475-651: A daughter of a Nuremberg merchant, in Paris in 1855 and became a leather goods manufacturer there. Shortly after his birth, Diesel was given away to a Vincennes farmer family, where he spent his first nine months. When he was returned to his family, they moved into the flat 49 in the Rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi . At the time, the Diesel family suffered from financial difficulties, thus young Rudolf Diesel had to work in his father's workshop and deliver leather goods to customers using
570-450: A diesel engine drops at lower loads, however, it does not drop quite as fast as the Otto (spark ignition) engine's. Diesel engines are combustion engines and, therefore, emit combustion products in their exhaust gas . Due to incomplete combustion, diesel engine exhaust gases include carbon monoxide , hydrocarbons , particulate matter , and nitrogen oxides pollutants. About 90 per cent of
665-444: A diesel engine, particularly at idling speeds, is sometimes called "diesel clatter". This noise is largely caused by the sudden ignition of the diesel fuel when injected into the combustion chamber, which causes a pressure wave that sounds like knocking. Rudolf Diesel Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel ( English: / ˈ d iː z əl ˌ - s əl / , German: [ˈdiːzl̩] ; 18 March 1858 – 29 September 1913)
760-514: A few degrees releasing the pressure and is controlled by a mechanical governor, consisting of weights rotating at engine speed constrained by springs and a lever. The injectors are held open by the fuel pressure. On high-speed engines the plunger pumps are together in one unit. The length of fuel lines from the pump to each injector is normally the same for each cylinder in order to obtain the same pressure delay. Direct injected diesel engines usually use orifice-type fuel injectors. Electronic control of
855-402: A finite area, and the net output of work during a cycle is positive. The fuel efficiency of diesel engines is better than most other types of combustion engines, due to their high compression ratio, high air–fuel equivalence ratio (λ) , and the lack of intake air restrictions (i.e. throttle valves). Theoretically, the highest possible efficiency for a diesel engine is 75%. However, in practice
950-447: A fuel consumption of 519 g·kW·h. However, despite proving the concept, the engine caused problems, and Diesel could not achieve any substantial progress. Therefore, Krupp considered rescinding the contract they had made with Diesel. Diesel was forced to improve the design of his engine and rushed to construct a third prototype engine. Between 8 November and 20 December 1895, the second prototype had successfully covered over 111 hours on
1045-409: A full set of valves, two-stroke diesel engines have simple intake ports, and exhaust ports (or exhaust valves). When the piston approaches bottom dead centre, both the intake and the exhaust ports are "open", which means that there is atmospheric pressure inside the cylinder. Therefore, some sort of pump is required to blow the air into the cylinder and the combustion gasses into the exhaust. This process
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#17327726634101140-403: A low-pressure loop at the bottom of the diagram. At 1 it is assumed that the exhaust and induction strokes have been completed, and the cylinder is again filled with air. The piston-cylinder system absorbs energy between 1 and 2 – this is the work needed to compress the air in the cylinder, and is provided by mechanical kinetic energy stored in the flywheel of the engine. Work output is done by
1235-920: A man floating in the Eastern Scheldt . The body was in such an advanced state of decomposition that it was unrecognisable, and they did not retain it aboard because of heavy weather. Instead, the crew retrieved personal items (pill case, wallet, I.D. card, pocketknife, eyeglass case) from the clothing of the dead man, and returned the body to the sea. On 13 October, these items were identified by Rudolf's son, Eugen Diesel, as belonging to his father. Five months later, in March 1914, Diesel’s wife, Martha, went missing in Germany. There are various theories to explain Diesel's death. Some, such as Diesel's biographers Grosser (1978) and Sittauer (1978) have argued that he died by suicide. Another line of thought suggests that he
1330-677: A notable exception being the EMD 567 , 645 , and 710 engines, which are all two-stroke. The power output of medium-speed diesel engines can be as high as 21,870 kW, with the effective efficiency being around 47-48% (1982). Most larger medium-speed engines are started with compressed air direct on pistons, using an air distributor, as opposed to a pneumatic starting motor acting on the flywheel, which tends to be used for smaller engines. Medium-speed engines intended for marine applications are usually used to power ( ro-ro ) ferries, passenger ships or small freight ships. Using medium-speed engines reduces
1425-531: A petroleum engine with glow-tube ignition in the early 1890s; he claimed against his own better judgement that his glow-tube ignition engine worked the same way Diesel's engine did. His claims were unfounded and he lost a patent lawsuit against Diesel. Other engines, such as the Akroyd engine and the Brayton engine , also use an operating cycle that is different from the diesel engine cycle. Friedrich Sass says that
1520-413: A poorer power-to-mass ratio than an equivalent petrol engine. The lower engine speeds (RPM) of typical diesel engines results in a lower power output. Also, the mass of a diesel engine is typically higher, since the higher operating pressure inside the combustion chamber increases the internal forces, which requires stronger (and therefore heavier) parts to withstand these forces. The distinctive noise of
1615-407: A regular trunk-piston. Two-stroke engines have a limited rotational frequency and their charge exchange is more difficult, which means that they are usually bigger than four-stroke engines and used to directly power a ship's propeller. Four-stroke engines on ships are usually used to power an electric generator. An electric motor powers the propeller. Both types are usually very undersquare , meaning
1710-433: A simple mechanical injection system since exact injection timing is not as critical. Most modern automotive engines are DI which have the benefits of greater efficiency and easier starting; however, IDI engines can still be found in the many ATV and small diesel applications. Indirect injected diesel engines use pintle-type fuel injectors. Early diesel engines injected fuel with the assistance of compressed air, which atomised
1805-536: A single orifice injector. The pre-chamber has the disadvantage of lowering efficiency due to increased heat loss to the engine's cooling system, restricting the combustion burn, thus reducing the efficiency by 5–10%. IDI engines are also more difficult to start and usually require the use of glow plugs. IDI engines may be cheaper to build but generally require a higher compression ratio than the DI counterpart. IDI also makes it easier to produce smooth, quieter running engines with
1900-526: A single speed for long periods. Two-stroke engines use a combustion cycle which is completed in two strokes instead of four strokes. Filling the cylinder with air and compressing it takes place in one stroke, and the power and exhaust strokes are combined. The compression in a two-stroke diesel engine is similar to the compression that takes place in a four-stroke diesel engine: As the piston passes through bottom centre and starts upward, compression commences, culminating in fuel injection and ignition. Instead of
1995-476: A small Diesel engine was exhibited by the Otto company which, on the suggestion of the French Government, was run on arachide [peanut] oil, and operated so well that very few people were aware of the fact. The motor was built for ordinary oils, and without any modification was run on vegetable oil. I have recently repeated these experiments on a large scale with full success and entire confirmation of
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#17327726634102090-426: A small chamber called a swirl chamber, precombustion chamber, pre chamber or ante-chamber, which is connected to the cylinder by a narrow air passage. Generally the goal of the pre chamber is to create increased turbulence for better air / fuel mixing. This system also allows for a smoother, quieter running engine, and because fuel mixing is assisted by turbulence, injector pressures can be lower. Most IDI systems use
2185-529: A source of radio frequency emissions (which can interfere with navigation and communication equipment), which is why only diesel-powered vehicles are allowed in some parts of the American National Radio Quiet Zone . To control the torque output at any given time (i.e. when the driver of a car adjusts the accelerator pedal ), a governor adjusts the amount of fuel injected into the engine. Mechanical governors have been used in
2280-400: A spark plug ( compression ignition rather than spark ignition ). In the diesel engine, only air is initially introduced into the combustion chamber. The air is then compressed with a compression ratio typically between 15:1 and 23:1. This high compression causes the temperature of the air to rise. At about the top of the compression stroke, fuel is injected directly into the compressed air in
2375-401: A steam engine. His work in engine design was driven by the goal of much higher efficiency ratios. As opposed to outside ignition applied against internal air and fuel mixture , air was compressed internally within the cylinder whilst heating, in order for the fuel to establish contact the air immediately before the compression period would end, thus igniting on its own. Therefore, the engine
2470-415: A swirl chamber or pre-chamber are called indirect injection (IDI) engines. Most direct injection diesel engines have a combustion cup in the top of the piston where the fuel is sprayed. Many different methods of injection can be used. Usually, an engine with helix-controlled mechanic direct injection has either an inline or a distributor injection pump. For each engine cylinder, the corresponding plunger in
2565-420: A two-stroke ship diesel engine has a single-stage turbocharger with a turbine that has an axial inflow and a radial outflow. In general, there are three types of scavenging possible: Crossflow scavenging is incomplete and limits the stroke, yet some manufacturers used it. Reverse flow scavenging is a very simple way of scavenging, and it was popular amongst manufacturers until the early 1980s. Uniflow scavenging
2660-470: A very important replacement for the steam piston engine in many applications. Because the Diesel engine required a more robust construction than a gasoline engine, it saw limited use in aviation . However, the Diesel engine became widespread in many other applications, such as stationary engines , agricultural machines and off-highway machinery in general, submarines , ships, and much later, locomotives , trucks, and in modern automobiles. Diesel engines have
2755-423: Is a simplified and idealised representation of the events involved in a diesel engine cycle, arranged to illustrate the similarity with a Carnot cycle . Starting at 1, the piston is at bottom dead centre and both valves are closed at the start of the compression stroke; the cylinder contains air at atmospheric pressure. Between 1 and 2 the air is compressed adiabatically – that is without heat transfer to or from
2850-402: Is approximately 5 MW. Medium-speed engines are used in large electrical generators, railway diesel locomotives , ship propulsion and mechanical drive applications such as large compressors or pumps. Medium speed diesel engines operate on either diesel fuel or heavy fuel oil by direct injection in the same manner as low-speed engines. Usually, they are four-stroke engines with trunk pistons;
2945-426: Is called scavenging . The pressure required is approximately 10-30 kPa. Due to the lack of discrete exhaust and intake strokes, all two-stroke diesel engines use a scavenge blower or some form of compressor to charge the cylinders with air and assist in scavenging. Roots-type superchargers were used for ship engines until the mid-1950s, however since 1955 they have been widely replaced by turbochargers. Usually,
Diesel engine - Misplaced Pages Continue
3040-404: Is done on the system to which the engine is connected. During this expansion phase the volume of the gas rises, and its temperature and pressure both fall. At 4 the exhaust valve opens, and the pressure falls abruptly to atmospheric (approximately). This is unresisted expansion and no useful work is done by it. Ideally the adiabatic expansion should continue, extending the line 3–4 to the right until
3135-462: Is more complicated to make but allows the highest fuel efficiency; since the early 1980s, manufacturers such as MAN and Sulzer have switched to this system. It is standard for modern marine two-stroke diesel engines. So-called dual-fuel diesel engines or gas diesel engines burn two different types of fuel simultaneously , for instance, a gaseous fuel and diesel engine fuel. The diesel engine fuel auto-ignites due to compression ignition, and then ignites
3230-447: Is not present during valve overlap, and therefore no fuel goes directly from the intake/injection to the exhaust. Low-speed diesel engines (as used in ships and other applications where overall engine weight is relatively unimportant) can reach effective efficiencies of up to 55%. The combined cycle gas turbine (Brayton and Rankine cycle) is a combustion engine that is more efficient than a diesel engine, but due to its mass and dimensions,
3325-423: Is unsuitable for many vehicles, including watercraft and some aircraft . The world's largest diesel engines put in service are 14-cylinder, two-stroke marine diesel engines; they produce a peak power of almost 100 MW each. Diesel engines may be designed with either two-stroke or four-stroke combustion cycles . They were originally used as a more efficient replacement for stationary steam engines . Since
3420-526: The Carnot cycle . In 1892, after working on this idea for several years, he considered his theory to be completed. In the same year, Diesel was given the German patent DRP 67207. In 1893, he published a treatise entitled Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat-engine to Replace the Steam Engine and The Combustion Engines Known Today , that he had been working on since early 1892. This treatise formed
3515-504: The EU average for diesel cars at the time accounted for half of newly registered cars. However, air pollution and overall emissions are more difficult to control in diesel engines compared to gasoline engines, and the use of diesel auto engines in the U.S. is now largely relegated to larger on-road and off-road vehicles . Though aviation has traditionally avoided using diesel engines, aircraft diesel engines have become increasingly available in
3610-719: The United Kingdom , and the United States for "Method of and Apparatus for Converting Heat into Work". In 1894 and 1895, he filed patents and addenda in various countries for his engine; the first patents were issued in Spain (No. 16,654), France (No. 243,531) and Belgium (No. 113,139) in December 1894, and in Germany (No. 86,633) in 1895 and the United States (No. 608,845) in 1898. Diesel
3705-667: The Vickers shipyard in Montreal and was responsible for a sudden acceleration in its ability to produce a successful Diesel engine for submarines. Given the limited evidence at hand, his disappearance and death remain unsolved. In 1950, Magokichi Yamaoka , the founder of Yanmar , the diesel engine manufacturer in Japan, visited West Germany and learned that there was no tomb or monument for Diesel. Yamaoka and people associated with Diesel began to make preparations to honour him. In 1957, on
3800-405: The cylinder so that atomised diesel fuel injected into the combustion chamber ignites. With the fuel being injected into the air just before combustion, the dispersion of fuel is uneven; this is called a heterogeneous air-fuel mixture. The torque a diesel engine produces is controlled by manipulating the air-fuel ratio (λ) ; instead of throttling the intake air, the diesel engine relies on altering
3895-463: The 1910s, they have been used in submarines and ships. Use in locomotives , buses, trucks, heavy equipment , agricultural equipment and electricity generation plants followed later. In the 1930s, they slowly began to be used in some automobiles . Since the 1970s energy crisis , demand for higher fuel efficiency has resulted in most major automakers, at some point, offering diesel-powered models, even in very small cars. According to Konrad Reif (2012),
Diesel engine - Misplaced Pages Continue
3990-414: The 21st century. Since the late 1990s, for various reasons—including the diesel's inherent advantages over gasoline engines, but also for recent issues peculiar to aviation—development and production of diesel engines for aircraft has surged, with over 5,000 such engines delivered worldwide between 2002 and 2018, particularly for light airplanes and unmanned aerial vehicles . In 1878, Rudolf Diesel , who
4085-502: The Carnot cycle. Diesel was also introduced to a fire piston , a traditional fire starter using rapid adiabatic compression principles which Linde had acquired from Southeast Asia . After several years of working on his ideas, Diesel published them in 1893 in the essay Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Motor . Diesel was heavily criticised for his essay, but only a few found the mistake that he made; his rational heat motor
4180-775: The United States. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1978. On the evening of 29 September 1913, Diesel boarded the Great Eastern Railway steamer SS Dresden in Antwerp on his way to a meeting of the Consolidated Diesel Manufacturing company in London. He took dinner on board the ship and then retired to his cabin at about 10 p.m., leaving word to be called the next morning at 6:15 a.m., but he
4275-400: The amount of fuel injected into the engine. Due to the amount of air being constant (for a given RPM) while the amount of fuel varies, very high ("lean") air-fuel ratios are used in situations where minimal torque output is required. This differs from a petrol engine, where a throttle is used to also reduce the amount of intake air as part of regulating the engine's torque output. Controlling
4370-448: The amount of fuel that is injected, and thus the air-fuel ratio is usually high. The diesel engine has the highest thermal efficiency (see engine efficiency ) of any practical internal or external combustion engine due to its very high expansion ratio and inherent lean burn, which enables heat dissipation by excess air. A small efficiency loss is also avoided compared with non-direct-injection gasoline engines, as unburned fuel
4465-400: The basis for his work on and development of the diesel engine. By summer 1893, Diesel had realised that his initial theory was erroneous, leading him to file another patent application for the corrected theory in 1893. Diesel understood thermodynamics and the theoretical and practical constraints on fuel efficiency. He knew that as much as 90% of the energy available in the fuel is wasted in
4560-441: The benefit of running more fuel-efficiently than any other internal combustion engines suited for motor vehicles, allowing more heat to be converted to mechanical work. Diesel was interested in using coal dust or vegetable oil as fuel, and in fact, his engine was run on peanut oil. Although these fuels were not better replacements, in 2008 the rise in fuel prices coupled with concerns about remaining petroleum reserves , led to
4655-467: The bore is smaller than the stroke. Low-speed diesel engines (as used in ships and other applications where overall engine weight is relatively unimportant) often have an effective efficiency of up to 55%. Like medium-speed engines, low-speed engines are started with compressed air, and they use heavy oil as their primary fuel. Four-stroke engines use the combustion cycle described earlier. Most smaller diesels, for vehicular use, for instance, typically use
4750-574: The combustion chamber, leading to a higher internal temperature, expanding at a higher rate and placing further pressure over the pistons that rotate the crankshaft towards a quicker rate. Biodiesel often composed of synthesis gas originating from waste cellulose gasification , as well as extraction of lipids from algae , most frequently used by consisting vegetable oils and algae together under methanol transesterification . Numerous firms have developed different techniques in order to achieve such. The first successful diesel engine Motor 250/400
4845-448: The combustion chamber, the droplets continue to vaporise from their surfaces and burn, getting smaller, until all the fuel in the droplets has been burnt. Combustion occurs at a substantially constant pressure during the initial part of the power stroke. The start of vaporisation causes a delay before ignition and the characteristic diesel knocking sound as the vapour reaches ignition temperature and causes an abrupt increase in pressure above
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#17327726634104940-418: The combustion chamber. This may be into a (typically toroidal ) void in the top of the piston or a pre-chamber depending upon the design of the engine. The fuel injector ensures that the fuel is broken down into small droplets, and that the fuel is distributed evenly. The heat of the compressed air vaporises fuel from the surface of the droplets. The vapour is then ignited by the heat from the compressed air in
5035-425: The compressed gas. Combustion and heating occur between 2 and 3. In this interval the pressure remains constant since the piston descends, and the volume increases; the temperature rises as a consequence of the energy of combustion. At 3 fuel injection and combustion are complete, and the cylinder contains gas at a higher temperature than at 2. Between 3 and 4 this hot gas expands, again approximately adiabatically. Work
5130-452: The compression ratio in a spark-ignition engine where fuel and air are mixed before entry to the cylinder is limited by the need to prevent pre-ignition , which would cause engine damage. Since only air is compressed in a diesel engine, and fuel is not introduced into the cylinder until shortly before top dead centre ( TDC ), premature detonation is not a problem and compression ratios are much higher. The pressure–volume diagram (pV) diagram
5225-472: The compression required for his cycle: By June 1893, Diesel had realised his original cycle would not work, and he adopted the constant pressure cycle. Diesel describes the cycle in his 1895 patent application. Notice that there is no longer a mention of compression temperatures exceeding the temperature of combustion. Now it is simply stated that the compression must be sufficient to trigger ignition. In 1892, Diesel received patents in Germany , Switzerland ,
5320-412: The concept of air-blast injection from George B. Brayton , albeit that Diesel substantially improved the system. On 17 February 1894, the redesigned engine ran for 88 revolutions – one minute; with this news, Maschinenfabrik Augsburg's stock rose by 30%, indicative of the tremendous anticipated demands for a more efficient engine. On 26 June 1895, the engine achieved an effective efficiency of 16.6% and had
5415-423: The cost of smaller ships and increases their transport capacity. In addition to that, a single ship can use two smaller engines instead of one big engine, which increases the ship's safety. Low-speed diesel engines are usually very large in size and mostly used to power ships . There are two different types of low-speed engines that are commonly used: Two-stroke engines with a crosshead, and four-stroke engines with
5510-612: The diesel engine is Diesel's "very own work" and that any "Diesel myth" is " falsification of history ". Diesel sought out firms and factories that would build his engine. With the help of Moritz Schröter and Max Gutermuth [ de ] , he succeeded in convincing both Krupp in Essen and the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg . Contracts were signed in April 1893, and in early summer 1893, Diesel's first prototype engine
5605-413: The efficiency is much lower, with efficiencies of up to 43% for passenger car engines, up to 45% for large truck and bus engines, and up to 55% for large two-stroke marine engines. The average efficiency over a motor vehicle driving cycle is lower than the diesel engine's peak efficiency (for example, a 37% average efficiency for an engine with a peak efficiency of 44%). That is because the fuel efficiency of
5700-408: The environment – by the rising piston. (This is only approximately true since there will be some heat exchange with the cylinder walls .) During this compression, the volume is reduced, the pressure and temperature both rise. At or slightly before 2 (TDC) fuel is injected and burns in the compressed hot air. Chemical energy is released and this constitutes an injection of thermal energy (heat) into
5795-453: The following week. She discovered 20,000 German marks in cash (US$ 120,000 today) and financial statements indicating that their bank accounts were virtually empty. In a diary Diesel brought with him on the ship, for the date 29 September 1913, a cross was drawn, possibly indicating death. Ten days after he was last seen, the crew of the Dutch pilot boat Coertsen came upon the corpse of
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#17327726634105890-462: The four-stroke cycle. This is due to several factors, such as the two-stroke design's narrow powerband which is not particularly suitable for automotive use and the necessity for complicated and expensive built-in lubrication systems and scavenging measures. The cost effectiveness (and proportion of added weight) of these technologies has less of an impact on larger, more expensive engines, while engines intended for shipping or stationary use can be run at
5985-614: The fuel and forced it into the engine through a nozzle (a similar principle to an aerosol spray). The nozzle opening was closed by a pin valve actuated by the camshaft . Although the engine was also required to drive an air compressor used for air-blast injection, the efficiency was nonetheless better than other combustion engines of the time. However the system was heavy and it was slow to react to changing torque demands, making it unsuitable for road vehicles. A unit injector system, also known as "Pumpe-Düse" ( pump-nozzle in German) combines
6080-699: The fuel injection transformed the direct injection engine by allowing much greater control over the combustion. Common rail (CR) direct injection systems do not have the fuel metering, pressure-raising and delivery functions in a single unit, as in the case of a Bosch distributor-type pump, for example. A high-pressure pump supplies the CR. The requirements of each cylinder injector are supplied from this common high pressure reservoir of fuel. An Electronic Diesel Control (EDC) controls both rail pressure and injections depending on engine operating conditions. The injectors of older CR systems have solenoid -driven plungers for lifting
6175-405: The fuel pump measures out the correct amount of fuel and determines the timing of each injection. These engines use injectors that are very precise spring-loaded valves that open and close at a specific fuel pressure. Separate high-pressure fuel lines connect the fuel pump with each cylinder. Fuel volume for each single combustion is controlled by a slanted groove in the plunger which rotates only
6270-458: The gaseous fuel. Such engines do not require any type of spark ignition and operate similar to regular diesel engines. The fuel is injected at high pressure into either the combustion chamber , "swirl chamber" or "pre-chamber," unlike petrol engines where the fuel is often added in the inlet manifold or carburetor . Engines where the fuel is injected into the main combustion chamber are called direct injection (DI) engines, while those which use
6365-417: The injection needle, whilst newer CR injectors use plungers driven by piezoelectric actuators that have less moving mass and therefore allow even more injections in a very short period of time. Early common rail system were controlled by mechanical means. The injection pressure of modern CR systems ranges from 140 MPa to 270 MPa. An indirect diesel injection system (IDI) engine delivers fuel into
6460-551: The injector and fuel pump into a single component, which is positioned above each cylinder. This eliminates the high-pressure fuel lines and achieves a more consistent injection. Under full load, the injection pressure can reach up to 220 MPa. Unit injectors are operated by a cam and the quantity of fuel injected is controlled either mechanically (by a rack or lever) or electronically. Due to increased performance requirements, unit injectors have been largely replaced by common rail injection systems. The average diesel engine has
6555-410: The more widespread use of vegetable oil and biodiesel . The primary fuel used in Diesel engines is the eponymous diesel fuel , derived from the refinement of crude oil . Diesel is safer to store than gasoline, because its flash point is approximately 79.4 °C (174.9 °F) higher, and it will not explode. In a book titled Diesel Engines for Land and Marine Work , Diesel said that "In 1900
6650-939: The next examination date, he gained practical engineering experience at the Sulzer Brothers Machine Works in Winterthur , Switzerland. Diesel graduated in January 1880 with highest academic honours and returned to Paris, where he assisted Linde with the design and construction of a modern refrigeration and ice plant. Diesel became the director of the plant a year afterwards. In 1883, Diesel married Martha Flasche, and continued to work for Linde, gaining numerous patents in both Germany and France. In early 1890, Diesel moved to Berlin with his wife and children, Rudolf Jr, Heddy, and Eugen, to assume management of Linde's corporate research and development department and to join several other corporate boards. Since he
6745-617: The occasion of the 100th anniversary of Diesel's birth and the 60th anniversary of the diesel engine development, Yamaoka dedicated the Rudolf Diesel Memorial Garden ( Rudolf-Diesel-Gedächtnishain ) in Wittelsbacher Park in Augsburg , Bavaria, where Diesel had undertaken his early technical education and original engine development. After Diesel's death, his engine underwent much development and became
6840-481: The opportunity to test and develop his ideas. Diesel also received support from the Krupp firm. Diesel's design utilised compression ignition as opposed to using spark plugs similar to gas engines , with the ability to be run on biodiesel , if not petroleum -originating fuels. Compression engines are circa 30% more efficient over conventional gas burning engines, being mixed through forced compressed air within
6935-531: The past, however electronic governors are more common on modern engines. Mechanical governors are usually driven by the engine's accessory belt or a gear-drive system and use a combination of springs and weights to control fuel delivery relative to both load and speed. Electronically governed engines use an electronic control unit (ECU) or electronic control module (ECM) to control the fuel delivery. The ECM/ECU uses various sensors (such as engine speed signal, intake manifold pressure and fuel temperature) to determine
7030-637: The personal-use aspect of general aviation ; and in certain aspects of military aviation . Examples of aircraft that are at the maximum gross takeoff weight for this category include the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and Beechcraft B200 Super King Air . Uses include aerial surveying, such as monitoring pipelines, light cargo operations, such as "feeding" cargo hubs, and passenger operations. Light aircraft are used for marketing purposes, such as banner towing and skywriting , and flight instruction . The majority of personal aircraft are light aircraft,
7125-480: The piston (not shown on the P-V indicator diagram). When combustion is complete the combustion gases expand as the piston descends further; the high pressure in the cylinder drives the piston downward, supplying power to the crankshaft. As well as the high level of compression allowing combustion to take place without a separate ignition system, a high compression ratio greatly increases the engine's efficiency. Increasing
7220-403: The piston-cylinder combination between 2 and 4. The difference between these two increments of work is the indicated work output per cycle, and is represented by the area enclosed by the pV loop. The adiabatic expansion is in a higher pressure range than that of the compression because the gas in the cylinder is hotter during expansion than during compression. It is for this reason that the loop has
7315-413: The pollutants can be removed from the exhaust gas using exhaust gas treatment technology. Road vehicle diesel engines have no sulfur dioxide emissions, because motor vehicle diesel fuel has been sulfur-free since 2003. Helmut Tschöke argues that particulate matter emitted from motor vehicles has negative impacts on human health. The particulate matter in diesel exhaust emissions is sometimes classified as
7410-408: The pressure falls to that of the surrounding air, but the loss of efficiency caused by this unresisted expansion is justified by the practical difficulties involved in recovering it (the engine would have to be much larger). After the opening of the exhaust valve, the exhaust stroke follows, but this (and the following induction stroke) are not shown on the diagram. If shown, they would be represented by
7505-400: The results formerly obtained." Light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of 12,500 lb (5,670 kg) or less. Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft commercially for small-scale passenger and freight transport ; for sightseeing, photography, cropdusting , and other so-called aerial work roles of civil aviation ; for
7600-413: The strength of iron and steel cylinder heads. One exploded during a test run. He spent many months in a hospital, followed by health and eyesight problems. It was during this year that Diesel began conceptualising the idea of a diesel engine. Ever since attending lectures of von Linde, Diesel worked on designing an internal combustion engine that could approach the maximum theoretical thermal efficiency of
7695-484: The test bench. In the January 1896 report, this was considered a success. In February 1896, Diesel considered supercharging the third prototype. Imanuel Lauster , who was ordered to draw the third prototype " Motor 250/400 ", had finished the drawings by 30 April 1896. During summer that year the engine was built, it was completed on 6 October 1896. Tests were conducted until early 1897. First public tests began on 1 February 1897. Moritz Schröter 's test on 17 February 1897
7790-886: The timing of the start of injection of fuel into the cylinder is similar to controlling the ignition timing in a petrol engine. It is therefore a key factor in controlling the power output, fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. There are several different ways of categorising diesel engines, as outlined in the following sections. Günter Mau categorises diesel engines by their rotational speeds into three groups: High-speed engines are used to power trucks (lorries), buses , tractors , cars , yachts , compressors , pumps and small electrical generators . As of 2018, most high-speed engines have direct injection . Many modern engines, particularly in on-highway applications, have common rail direct injection . On bigger ships, high-speed diesel engines are often used for powering electric generators. The highest power output of high-speed diesel engines
7885-647: The top of his class in 1873, he enrolled at the newly founded Industrial School of Augsburg. Two years later, he received a merit scholarship from the Royal Bavarian Polytechnic of Munich , which he accepted against the wishes of his parents, who wanted him to begin working instead. One of Diesel's professors in Munich was Carl von Linde . Diesel was unable to graduate with his class in July 1879 because he fell ill with typhoid fever . While waiting for
7980-660: The war's end, however, Diesel's mother sent 12-year-old Rudolf to Augsburg to live with his aunt and uncle, Barbara and Christoph Barnickel, to become fluent in German and to visit the Königliche Kreis-Gewerbeschule (Royal County Vocational College), where his uncle taught mathematics. He was enrolled at the Technische Hochschule (Tehnical High School). At the age of 14, Diesel wrote a letter to his parents saying that he intended to become an engineer. After finishing his basic education at
8075-507: Was a German inventor and mechanical engineer who invented the Diesel engine , which burns Diesel fuel ; both are named after him. Diesel was born at 38 Rue Notre Dame de Nazareth in Paris, France , in 1858 the second of three children of Elise (née Strobel) and Theodor Diesel. His parents were Bavarian immigrants living in Paris. Theodor Diesel, a bookbinder by trade, left his home town of Augsburg , Bavaria , in 1848. He met his wife,
8170-480: Was a student at the "Polytechnikum" in Munich , attended the lectures of Carl von Linde . Linde explained that steam engines are capable of converting just 6–10% of the heat energy into work, but that the Carnot cycle allows conversion of much more of the heat energy into work by means of isothermal change in condition. According to Diesel, this ignited the idea of creating a highly efficient engine that could work on
8265-485: Was attacked and criticised over several years. Critics claimed that Diesel never invented a new motor and that the invention of the diesel engine is fraud. Otto Köhler and Emil Capitaine [ de ] were two of the most prominent critics of Diesel's time. Köhler had published an essay in 1887, in which he describes an engine similar to the engine Diesel describes in his 1893 essay. Köhler figured that such an engine could not perform any work. Emil Capitaine had built
8360-420: Was built in Augsburg . On 10 August 1893, the first ignition took place, the fuel used was petrol. In winter 1893/1894, Diesel redesigned the existing engine, and by 18 January 1894, his mechanics had converted it into the second prototype. During January that year, an air-blast injection system was added to the engine's cylinder head and tested. Friedrich Sass argues that, it can be presumed that Diesel copied
8455-573: Was murdered, given his refusal to grant the German forces the exclusive rights to using his invention; indeed, Diesel had boarded Dresden with the intent of meeting with representatives of the Royal Navy to discuss the possibility of powering British submarines by diesel engine. Another theory is that his apparent death was a ruse staged by the British government to cover his defection to the British cause, and that he then went to Canada, worked for
8550-477: Was never seen alive again. In the morning his cabin was empty and his bed had not been slept in, although his nightshirt was neatly laid out and his watch had been left where it could be seen from the bed. His hat and neatly folded overcoat were discovered beneath the afterdeck railing. Shortly after Diesel's disappearance, his wife Martha opened a bag that her husband had given to her just before his ill-fated voyage, with directions that it should not be opened until
8645-422: Was not allowed to use for his own purposes the patents he developed while an employee of Linde's, he expanded beyond the field of refrigeration. He first worked with steam, his research into thermal efficiency and fuel efficiency leading him to build a steam engine using ammonia vapor . During tests, however, the engine exploded and almost killed him. His research into high-compression cylinder pressures tested
8740-496: Was officially tested in 1897, featuring a 25 horsepower four-stroke , single vertical cylinder compression. Having just revolutionised the engine manufacturing industry, it became an immediate success, with royalties amassing great wealth for Diesel. The engine is currently on display at the German Technical Museum in Munich. Besides Germany, Diesel obtained patents for his design in other countries, including
8835-540: Was smaller and weighed less than most contemporary steam engines , not to mention the fact that further fuel sources weren't required. Fuel efficiency was measured 75% above the 10% theoretical efficiency for steam engines. In his engine, fuel was injected at the end of the compression stroke and was ignited by the high temperature resulting from the compression. From 1893 to 1897, Heinrich von Buz, director of Maschinenfabrik Augsburg in Augsburg, provided Rudolf Diesel
8930-420: Was supposed to utilise a constant temperature cycle (with isothermal compression) that would require a much higher level of compression than that needed for compression ignition. Diesel's idea was to compress the air so tightly that the temperature of the air would exceed that of combustion. However, such an engine could never perform any usable work. In his 1892 US patent (granted in 1895) #542846, Diesel describes
9025-417: Was the main test of Diesel's engine. The engine was rated 13.1 kW with a specific fuel consumption of 324 g·kW·h, resulting in an effective efficiency of 26.2%. By 1898, Diesel had become a millionaire. The characteristics of a diesel engine are The diesel internal combustion engine differs from the gasoline powered Otto cycle by using highly compressed hot air to ignite the fuel rather than using
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