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Automotive Diesel Engine
The diesel engine (Diesel engine) is an internal combustion engine that converts stored energy in fuel into usable mechanical energy through a series of controlled explosions. The diesel engine does this by igniting fuel and then converting the chemical explosion into linear motion. Unlike gasoline engines that require a spark to ignite the fuel diesel engines are able to obtain high a thermal efficiency because of their high compression ratio which heats air and ultimately ignites the fuel.
History
Rudolf Diesel created the diesel engine in 1876 as a new, more economical alternative to the standard gasoline engine. The “combustion power engine” was created after Rudolf learned about the poor efficiency of early gasoline engines and the engine played a big role in replacing steam engines1,.
How the Diesel Engines Works
Four Stroke Engines
The diesel engine, although very complicated, can be simplified into a simple four-stroke summary that summarizes how fuel is turned into energy:
- Beginning with the intake stroke the engine opens it’s intake valve and lets air fill the combustion chamber which moves the piston downwards.
- The Compression stroke then begins as the intake valves close and the pistons move back up and begin to compress the air now held within the combustion chamber.
- The combustion stroke starts as the piston is almost at the top of the chamber. At this point the compressed air is very hot. Fuel is then injected, mixes and then ignites. The explosion pushed the piston back down the combustion chamber.
- The exhaust stroke starts as the piston move back up the chamber and push exhaust out of the now open exhaust valve. 1
The process then starts over. These four strokes take two cycles of the piston to complete and once finished have successfully converted the energy in fuel into mechanical energy in the form of rotation. This rotation is then used to power the car’s gearbox and in turn moves the wheels.
The diesel engine is able to create enough power to run an automobile or a large diesel vehicle through the use of multiple combustion chambers, or cylinders. These cylinders continually rotate through the four cycles listed above, rotating the crankshaft and creating more energy. It should be noted that in standard four, six and eight cylinder automobile engines the pistons are continually at opposite positions cancelling out forces and reducing the amount of vibration in the engine1,2,3.
Two Stroke Engines
Planned
Advancements and Options
Planned
Applications
Planned
Advantages and Disadvantages
The diesel engine has advantages over the common gasoline engine that allows the technology to be applied to certain applications very well. Diesel’s high efficiency generates high torque and good gas mileage. It is also a very reliable technology because of its lack of a spark ignition system and because of diesel fuel’s superior lubrication abilities, which creating less wear and tear inside the engine and ultimately allows diesel engines to last longer3,4.
The downsides of the diesel engine are manly seen and smelt. The engine’s high pressures cause loud explosions to take place as the engine cycles. While burnt diesel fuel is bad for the environment and has a thick odor that must be monitored and purified to pass emission tests. The engine’s main technical flaws are it’s lower top end speeds, which causes a loss in recorded horsepower and the heavy parts required to contain the engine’s high pressures. These heavy parts cause startup to be more difficult especially in large commercial engines, as it is difficult to get heavy parts at rest to start moving. Diesel fuel is also another downside of the engine, and will be discussed later3,4.
Fuel
Unlike standard gasoline engines the diesel engine is not restricted to one type of fuel to operate efficiently and can change fuels with no modifications required.
Diesel
Diesel fuel is refined from crude oil found deep within the earth. Physically diesel fuel is a very thick, smelly fuel that is difficult to wash off clothes, hands and even pavement because of its slow evaporation time. Diesel is a lot easier to create compared gasoline, which creates a cheaper process and has a higher energy density compared to standard gasoline as well averaging 147,000 BTU per gallon compared to gasoline’s 125,000 BTU’s per gallon1. This is part of the reason the diesel engine has a higher efficiency and is often more economical3.
Biodiesel
Planned
Diesel Engine’s Future
The future of the diesel engine in commuter vehicles is currently at a crossroads between the green face it is trying to adopt and the powerhouse dirty engine it is well known for. The market is beginning to change and the diesel engine is facing heavy competition from new clean technology that is attempting to replace both diesel and gasoline engines with environmentally friendly power sources. Power plants like battery hybrid electrics (BHE) and fuel cell electrics (FCE) are two important technologies that are beginning to hit American and European markets and make even clean diesel technology look dirty. The diesel engines biggest opposition will always be the depleting fossil fuel reserves and increasing diesel prices due to demand. These two factors cause even economical engines to cost more to power and will eventually cause the price of owning a diesel automobile to exceed even more expensive alternative energy sources5.
Works Cited
<ref name=Stuff>Car Engines; Explain That Stuff. April 26, 2009. . Accessed March 2011.<ref>
A New Clean Diesel Technology: Demonstration of Ulev Emissions on a Navistar Diesel Engine Fueled With Dimethyl Ether: Fleisch, Theo; McCarthy, Chris; Basu, Arun; Udovich, Carl; Charbonneau, Pat; Slodowske, Warren; Mikkelsen Svend-Erik. Illumina http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=TRD&recid=20070520133503MT&q=diesel+automotive+engine&uid=790489715&setcookie=yes. Accessed March 2011.
Frictional Losses In Diesel Engines. Millington; Hartles. Ricardo & Co. Engineering, 01-02-1968, 650590. http://papers.sae.org/680590. Accessed March 2011.
Thomas, Sandy. "Transportation Options in a Carbon-constrained World." International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 34.23 (2009): 9279-296. Science Direct, Dec. 2009. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. Accessed March 2011.
- ↑ Marshall Brain. How Diesel Engines Work; How Stuff Works.. Accessed March 2011.