Introduction and History of Diesel Engines
– Diesel engines work by compressing air or air plus residual combustion gases.
– Air is inducted and compressed during the intake and compression strokes.
– Diesel fuel is injected into the combustion chamber and ignites with the compressed air.
– The torque of a diesel engine is controlled by manipulating the air-fuel ratio.
– Diesel engines have high thermal efficiency and can reach effective efficiencies of up to 55%.
– Rudolf Diesel attended lectures on heat energy conversion by Carl von Linde.
– Diesel was inspired by the idea of creating a highly efficient engine based on the Carnot cycle.
– He published his ideas in 1893 but faced criticism for his initial concept.
– Diesel later adopted the constant pressure cycle for his engine.
– He received patents for his engine design in various countries.
– Diesel initially proposed a rational heat motor with a constant temperature cycle.
– However, this concept could not perform usable work.
– He later adopted the constant pressure cycle, where compression triggers ignition.
– Diesel received patents for his engine design in multiple countries.
– Critics attacked Diesel and claimed that he never invented a new motor.
Efficiency and Applications of Diesel Engines
– Diesel engines have the highest thermal efficiency of any practical combustion engine.
– They achieve high efficiency due to their high expansion ratio and inherent lean burn.
– Unburned fuel is not present during valve overlap, resulting in a small efficiency loss.
– Low-speed diesel engines can reach effective efficiencies of up to 55%.
– Combined cycle gas turbines are more efficient than diesel engines but unsuited for vehicles.
– Diesel engines were originally used as a replacement for stationary steam engines.
– They were later used in submarines, ships, locomotives, buses, trucks, and heavy equipment.
– Diesel engines have been used in electricity generation plants.
– Since the energy crisis in the 1970s, major automakers have offered diesel-powered models.
– Diesel engines are now primarily used in larger on-road and off-road vehicles in the U.S.
Development and Commercialization of Diesel Engines
– Diesel sought out firms and factories to build his engine.
– Contracts were signed in April 1893.
– The first prototype engine was built in Augsburg in early summer 1893.
– Diesel redesigned the existing engine in winter 1893/1894.
– An air-blast injection system was added to the engine’s cylinder head in January 1894.
– The engine caused problems and Diesel could not achieve substantial progress.
– Krupp considered rescinding the contract with Diesel.
– Diesel rushed to construct a third prototype engine.
– The second prototype successfully covered over 111 hours on the test bench.
– Supercharging the third prototype was considered in February 1896.
– In 1893, Diesel’s essay on the theory and construction of a rational heat motor is published.
– Diesel obtains patents for working methods and techniques for internal combustion engines.
– The first prototype engine is completed in July 1893.
– The second prototype runs for the first time in February 1894.
– Diesel applies for a patent for a starting process with compressed air in March 1895.
– Diesel becomes a millionaire by 1898.
– Adolphus Busch licenses rights to the diesel engine for the US and Canada in October 1897.
– Diesel obtains a patent on supercharging the diesel engine in October 1897.
– The Diesel Motoren-Fabrik Actien-Gesellschaft is registered in February 1898.
– The first commercial diesel engine is installed in the Kempten plant in March 1898.
– The first two-stroke diesel engine is invented in 1899.
– Imanuel Lauster designs the first trunk piston diesel engine in 1901.
– MAN produces 77 diesel engine cylinders for commercial use by 1901.
– The first diesel-powered ships and submarines are launched in the early 1900s.
– Diesel patents expire in 1908.
Advancements in Diesel Engines
– General Motors showcases the Winton 201A diesel engine at the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1933.
– The Winton engine is offered in various versions, producing 600-900hp.
– The Budd Company builds the first diesel-electric passenger train in the US in 1934, powered by a Winton engine.
– The Citroën Rosalie is fitted with an early swirl chamber injected diesel engine for testing in 1935.
– Daimler-Benz manufactures the Mercedes-Benz OM 138, the first mass-produced diesel engine for passenger cars.
– The airship LZ 129 Hindenburg takes off for the first time in 1936, powered by four V16 Daimler-Benz LOF 6 diesel engines.
– Mercedes-Benz begins manufacturing the first mass-produced passenger car with a diesel engine in 1936.
– Konstantin Fyodorovich Chelpan develops the V-2 diesel engine in 1937, later used in the Soviet T-34 tanks.
– General Motors forms the GM Diesel Division in 1938 and introduces the Series 71 inline high-speed two-stroke engine.
– Clessie Cummins obtains a patent for a fuel feeding and injection apparatus for oil-burning engines in 1946.
– KHD becomes the global market leader in air-cooled diesel engines in the 1950s.
– J. Siegfried Meurer patents the M-System in 1951, incorporating a central sphere combustion chamber in the piston.
– Borgward/Fiat introduces the first mass-produced swirl chamber injected passenger car diesel engine in 1953.
– Daimler-Benz introduces the unreliable Mercedes-Benz OM 312 A, a turbocharged straight-6 industrial diesel engine in 1954.
– Turbocharging becomes standard for MAN two-stroke marine diesel engines in 1955.
– KHD introduces the AD-System in 1972, allowing diesel engines to operate on various liquid fuels.
– Development of the common rail injection begins at the ETH Zürich in 1976.
– The Volkswagen Golf becomes the first compact passenger Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine
The diesel engine, named after 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 a petrol engine (gasoline engine) or a gas engine (using a gaseous fuel like natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas).
