Diesel Engines. (Compressed Ignition Engines )

Inventor Rudolph Diesel 1858-1913

Diesel first patented his engine in 1892 as a proposed engine that would compress air so much that it would heat air far higher than the ignition temperature of the fuel.

He was finally granted patent no 608,845 in 1898 as an internal combustion engine.

Diesel invented the engine for sociological needs, so that independent craftsmen could compete with large industries who were at the time using oversized fuel wasting steam engines.

The engine was designed to run on local fuels starting with coal dust and later on vegetable oils. It wasn’t until the petrochemical companies started using petrol on a large scale that the by product diesel was used as a fuel.

The diesel engine was about 75% efficient compared to the steam engine that it was replacing which was only about 10% efficient.

Rudolph Diesel became a millionaire soon after his invention was used on a large scale, then mysteriously disappeared in 1913 crossing the English channel.