Before touching on the subject of the construction of an ordinary diesel engine, it would be useful to take a brief excursion into the past and to trace who discovered the principle of the diesel engine, as well as the development of engines throughout the 20th century.
The engineer who designed the first engine using liquid fuel as an energy source was Rudolf Diesel. At the end of the 19th century, he discovered the possibility of using the effect of instantaneous ignition of fuel in the chamber, as a result of which it was possible to obtain colossal energy that could bring the crankshaft into rotation . It is from this time that the era of diesel internal combustion engines begins. The main competitor of diesel units were gasoline engines, which won due to the fact that they could provide a higher speed. Only in the 30s of the twentieth century, a German engineer R. Bosch was able to design the first ever multi-section high-pressure pump, which ensured the further development of diesel engines.
The principle of operation of a diesel engine is based on the fact that the ignition of a combustible mixture in the engine cylinders does not occur due to a spark from spark plugs, but due to the pressure that diesel fuel is subjected to. If in a gasoline engine fuel is mixed with air before it enters the cylinder, then in a diesel engine the cleaned air enters the cylinder when the piston moves downward, after which diesel fuel is injected, and as a result of the resulting high pressure, the mixture ignites. The result is a more powerful release of energy, and, accordingly, the power of the engine itself increases significantly. Thus, the principle of operation of a diesel engine is based on the strong compression of the fuel mixture and its ignition.
True, there are a number of drawbacks associated with the physical characteristics of the air and the fuel itself. The fact is that in severe frost, the temperature of the compressed air may not be enough to ignite diesel fuel, which causes some problems when starting a diesel engine in a cold winter. However, in modern diesel units, not only automobile, but also for industrial use, a pre-heating air system is used, which almost completely eliminates this trouble.
Diesel engines are widely used today in shipbuilding and aircraft manufacturing, where they have established themselves as reliable and durable systems with a long service life. In addition, engines of this type have become widespread in turbines. Moreover, the principle of operation of a turbine of a diesel engine is to use all the power arising from the combustion of fuel during the operation of a mechanical turbine.
Unfortunately, some myths about diesel engines still circulate among motorists, among which the following are most common:
- too loud diesel operation;
- slow engine operation;
- economical work;
- poor start in frost.
With the last paragraph, we found out, and now the principle of the diesel engine does not depend on the ambient temperature. As for more economical work, this was earlier when the cost of diesel fuel was 3 times lower than the cost of gasoline. Today, the main advantage of diesel engines is more power and a longer life of such a motor. If we talk about loud and slow operation, then the principle of operation of a diesel engine refutes these claims, because if the engine is properly tuned and its operating conditions are met, it will serve you faithfully for a long time.