The Diesel Engine

About the Inventor

 In 1894, German inventor Rudolph Diesel
developed the first single-cylinder diesel
engine.
 He signed a multi-million dollar deal with
Adolphus Busch, head of brewery empire,
to manufacture the diesel engine.
 However, he lost his fortune, and in 1913,
mysteriously was found dead after going
overboard a boat. Suicide was one
speculation, but also assassination by
Kaiser Wilhelm’s agents, fearing that
Diesel, with WW I looming, would sell the
engine to England
 The Combustion Cycle
 The four-stroke combustion cycle of the diesel engine
is composed of the intake stroke, compression stroke,
power stroke, and the exhaust stroke.
 The diesel engine operates through the motion of
compression pistons in inside the cylinders of the
engine.
 Pistons inside the cylinders are connected by rods to a
crankshaft. As the pistons move up and down in their
cylinders, they cause the crankshaft to rotate.
 The crankshaft’s rotational force is carried by a
transmission to a drive shaft, which turns axles,
causing the wheels to rotate.
The Intake Stroke
 During the intake stroke, the intake
valve opens as the piston moves
down to allow air into the cylinder.
 The air is pushed by atmospheric
pressure into the cylinder through
the intake valve port.
The Compression Stroke
 After the piston reaches its lower
limit, it begins to move upward and
as the piston moves up, the intake
valve closes.
 The exhaust valve is also closed, so
that at this point in the cycle, the
cylinder is sealed.
 As the piston moves upward, the air
is compressed and the compression
of the air causes the pressure and
the temperature of the cylinder to
increase.
The Power Stroke
 As the piston reaches maximum
compression of the air, diesel fuel is
injected to the combustion chamber
filled with compressed air.
 The heat of the compressed air ignites
the fuel spontaneously at the self-
ignition temperature of the fuel.
 As the cylinder pressure increases, the
piston is forced down into the cylinder.
 The power impulse is transmitted
down through the piston, through the
connecting rod, and to the crankshaft,
which is rotated due to the force.
The Exhaust Stroke
 As the piston reaches the bottom of
its stroke, the exhaust valve opens.
 As the piston moves up on the
exhaust stroke, it forces the burned
gases out of the cylinder through
the exhaust port.
 Then as the piston reaches the top
of its stroke, the exhaust valve
closes, and the intake valve opens.
 The cycle repeats again with the
intake stroke.
Efficiency
 One positive aspect of the diesel engine is that
they are thermally efficient.
 The improved efficiency is caused by the
relatively high compression ratios
 The diesel engine is 54% thermally efficient,
while gasoline engines are only 34%.
 As a result of diesel engines thermally efficiency,
they are able to achieve better gas mileage
because they produce greater horsepower output
for fuel intake.
Fuel Economy
 One main reason for the diesel engine’s excellent fuel
economy is that it burns far more air than fuel.
 In a gasoline engine, it’s air intake is carefully
restricted and controlled by the carburetor for a 15:1
air to fuel ratio.
 However, in the diesel engine, the air intake is
unrestricted.
 Durability
 Diesel engines are also capable of running high miles
without major engine work.
 Truck diesel engines can run 250,000 or even 500,000
miles without major engine work.
 In 1978, Mercedes-Benz launched a “Great Diesel
Search” to find the highest mileage diesel in the United
States.
 Robert O’Reilly drove his 1957 Mercedes-Benz 180D

1,184,000 miles, 750,000 on its original engine.

 Another owner drove his 1968 Mercedes-Benz 220 D

912,000 miles, 902,000 miles on its original engine.

Compression Ratio
 The diesel engine compresses at a very high ration of
14:1 to 25:1.
 The higher the compression ratio, the more power is
generated.
 The main limiting factor to compression ratio is based
on the knock limits of the fuel.
 Knock is the term used to describe the auto ignition
that occurs when a fuel ignites because the pressure
in the cylinder is such that combustion occurs.
 The knock limit of the fuel is determined by the point
at which the engine begins to shake.
 The higher the knock limit, the higher the
compression ratio, the more power is generated.
Advantages of a Diesel Engine
 Low maintenance, greater efficiency, high power
output, and better fuel economy under all types of
loads.
 Does not require a spark plug to ignite fuel, it relies
on the spontaneous combustion through the heat of
compression to ignite the diesel fuel.
 Because of this type of combustion, a diesel engine
are built more ruggedly and heavily built than the gas
engine.
 The ruggedness of the diesel engine gives a two to
three times longer life than the gas engine, which
has a life of around 100,000 miles.
Disadvantages
 Components of diesel engines are usually heavier
that those of gasoline engines because of the
additional structural strength needed to obtain the
higher compression ratio and power output.
 They can emit large amounts of ozone-forming
constituents and particulates.
 Because of diesel engines’ weight and compression
ratio, they tend to have lower maximum RPMs than
gasoline engines.
 This makes diesel engines has high torque rather
than high horsepower, and this tends to make cars
with diesel engines slow in terms of acceleration.
Disadvantages (cont.)
 Diesel fuel is not as readily available at all locations
as gasoline tends to be.
 Diesel engines are harder to start in cold weather
conditions, because it is difficult to get the
temperature inside the cylinder up to the self-ignition
temperature of the diesel fuel.
Emissions
 The most harmful emission from diesel engines are
the nitrogen oxides.
 The problem of nitrogen oxide (NO) production in
diesel engines comes from the early rapid burning,
which produces very high-temperature products.
 As a result of the pollutants from diesel engines, they
are subject to increasingly stringent regulations that
require continual improvements in the combustion
process.
Main Differences of Gas and Diesel
 The main difference between a gasoline engine and a
diesel engine is that in a diesel engine, there is no
spark plug to ignite the fuel.
 Diesel fuel is injected into the cylinder, and it ignites
spontaneously as the heat and pressure of the
compression stroke cause the temperature inside the
cylinder to increase.
 The other major difference between the two types of
engines is in the gas mileage.
 As a result of diesel fuel having a higher energy
density than gasoline, diesel engines get higher
gas mileage.