Diesel engine: Difference between revisions

{{About||the locomotive|Diesel locomotive|the game engine|Diesel (game engine)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}

[[File:The Diesel Story.ogv|thumb|right|1952 [[Shell Oil]] film showing the development of the diesel engine from 1877]]

{{TOC limit|3}}

==Introduction==

Diesel engines may be designed with either [[two-stroke engine|two-stroke]] or [[four-stroke]] [[#Combustion cycle|combustion cycles]]. They were originally used as a more efficient replacement for stationary [[steam engine]]s. Since the 1910s, they have been used in [[submarine]]s 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 [[automobile]]s. 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.<ref name="time_forgot_2021_04_13_autoweek_com">{{citation | last = Ramey | first = Jay | url = https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/classic-cars/g36106078/diesel-cars-time-forgot/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221206053344/https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/classic-cars/g36106078/diesel-cars-time-forgot/ | archive-date = 2022-12-06 | title = 10 Diesel Cars That Time Forgot | date = April 13, 2021 | work = [[Autoweek]] | publisher = Hearst Autos, Inc. }}</ref><ref name="critical_evaluation_2013_springeropen_com">[https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/2190-4715-25-15 "Critical evaluation of the European diesel car boom - global comparison, environmental effects and various national strategies,"] 2013, ''Environmental Sciences Europe,'' volume&nbsp;25, Article&nbsp;number:&nbsp;15, retrieved December 5, 2022</ref> According to Konrad Reif (2012), the [[European Union|EU]] average for diesel cars at the time accounted for half of newly registered cars.<ref name="Reif_2012_286" /> However, [[air pollution]] and overall emissions are more difficult to control in diesel engines compared to gasoline engines, so the use of diesel engines in the US is now largely relegated to larger on-road and [[off-road vehicle]]s.<ref name="every_new_diesel_2021_03_06_caranddriver_com">Huffman, John Pearley: [https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g20980996/diesel-car-truck-suv/ "Every New 2021 Diesel for Sale in the U.S. Today,"] March 6, 2021, ''[[Car and Driver]],'' retrieved December 5, 2022</ref><ref name="the_15_best_2021_04_23_usnews_com">Gorzelany, Jim: [https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/best-diesel-cars?slide=18 "The Best 15 Best Diesel Vehicles of 2021,"] April 23, 2021, ''[[U.S. News]],'' retrieved December 5, 2022</ref>

* 1934: The [[Budd Company]] builds the first diesel–electric passenger train in the US, the ''[[Pioneer Zephyr]] 9900'', using a Winton engine.<ref name="EuDaly_2016_160" />

* 1935: The [[Citroën Rosalie]] is fitted with an early [[swirl chamber injection|swirl chamber injected]] diesel engine for testing purposes.<ref name="Cole_2014_64" /> [[Daimler-Benz]] starts manufacturing the [[Mercedes-Benz OM 138]], the first mass-produced diesel engine for passenger cars, and one of the few marketable passenger car diesel engines of its time. It is rated {{cvt|45|PS|kW|0}}.<ref name="Kremser_1942_125" />

* 1936: March 4, the airship [[LZ 129 Hindenburg]], the biggest aircraft ever made, takes off for the first time. It is powered by four V16 Daimler-Benz LOF 6 diesel engines, rated {{cvt|1200|PS|kW|0}} each.<ref name="Waibel_2016_159" />

* 1936: Manufacture of the first mass-produced passenger car with a diesel engine ([[Mercedes-Benz 260 D]]) begins.<ref name="vFersen_1986_274" />

====1980s====

* 1981/82: Uniflow scavenging for two-stroke marine diesel engines becomes standard.<ref name="Mau_1984_16" />

* 1985: December, road testing of a common rail injection system for lorries using a modified 6VD 12,5/12 GRF-E engine in an [[IFA W50]] takes place.<ref name="Diehl_2013_100" />

* 1987: Daimler-Benz introduces the electronically controlled injection pump for lorry diesel engines.<ref name="Tschöke_2018_10" />

=== Direct injection ===

[[File:Têtes de piston.svg|thumb|Different types of piston bowls{{explain|date=July 2025}}]]

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.<ref name=buckman/> For each engine cylinder, the corresponding plunger in the fuel pump measures out the correct amount of fuel and determines the timing of each injection. These engines use [[fuel injection|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 (engineering)|groove]] in the plunger which rotates only 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.<ref name="Firstdiesel_2009" /> 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.<ref name="Reif_2014_140" />

=== Air-blast injection ===

{{Main|Air-blast injection}}

Early diesel engines injected fuel with the assistance of compressed air, which atomised 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 [[Needle valve|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.<ref name="Mau_1984_7" /> However the system was heavy and it was slow to react to changing torque demands, making it unsuitable for road vehicles.<ref name="Merker_2014_381" />

==Major manufacturers==

* {{lwc|MTU Friedrichshafen|MTU|property=P17}}

* {{lwc|MAN Diesel|MAN|property=P17}}

* {{lwc|Volvo Penta|property=P17}}

* {{lwc|Sulzer (manufacturer)|Sulzer|property=P17}}

* {{lwc|Mitsubishi Heavy Industries|Mitsubishi|property=P17}}, Mitsui Mazda IHI Kawasaki Honda Suzuki Subaru Isuzu Nissan plus others

* {{lwc|Caterpillar Energy Solutions|Caterpillar|property=P17}}

* {{lwc|Bergen Engines|property=P17}}  

* MaK Deutz AG MWM  

* {{lwc|Iran Khodro Diesel|property=P17}}

* {{lwc|Isotta Fraschini|property=P17}}

* Shanxi  

* {{lwc|Henan Diesel Engine Industry Company|Henan Diesel|property=P17}}  

* {{lwc|Shaanxi Diesel Engine Heavy Industry|SDM|property=P17}}

{{div col end}}

===Commercial vehicles and lorries===

In 1893, Rudolf Diesel suggested that the diesel engine could possibly power "wagons" (lorries).<ref name="Diesel_1893_91" /> The first lorries with diesel engines were brought to market in 1924.<ref name="Tschöke_2018_10" />

Additionally, avgas is a specialty fuel in very low (and declining) demand, compared to other fuels, and its makers are susceptible to costly aviation-crash lawsuits, reducing refiners' interest in producing it.  Outside the United States, avgas has already become increasingly difficult to find at airports (and generally), than less-expensive, diesel-compatible fuels like Jet-A and other [[jet fuel]]s.<ref name="inside_2018_08_01_flyingmag_com" /><ref name="congressman_2012_10_24_generalaviationnews" /><ref name="hanke_2006_07_21_g_a_news" /><ref name="biodiesel_basics_2003_energy_gov" />

In subsequent years, several other companies have developed aircraft diesel engines, or have begun to<ref name="powerplant_ch7_phak_faa_gov" />—most notably [[Continental Aerospace Technologies]] which, by 2018, was reporting it had sold over 5,000 such engines worldwide.<ref name="inside_2018_08_01_flyingmag_com" /><ref name="diamond_2020_12_30_avweb_com" /><ref name="certified_jet_a_engines_continental_aero">[https://www.continental.aero/diesel/diesel-engines.aspx "Certified Jet-A Engines,"], [[Continental Aerospace Technologies]], retrieved December 5, 2022</ref>

[[File:The National Archives UK - CO 1069-182-9.jpg|thumb|Three English Electric 7SRL diesel-alternator sets being installed at the Saateni Power Station; [[Zanzibar]], 1955]]

=== Diesel engines with a flexible crankshaft ===

==Low heat rejection engines==

==Future developments==

* [[Partially premixed combustion]]

* [[Reactivity controlled compression ignition]]

{{div col end}}

<ref name="Hartman">{{Cite book |last=Jeff Hartman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SvG0gq4DxecC&pg=PA2 |title=Turbocharging Performance Handbook | date=September 9, 2023 |publisher=MotorBooks International |isbn=978-1-61059-231-4 |pages=2–}}</ref>

<ref name="Busch">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FEV-AAAAIAAJ&q=diesel+engine |title=The Diesel engine |publisher=Busch–Sulzer Bros. Diesel Engine Company, St. Louis Busch |year=1913}}</ref>

<ref name="Klooster2009">{{Cite book |last=John W. Klooster |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKuG-VIwID8C&pg=PA245 |title=Icons of Invention: The Makers of the Modern World from Gutenberg to Gates |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-313-34743-6 |pages=245–}}</ref>

<ref name="Pease2003">{{Cite book |last=John Pease |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y2QfAQAAIAAJ |title=The History of J & H McLaren of Leeds: Steam & Diesel Engine Makers |publisher=Landmark Pub. |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-84306-105-2}}</ref>