Everything You Should Know About Diesel Engines

Everything You Should Know About Diesel Engines

Since the invention, diesel engines are often used in heavy and industrial vehicles because of their hardness and low consumption. Gasoline and diesel engines can be used to perform the same tasks, although these are the most used when huge power is required as they are used to move ships, locomotives, cargo vehicles or large capacity generators.

Therefore, it is not surprising that diesel internal combustion engines were born in 1893 following the four-stroke cycles of gasoline engines by an employee of the MAN truck company, Rudolf Diesel, who gave them his name with the idea of finding superior thermal performance through a volatile alternative fuel.

When Boch created the first injection pump for diesel engines in 1927, they had developed lower-cost internal combustion engines, a cheaper fuel with a higher compression ratio, between 16:1 and 24:1, capable of working between 700º and 900º C of temperature.

How does a diesel engine work?

Basically it is an alternative internal combustion thermal engine with self-ignition, thanks to the high temperatures derived from the compression of the air in the cylinder.

The main difference with a gasoline engine lies precisely in the point that diesel engines don’t require spark to kindle, but they have glow plugs that go up the temperature of the combustion chamber to improve the cold start and take advantage of that heat once reached the optimum temperature. The four strokes of a diesel engine proceed as follows;

Admission

In that first time, air is filled as the intake valve remains open while the piston is descending to the lower dead center. The total amount of air in any load condition is always supported, and the cooler, less density and more can enter, thus, increasing combustion.

Compression

The inlet valve closes when the piston reaches the bottom dead center and begins the route to the upper one, thus, compressing the air inside the cylinder in an approximate ratio of 18:1 and raising the temperature significantly.

Combustion

Shortly before reaching the top dead center, the injector sprays the fuel into the chamber and ignites immediately upon contact with hot air. There is no need for the spark of the spark plug, as it is done only with the heat that transmits its incandescence.

Exhaust

The pressure generated by the temperature forces the piston down powerfully, and part of that energy is used to return it to the top dead center, thus, expelling the burned gases and allowing the inertia to start again.

Diesel has always been considered a more economical fuel with more effective performance per liter than gasoline. While talking about prices, we must not forget that diesel vehicles are more expensive to buy in the market and more expensive to maintain.

Although contamination levels are always higher in a diesel engine, the fact that more technologies are developed around them than those of gasoline gives them more output and reputation, so that their sales have been increasing until they surpass them.

In particular, it is advisable to purchase a diesel engine vehicle when you plan to make many miles to make the difference in fuel expense. They are usually more durable as they suffer less wear while driving.

To make them more reliable and powerful, diesel tuning is highly recommended by the experts. We hope that our article has helped you better understand the differences and the functioning of diesel engines.

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