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Diesel engine facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
For the fuel used to power diesel engines, see Diesel fuel.
Diesel generator on an oil tanker
Diesel engine

The name diesel is given to an engine invented by a German named Rudolf Diesel in the late 19th century. It is one of the most used kinds of internal combustion engine.

Most other engines need a system called an ignition system – one that uses an electric spark – in order to burn the mix of fuel and air and make power. Other types of ignition systems use compressed air from an outside source, such as an air compressor. A diesel does not. It burns a diesel fuel (similar to heating oil) through very high compression or pressing together of the mix. A tiny bit of fuel is injected, or forced, into the engine's cylinders at just the right moment. Since gases heat when they are pressed together, the compression of the air and fuel mix cause the mix to explode within the cylinder.

Diesel engines make very good use of the fuel they burn. They also make lots of torque (pronounced "tork"), or twisting power. An engine with a lot of torque will be able to spin its shaft even if it is very hard to do so. This makes a diesel engine a good choice in heavy equipment like trucks, trains and construction machines. The very big trucks on the road have diesel engines in them. So do train locomotives, unless they are electric or the old steam-powered kind.

Sometimes, even the torque of a diesel engine is not enough to run such big machines. To boost power, large diesels often have a device called a turbocharger attached. A turbocharger is a type of turbine – something used to move a lot of air very quickly. Jet engines also contain a turbine. In the diesel, pressure from the exhaust spins the turbocharger at a very high speed. Fresh air is then forced back into the engine. Since the engine works by pumping air, the more air you can put through it, the more power it makes. That is where the turbocharger helps. A diesel engine that has a turbocharger is called a turbodiesel. The whistling sound sometimes heard near one of these engines is caused by the turbocharger, or "turbo" for short.

A diesel engine can also be made to run on canola oil made from old cooking oil. This type of fuel is called biodiesel. Running a diesel engine on biodiesel fuel makes the exhaust smell like food. Vegetable oil as fuel is not a new idea. The engine that Rudolf Diesel used to demonstrate his new idea ran on canola oil.

Images for kids

  • Dieselmotor Langen & Wolf, 1898

    Diesel engine built by Langen & Wolf under licence, 1898.

  • Lumbar patent dieselengine

    Rudolf Diesel's 1893 patent on a rational heat motor

  • Experimental Diesel Engine

    Diesel's second prototype. It is a modification of the first experimental engine. On 17 February 1894, this engine ran under its own power for the first time. Effective efficiency 16.6% Fuel consumption 519 g·kW−1·h−1

  • Historical Diesel engine in Deutsches Museum

    First fully functional diesel engine, designed by Imanuel Lauster, built from scratch, and finished by October 1896. Rated power 13.1 kW Effective efficiency 26.2% Fuel consumption 324 g·kW−1·h−1.

  • Model Engine Luc Viatour

    Diesel engine model, left side

  • Model Engine B Luc Viatour

    Diesel engine model, right side

  • 12 Cylinder Diesel Engine

    Stationary 12 cylinder turbo-diesel engine coupled to a generator set for auxiliary power

  • 5S50MC

    The MAN B&W 5S50MC 5-cylinder, 2-stroke, low-speed marine diesel engine. This particular engine is found aboard a 29,000 tonne chemical carrier.

  • Diesel engine (PSF)

    Schematic of a two-stroke diesel engine with a roots blower

  • Detroit Diesel timing

    Detroit Diesel timing

  • Ricardo comet combustion

    Ricardo Comet indirect injection chamber

  • Stationärdieselmotor 1915

    Typical early 20th century air-blast injected diesel engine, rated at 59 kW.

  • BMW E28 engine 2 16.09 JM

    1980s BMW M21 passenger car turbo-diesel engine

  • MAN 630 L2A 03

    The MAN 630's M-System diesel engine is a petrol engine (designed to run on NATO F 46/F 50 petrol), but it also runs on jet fuel, (NATO F 40/F 44), kerosene, (NATO F 58), and diesel engine fuel (NATO F 54/F 75)

  • 8 cylinder Burmeister & Wain Diesel engine for MS Glenapp 1920

    One of the eight-cylinder 3200 I.H.P. Harland and Wolff – Burmeister & Wain diesel engines installed in the motorship Glenapp. This was the highest powered diesel engine yet (1920) installed in a ship. Note man standing lower right for size comparison.

  • Porsche F 218

    Air-cooled diesel engine of a 1959 Porsche 218

  • The National Archives UK - CO 1069-182-9

    Three English Electric 7SRL diesel-alternator sets being installed at the Saateni Power Station, Zanzibar 1955

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Motor diésel para niños

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