Diesel Engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion

engine which operates using the diesel
cycle (named after Dr. Rudolph Diesel). Diesel
engines have the highest thermal efficiency of
any internal or external engine, because of
their compression ratio.
The defining feature of the diesel engine is the
use of the heat of compression to
initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is
injected into the combustion chamber during
the final stage of compression. This is in
contrast to a petrol (gasoline) engine or gas
engine, which uses the Otto cycle, in which a
fuel/air mixture is ignited by a spark plug.
Diesel engines are manufactured in two
stroke and four stroke versions. They were
originally used as a more efficient replacement
for stationary steam engines. Since the 1910s
they have been used in submarines and ships.
Use in locomotives, large trucks and electric
generating plants followed later. In the 1930s,
they slowly began to be used in
few automobiles. Since the 1970s, the use of
diesel engines in larger on-road and off-road
vehicles in the USA increased. As of 2007, about
50 percent of all new car sales in Europe are
diesel.
History
Rudolf Diesel, of German nationality, was born
in 1858 in Paris where his parents
were Bavarian immigrants. He was educated
at Munich Polytechnic. After graduation he was
employed as a refrigerator engineer but his true
love lay in engine design. Diesel designed many
heat engines, including a solar-powered air
engine. In 1893, he published a paper
describing an engine with combustion within
a cylinder, the internal combustion engine. In
1894, he filed for a patent for his new invention,
dubbed the diesel engine. His engine was the
first to prove that fuel could be ignited without
a spark. He operated his first successful engine
in 1897.
In 1898, Diesel was granted U.S. Patent 608,845
for an "internal combustion engine". Though
best known for his invention of the pressure-
ignited heat engine that bears his name, Rudolf
Diesel was also a well-respected thermal
engineer and a social theorist. Diesel's
inventions have three points in common: they
relate to heat transference by natural physical
processes or laws; they involve markedly
creative mechanical design; and they were
initially motivated by the inventor's concept
of sociological needs. Rudolf Diesel originally
conceived the diesel engine to enable
independent craftsmen and artisans to compete
with industry.
At Augsburg, on August 10, 1893, Rudolf
Diesel's prime model, a single 10-foot (3.0 m)
iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on
its own power for the first time. Diesel spent
two more years making improvements and in
1896 demonstrated another model with a
theoretical efficiency of 75 percent, in contrast
to the 10 percent efficiency of the steam engine.
By 1898, Diesel had become a millionaire. His
engines were used to power pipelines, electric
and water plants, automobiles and trucks, and
marine craft. They were soon to be used in
mines, oil fields, factories, and transoceanic
shipping.
Early history timeline
Rudolf Diesel's 1893 patent on his engine
design
• 1893 Rudolf Diesel obtains a patent (RP
67207) titled [Theory and Construction of a
Rational Heat-engine to Replace the Steam
Engine and Combustion Engines Known
Today] "Arbeitsverfahren und
Ausführungsart für
Verbrennungsmaschienen".
• 1897 On August 10 Diesel builds his first
working prototype in Augsburg
• 1899 Diesel licenses his engine to
builders Krupp and Sulzer, who become
famous builders.
• 1902 until 1910 MAN produced 82 copies of
the stationary diesel engine.
• 1903 A diesel engine was installed in a river
boat.
• 1904 The French build the first
diesel submarine, the Z.
• 1905 For diesel
engines turbochargers and intercoolers wer
e manufactured by Büchl (CH), as well as
a scroll loader from Creux (F) Company.
• 1908 Prosper L'Orange develops
with Deutz a precisely controlled injection
pump with a needle injection nozzle.
• 1909 The prechamber with half spherical
combustion chamber is developed by
Prosper L'Orange with Benz.
• 1910 The Norwegian research ship Fram is
the first ship of the world with a Diesel
drive, afterwards Selandia was the first
trading vessel. By 1960 the Diesel drive had
displaced steam turbine and coal fired
steam engines.
• 1912 The Danish built First diesel ship
MS Selandia. The first locomotive with a
diesel engine.
• 1913 US Navy submarines use NELSECO
units. Rudolf Diesel died mysteriously when
he crossed the English Channel on the SS
Dresden.
• 1914 German U-Boats are powered by MAN
diesels.
• 1919 Prosper L'Orange obtains a patent on
a prechamber insert and makes a needle
injection nozzle. First diesel engine from
Cummins.
• 1921 Prosper L'Orange built a continuous
variable output injection pump.
• 1922 First vehicle with (pre-chamber)
diesel engine is the Agricultural type 6 of
Mercedes-Benz agricultural tractor OE Benz
Sendling.
• 1923 first truck with diesel engine made
by MAN, Benz and Daimler was tested.
• 1924 The introduction on the truck market
of the diesel engine by commercial truck
manufacturers in the IAA. Fairbanks-
Morse starts building diesel engines.
• 1927 first truck injection pump and
injection nozzles of Bosch. First passenger
car prototype of Stoewer.
• 1930s Caterpillar starts building diesels for
their tractors.
• 1932 Introduction of strongest Diesel truck
of the world by MAN with 160 hp (120 kW).
• 1933 of first passenger cars with diesel
engine (Citroën Rosalie); Citroën uses an
engine of the English Diesel pioneer sir
Harry Ricardo. The car does not go into
production due to legal restrictions in the
use of Diesel engines.
• 1934 First turbo Diesel engine for railway
train by Maybach.
• 1934-35 Junkers Motorenwerke in
Germany starts production of the Jumo
aviation diesel engine family, the most
famous of these being the Jumo 205, of
which over 900 examples are produced by
the outbreak of World War II.
• 1936 Mercedes-Benz builds the 260D diesel
car. AT&SF inaugurates the diesel
train Super Chief. Airship Hindenburg is
powered by diesel engines. First series
manufactured passenger cars with diesel
engine (Mercedes-Benz 260
D, Hanomag and Saurer). Daimler
 Benz airship diesel engine 602LOF6
for airship the LZ129 Hindenburg.
• 1937 BMW 114 (aircraft engine) BMW 114
experimental airplane diesel engine
development.
• 1938 First turbo Diesel engine of Saurer.
• 1944 Development of Air cooling for diesel
engines by Klöckner Humboldt Deutz
AG (KHD) for the production stage and later
also for Magirus Deutz.
• 1953 Turbo Diesel truck for Mercedes in
small series.
• 1954 Turbo-Diesel truck in mass
production of Volvo. First diesel engine with
an overhead cam shaft of Daimler Benz.[5]
• 1968 Peugeot places with 204 the first
small cars with forward crosswise mounted
Diesel.
• 1973 Load air cooling with the diesel engine
of DAF.
• 1976 February Testing of a diesel engine
of Volkswagen for the passenger car
 Volkswagen Golf. The Common
Rail injection system was developed by the
ETH Zurich from 1976 to 1992.
• 1977 The production of the first passenger
car turbo-Diesels (Mercedes 300 SD).
• 1985 ATI Intercooler diesel engine from
DAF. First Common Rail system with the
IFA truck type W50.
• 1986 Electronic Diesel Control (EDC)
of Bosch with the BMW 524tD.
• 1987 Most powerful production truck with
a 460 hp (340 kW) MAN diesel engine.
• 1988 First turbochargers with direct
injection in the diesel engine from Fiat.
• 1991 European emission standards
(redirect Euro 1) euro 1 met with the truck
diesel engine of Scania.
• 1993 Pump nozzle injection for the truck
diesel engine of Volvo.
• 1994 Unit injector system by Bosch for
diesel engines.
 • 1999 euro 3 of Scania and first Common
Rail truck diesel engine of Renault.
• 2004 In Western Europe, the ratio of
passenger cars with diesel engine exceeds
50%.
Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system in
Mercedes, Euro 4 with EGR system and particle
filters of MAN. Piezoelectric injector technology
by Bosch.
• 2006 First worldwide outstanding success
in the Diesel racing car AUDI R10 TDI that
wins 12
Hours running in Sebring and defeats all other
engine concepts. Euro 5 for all Iveco trucks.
• 2008 Subaru presents to first production
stages Diesel double-piston engine. Euro 5
with EGR system
Strongest series trucks with a 680 hp (510 kW)
MAN diesel engine.
• 2009 Volvo claims the world’s strongest
truck with their FH16 700. An inline 6
cylinder, 16 litre 700hp diesel engine
producing 3150 Nm (2323 lb-ft) of torque
 and fully complying with Euro 5 emission
standards.

How diesel engines work

The diesel internal combustion engine differs
from the gasoline powered Otto cycle by using a
higher compression of the air to ignite the fuel
rather than using a spark plug ("compression
ignition" rather than "spark ignition").
In the diesel engine, only air is introduced into
the combustion chamber. The air is then
compressed with a compression ratio typically
between 15 and 22 resulting into a 40 bar
(about 600 psi) pressure compared to 14 bar
(about 200 psi) in the gasoline engine. This high
compression heats the air to 550 °C (about
1000 °F). At about this moment (the exact
moment is determined by the fuel injection
timing of the fuel system), fuel is injected
directly into the compressed air in the
combustion chamber. This may be into a
(typically toroidal) void in the top of the piston
or a 'pre-chamber' depending upon the design
of the engine. The fuel injector ensures that the
fuel is broken down into small droplets, and
that the fuel is distributed as evenly as possible.
The more modern the engine, the smaller, more
numerous and better distributed are the
droplets. The heat of the compressed air
vaporises fuel from the surface of the droplets.
The vapour is then ignited by the heat from the
compressed air in the combustion chamber, the
droplets continue to vaporise from their
surfaces and burn, getting smaller, until all the
fuel in the droplets has been burnt. The start of
vaporisation causes a delay period during
ignition, and the characteristic diesel knocking
sound as the vapour reaches ignition
temperature and causes an abrupt increase in
pressure above the piston. The rapid expansion
of combustion gases then drives the piston
downward, supplying power to the crankshaft.
As well as the high level of compression
allowing combustion to take place without a
separate ignition system, a high compression
ratio greatly increases the engine's efficiency.
Increasing the compression ratio in a spark-
ignition engine where fuel and air are mixed
before entry to the cylinder is limited by the
need to prevent damaging pre-ignition. Since
only air is compressed in a diesel engine, and
fuel is not introduced into the cylinder until
shortly before top dead centre (TDC),
premature detonation is not an issue and
compression ratios are much higher.
Early fuel injection systems
Diesel's original engine injected fuel with the
assistance of compressed air, which atomized
the fuel and forced it into the engine through a
nozzle (a similar principle to an aerosol spray).
The nozzle opening was closed by a pin valve
lifted by the camshaft to initiate the fuel
injection before (TDC) (top dead centre). This is
called an air-blast injection. Driving the three
stage compressor used some power but the
efficiency and net power output was more than
any other combustion engine at that time.
Diesel engines in service today raise the fuel to
extreme pressures by mechanical pumps and
deliver it to the combustion chamber by
pressure-activated injectors without
compressed air. With direct injected diesels,
injectors spray fuel through six or more small
orifices in its nozzle. The early air injection
diesels always had a superior combustion
without the sharp increase in pressure during
combustion. Interestingly research is
performed and patents are taken out to use
some form of air injection to reduce the
nitrogen oxides and pollution, reverting to
Diesels original implementation with its
superior combustion. In all major aspects, it
holds true to Rudolf Diesel's original design that
of igniting fuel by compression at an extremely
high pressure within the cylinder. With much
higher pressures and high technology injector’s
present-day diesel engines use the so-called
solid injection system applied by Herbert
Akroyd Stuart for his hot bulb engine. Indirect
injection engine could be considered the latest
development of these low speed "hot bulb"
ignition engines.
Cold weather
Starting
In cold weather high speed diesel engines,
which are mostly prechambered, can be
difficult to start because the mass of the
cylinder block and cylinder head absorb the
heat of compression, preventing ignition
because of the higher surface to volume ratio.
Prechambered engines therefore make use of
small electric heaters inside the prechambers
called glow plugs. These engines also generally
have a higher compression of 19:1 to 21:1. Low
speed and compressed air started larger and
intermediate speed diesels do not have glow
plugs and compression ratios are around 16:1.
Some engines use resistive grid heaters in
the intake manifold to warm the inlet air until
the engine reaches operating temperature.
Engine block heaters (electric resistive heaters
in the engine block) connected to the utility grid
are often used when an engine is turned off for
extended periods (more than an hour) in cold
weather to reduce start-up time and engine
wear. In the past, a wider variety of cold-start
methods were used. Some engines, such
as Detroit Diesel engines and Lister-
Petter engines, used a system to introduce
small amounts of ether into the inlet manifold
to start combustion. Saab marine engines, Field
Marshall tractors (among others) used slow-
burning solid-fuel 'cigarettes' which were fitted
into the cylinder head as a primitive glow
plug. Lucas developed the 'Thermostat', where
an electrical heating element was combined
with a small fuel valve. Diesel fuel slowly
dripped from the valve onto the hot element
and ignited. The flame heated the inlet manifold
and when the engine was turned over the flame
was drawn into the combustion chamber to
start combustion. International
Harvester developed a WD-40 tractor in the
1930s that had a 7-liter 4-cylinder engine
which ran as a diesel, but was started as a
gasoline engine. The cylinder head had valves
which opened for a portion of the compression
stroke to reduce the effective compression
ratio, and a magneto produced the spark. An
automatic ratchet system automatically
disengaged the ignition system and closed the
valves once the engine had run for 30 seconds.
The operator then switched off the gasoline fuel
system and opened the throttle on the diesel
injection system. Recently direct-injection
systems advanced to the extent that
prechambers systems were not needed using
a common rail with electronic fuel injection.
Gelling
Diesel fuel is also prone to "waxing" or "gelling"
in cold weather, terms for the solidification of
diesel oil into a partially crystalline state. The
crystals build up in the fuel line (especially in
fuel filters), eventually starving the engine of
fuel and causing it to stop running. Low-output
electric heaters in fuel tanks and around fuel
lines are used to solve this problem. Also, most
engines have a "spill return" system, by which
any excess fuel from the injector pump and
injectors is returned to the fuel tank. Once the
engine has warmed, returning warm fuel
prevents waxing in the tank. Due to
improvements in fuel technology, with
additives waxing rarely occurs in all but the
coldest weather when a mix of diesel
and kerosene should be used to run a vehicle.
Fuel delivery
A vital component of all diesel engines is a
mechanical or electronic governor which
regulates the idling speed and maximum speed
of the engine by controlling the rate of fuel
delivery. Unlike Otto-cycle engines, incoming
air is not throttled and a diesel engine without a
governor cannot have a stable idling speed and
can easily over speed, resulting in its
destruction. Mechanically governed fuel
injection systems are driven by the
engine's gear train. These systems use a
combination of springs and weights to control
fuel delivery relative to both load and
speed. [8] Modern, electronically controlled
diesel engines control fuel delivery by use of an
electronic control module (ECM) or electronic
control unit (ECU). The ECM/ECU receives an
engine speed signal, as well as other operating
parameters such as intake manifold pressure
and fuel temperature, from a sensor and
controls the amount of fuel and start of
injection timing through actuators to maximize
power and efficiency and minimize emissions.
Controlling the timing of the start of injection of
fuel into the cylinder is a key to minimizing
emissions, and maximizing fuel
economy (efficiency), of the engine. The timing
is measured in degrees of crank angle of
the piston before top dead centre. For example,
if the ECM/ECU initiates fuel injection when the
piston is 10 degrees before TDC, the start of
injection, or timing, is said to be 10° BTDC.
Optimal timing will depend on the engine
design as well as its speed and load. Advancing
the start of injection (injecting before the piston
reaches TDC) results in higher in-cylinder
pressure and temperature, and higher
efficiency, but also results in elevated engine
noise and increased oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
emissions due to higher combustion
temperatures. Delaying start of injection causes
incomplete combustion, reduced fuel efficiency
and an increase in exhaust smoke, containing a
considerable amount of particulate matter and
unburned hydrocarbons .
Major advantages
Diesel engines have several advantages over
other internal combustion engines.
• They burn less fuel than a gasoline engine
performing the same work, due to the
engine's high efficiency and diesel fuel's
higher energy density than gasoline.
• They have no high-tension electrical
ignition system to attend to, resulting in
high reliability and easy adaptation to damp
environments.
• They can deliver much more of their
rated power on a continuous basis than a
gasoline engine.
• The life of a diesel engine is generally about
twice as long as that of a gasoline
engine due to the increased strength of
parts used, also because diesel fuel has
better lubrication properties than gasoline.
 • Diesel fuel is considered safer than gasoline
in many applications. Although diesel fuel
will burn in open air using a wick, it will not
explode and does not release a large
amount of flammable vapour.
• For any given partial load the fuel efficiency
(kg burned per kWh produced) of a diesel
engine remains nearly constant, as opposed
to gasoline and turbine engines which use
proportionally more fuel with partial power
outputs.
• They generate less waste heat (but) in
cooling and exhaust.
• With a diesel, boost pressure is essentially
unlimited.
• The carbon monoxide content of the
exhaust is minimal; therefore diesel engines
are used in underground mines.
Mechanical and electronic injection
Many configurations of fuel injection have been
used over the past century (1900–2000).
Most present day (2008) diesel engines make
use of a camshaft, rotating at half crankshaft
speed, lifted mechanical single plunger high
pressure fuel pump driven by the engine
crankshaft. For each cylinder, its plunger
measures the amount of fuel and determines
the timing of each injection. These engines
use injectors that are basically very precise
spring-loaded valves that open and close at a
specific fuel pressure. For each cylinder a
plunger pump is connected with an injector
with a high pressure fuel line. Fuel volume for
each single combustion is controlled by a
slanted groove in the plunger which rotates
only a few degrees releasing the pressure and is
controlled by a mechanical governor, consisting
of weights rotating at engine speed constrained
by springs and a lever. The injectors are held
open by the fuel pressure. On high speed
engines the plunger pumps are together in one
unit. Each fuel line should have the same length
to obtain the same pressure delay.
A cheaper configuration on high speed engines
with less than six cylinders is to use an axial-
piston distributor pump ,consisting of one
rotating pump plunger delivering fuel to a valve
and line for each cylinder (functionally
analogous to points and distributor cap on
an Otto engine). This contrasts with the more
modern method of having a single fuel pump
which supplies fuel constantly at high pressure
with a common (single fuel line common) to
each injector. Each injector has
a solenoid operated by an electronic control
unit, resulting in more accurate control of
injector opening times that depend on other
control conditions, such as engine speed and
loading, and providing better engine
performance and fuel economy. This design is
also mechanically simpler than the combined
pump and valve design, making it generally
more reliable, and less noisy, than its
mechanical counterpart. Both mechanical and
electronic injection systems can be used in
either direct or indirect
injection configurations.
Older diesel engines with mechanical injection
pumps could be inadvertently run in reverse,
albeit very inefficiently, as witnessed by
massive amounts of soot being ejected from the
air intake. This was often a consequence of
push starting a vehicle using the wrong gear.
Large ship diesels can run either way.
Indirect injection
An indirect injection diesel engine delivers fuel
into a chamber off the combustion chamber,
called a prechamber or ante-chamber, where
combustion begins and then spreads into the
main combustion chamber, assisted
by turbulence created in the chamber. This
system allows for a smoother, quieter running
engine, and because combustion is assisted by
turbulence, injector pressures can be lower,
about 100 bar using a single orifice tapered jet
injector. Mechanical injection systems allowed
high-speed running suitable for road vehicles
(typically up to speeds of around 4,000 rpm).
The prechamber had the disadvantage of
increasing heat loss to the engine's cooling
system, and restricting the combustion burn,
which reduced the efficiency by 5%–
10%. Indirect injection engines were used in
small-capacity, high-speed diesel engines in
automotive, marine and construction uses from
the 1950s, until direct injection technology
advanced in the 1980s. Indirect injection
engines are cheaper to build and it is easier to
produce smooth, quiet-running vehicles with a
simple mechanical system. In road-going
vehicles most prefer the greater efficiency and
better controlled emission levels of direct
injection.
Direct injection
Direct injection injectors are mounted in the
top of the combustion chamber. The problem
with these vehicles was the harsh noise that
they made. Fuel consumption was about 15 to
20 percent lower than indirect injection diesels,
which for some buyers was enough to
compensate for the extra noise.
This type of engine was transformed by
electronic control of the injection pump,
pioneered by the Volkswagen Group in 1989.
The injection pressure was still only around
300 bar (4350 psi), but the injection timing, fuel
quantity, EGR and turbo boost were all
electronically controlled. This gave more
precise control of these parameters which
made refinement more acceptable and
emissions lower.
Unit direct injection
Unit direct injection also injects fuel directly
into the cylinder of the engine. In this system
the injector and the pump are combined into
one unit positioned over each cylinder
controlled by the camshaft. Each cylinder has
its own unit eliminating the high pressure fuel
lines, achieving a more consistent injection.
This type of injection system, also developed by
Bosch, is used by Volkswagen AG in cars (where
it is called a Pumpe-Düse-System—literally
"pump-nozzle system") and by Mercedes Benz
("PLD") and most major diesel engine
manufacturers in large commercial engines
(CAT, Cummins, Diesel, Volvo). With recent
advancements, the pump pressure has been
raised to 2,050 bar (30127 psi), allowing
injection parameters similar to common rail
systems.
Common rail direct injection
In common rail systems, the separate pulsing
high pressure fuel line to each cylinder injector
is also eliminated. Instead, a high-pressure
pump pressurises fuel at up to 2,000 bar
(200 MPa, 30000 psi), in a "common rail". The
common rail is a tube that supplies each
computer-controlled injector containing a
precision-machined nozzle and a plunger
driven by a solenoid or piezoelectric actuator.
Types
Early
Rudolf Diesel intended his engine to replace
the steam engine as the primary power source
for industry. As such, diesel engines in the late
19th and early 20th centuries used the same
basic layout and form as industrial steam
engines, with long-bore cylinders, external
valve gear, cross-head bearings and an open
crankshaft connected to a large flywheel.
Smaller engines would be built with vertical
cylinders, while most medium- and large-sized
industrial engines were built with horizontal
cylinders, just as steam engines had been.
Engines could be built with more than one
cylinder in both cases. The largest early diesels
resembled the triple-expansion reciprocating
engine steam engine, being tens of feet high
with vertical cylinders arranged in-line. These
early engines ran at very slow speeds—partly
due to the limitations of their air-blast injector
equipment and partly so they would be
compatible with the majority of industrial
equipment designed for steam engines;
maximum speeds of between 100 and
300 rpm were common. Engines were usually
started by allowing compressed air into the
cylinders to turn the engine, although smaller
engines could be started by hand.
In the early decades of the 20th century, when
large diesel engines were first being used, the
engines took a form similar to the compound
steam engines common at the time, with the
piston being connected to the connecting rod
via a crosshead bearing. Following steam
engine practice some manufactures made
double-acting two-stroke and four-stroke diesel
engines to increase power output, with
combustion taking place on both sides of the
piston, with two sets of valve gear and fuel
injection. While it produced large amounts of
power and was very efficient, the double-acting
diesel engine's main problem was producing a
good seal where the piston rod passed through
the bottom of the lower combustion chamber to
the crosshead bearing, and no more were built.
By the 1930s turbochargers were fitted to some
engines. Crosshead bearings are still used to
reduce the wear on the cylinders in large long-
stroke main marine engines.
Modern
As with gasoline engines, there are two classes
of diesel engines in current use: two-stroke and
four-stroke. The four-stroke type is the "classic"
version, tracing its lineage back to Rudolf
Diesel's prototype. It is also the most commonly
used form, being the preferred power source
for many motor vehicles, especially buses and
trucks. Much larger engines, such as used
for railroad locomotion and marine propulsion,
are often two-stroke units, offering a more
favourable power-to-weight ratio, as well as
better fuel economy. The most powerful
engines in the world are two-stroke diesels of
mammoth proportions.
Two-stroke diesel operation is similar to that of
gasoline counterparts, except that fuel is not
mixed with air prior to induction, and the
crankcase does not take an active role in the
cycle. The traditional two-stroke design relies
upon a mechanically driven positive
displacement blower to charge the cylinders
with air prior to compression and ignition. The
charging process also assists in expelling
(scavenging) combustion gases remaining from
the previous power stroke. The archetype of the
modern form of the two strokes Diesel is
the Detroit Diesel engine, in which the blower
pressurizes a chamber in the engine block that
is often referred to as the "air box". The (much
larger) electromotive prime mover utilized in
EMD Diesel-electric locomotives is built to the
same principle.
In a two-stroke diesel engine, as
the cylinder's piston approaches the bottom
dead centre exhaust ports or valves are opened
relieving most of the excess pressure after
which a passage between the air box and the
cylinder is opened, permitting air flow into the
cylinder. The air flow blows the remaining
combustion gasses from the cylinder—this is
the scavenging process. As the piston passes
through bottom centre and starts upward, the
passage is closed and compression commences,
culminating in fuel injection and ignition. Refer
to two-stroke Diesel engines for more detailed
coverage of aspiration types and supercharging
of two-stroke engine.
Normally, the numbers of cylinders are used in
multiples of two, although any number of
cylinders can be used as long as the load on the
crankshaft is counterbalanced to prevent
excessive vibration. The inline-six cylinder
design is the most prolific in light to medium-
duty engines, though small V8 and larger inline-
four displacement engines are also common.
Small-capacity engines (generally considered to
be those below five litres in capacity) are
generally four or six cylinder types, with the
four cylinders being the most common type
found in automotive uses. Five cylinder diesel
engines have also been produced, being a
compromise between the smooth running of
the six cylinder and the space-efficient
dimensions of the four cylinders. Diesel engines
for smaller plant machinery, boats, tractors,
generators and pumps may be four, three or
two cylinder types, with the single cylinder
diesel engine remaining for light stationary
work. Direct reversible two stroke marine
diesels need at least three cylinders for reliable
restarting forwards and reverse. Four cycle
engines need at least six cylinders, repeated
power strokes at 120 degrees.
The desire to improve the diesel
engine's power-to-weight ratio produced
several novel cylinder arrangements to extract
more power from a given capacity. The Napier
Deltic engine, with three cylinders arranged in a
triangular formation, each containing two
opposed-action pistons, the whole engine
having three crankshafts, is one of the better
known. The Commer van company of the
United Kingdom used a similar design for road
vehicles, designed by Tillings-Stevens, member
of the Rootes Group, the TS3. The Commer TS3
engine had 3 horizontal in-line cylinders, each
with two opposed action pistons that worked
through rocker arms, to connecting rods and
had one crankshaft. While both these designs
succeeded in producing greater power for a
given capacity, they were complex and
expensive to produce and operate, and when
turbocharger technology improved in the
1960s, this was found to be a much more
reliable and simple way of extracting more
power.
Gas generator
Main article: Free-piston engine
As a footnote, prior to 1950, Sulzer started
experimenting with two-stroke engines with
boost pressures as high as 6 atmospheres, in
which all of the output power was taken from
an exhaust gas turbine. The two-stroke pistons
directly drove air compressor pistons to make a
positive displacement gas generator. Opposed
pistons were connected by linkages instead of
crankshafts. Several of these units could be
connected together to provide power gas to one
large output turbine. The overall thermal
efficiency was roughly twice that of a simple gas
turbine. This system was derived from Raúl
Pateras Pescara's work on free-piston engines
in the 1930s.
Advantages and disadvantages versus
spark-ignition engines

Power and fuel economy

The MAN S80ME-C7 low speed diesel engines
use 155 gram fuel per kWh for an overall
energy conversion efficiency of 54.4%, which is
the highest conversion of fuel into power by
any internal or external
combustion engine. Diesel engines are more
efficient than gasoline (petrol) engines of the
same power, resulting in lower fuel
consumption. A common margin is 40%
more miles per gallon for an
efficientturbodiesel. For example, the current
model Škoda Octavia, using Volkswagen
Group engines, has a combined Euro rating of
6.2 L/100 km (38 miles per US gallon) for the
102 bhp (76 kW) petrol engine and
4.4 L/100 km (54 mpg) for the 105 bhp
(78 kW) diesel engine. However, such a
comparison doesn't take into account that
diesel fuel is denser and contains about 15%
more energy by volume. Although the calorific
value of the fuel is slightly lower at 45.3 MJ/kg
(mega joules per kilogram) than gasoline at
45.8 MJ/kg, liquid diesel fuel is significantly
denser than liquid gasoline. This is important
because volume of fuel, in addition to mass, is
an important consideration in mobile
applications. No vehicle has an unlimited
volume available for fuel storage.
Adjusting the numbers to account for the
energy density of diesel fuel, the overall energy
efficiency is still about 20% greater for the
diesel version.
While higher compression ratio is helpful in
raising efficiency, diesel engines are much more
efficient than gasoline (petrol) engines when at
low power and at engine idle. Unlike the petrol
engine, diesels lack a butterfly valve (throttle)
in the inlet system, which closes at idle. This
creates parasitic loss and destruction of
availability on the incoming air, reducing the
efficiency of petrol/gasoline engines at idle. In
many applications, such as marine, agriculture,
and railways, diesels are left idling unattended
for many hours or sometimes days. These
advantages are especially attractive in
locomotives (see dieselisation).
Weight can be an issue, since diesel engines are
typically heavier than gasoline engines of
similar power output. This is essentially
because the diesel must operate at lower engine
speeds. Diesel fuel is injected just before the
power stroke. As a result of this, the fuel cannot
burn completely until it has encountered the
right amount of oxygen. This results in
incomplete combustion with too much fuel,
poor design or failing injectors resulting in
black exhaust. In the gasoline engine, air and
fuel are mixed for the entire compression
stroke, ensuring complete mixing even at
higher engine speeds.
Diesel engines usually have longer stroke
lengths to achieve the necessary compression
ratios. As a result piston and connecting rods
are heavier and more force must be transmitted
through the connecting rods and crankshaft to
change the momentum of the piston. This is
another reason that a diesel engine must be
stronger for the same power output.
Yet it is this same build quality that has allowed
some enthusiasts to acquire significant power
increases with turbocharged engines through
fairly simple and inexpensive modifications. A
gasoline engine of similar size cannot put out a
comparable power increase without extensive
alterations because the stock components
would not be able to withstand the higher
stresses placed upon them. Since a diesel
engine is already built to withstand higher
levels of stress, it makes an ideal candidate
for performance tuning with little expense.
However, it should be said that any
modification that raises the amount of fuel and
air put through a diesel engine will increase its
operating temperature which will reduce its life
and increase service requirements. These are
issues with newer, lighter, high
performance diesel engines which are not
"overbuilt" to the degree of older engines and
are being pushed to provide greater power in
smaller engines. The addition of
a turbocharger or supercharger to the engine
greatly assists in increasing fuel economy and
power output, mitigating the fuel-air intake
speed limit mentioned above for a given engine
displacement. Boost pressures can be higher on
diesels than gasoline engines, due to the latter's
susceptibility to knock, and the
higher compression ratio allows a diesel engine
to be more efficient than a comparable spark
ignition engine. Because the burned gases are
expanded further in a diesel engine cylinder,
the exhaust gas is cooler, meaning
turbochargers require less cooling, and can be
more reliable, than on spark-ignition engines.
With a diesel, boost pressure is essentially
unlimited. It is literally possible to run as much
boost as the engine will physically stand before
breaking apart. Consequently, engine designers
have come to realize that diesels are capable of
substantially more power and torque than any
comparably sized gasoline engine.
The increased fuel economy of the diesel engine
over the gasoline engine means that the diesel
produces less carbon dioxide (CO2) per unit
distance. Recently, advances in production and
changes in the political climate have increased
the availability and awareness of biodiesel, an
alternative to petroleum-derived diesel fuel
with a much lower net-sum emission of CO2,
due to the absorption of CO2 by plants used to
produce the fuel. Although concerns are now
being raised as to the negative effect this is
having on the world food supply, as the growing
of crops specifically for bio fuels takes up land
that could be used for food crops and uses
water that could be used by both humans and
animals. The use of waste vegetable oil, sawmill
waste from managed forests in Finland funded
by Nokia venture capital, and the development
of the production of vegetable oil from algae,
demonstrate great promise in providing feed
stocks for sustainable biodiesel, that are not in
competition with food production.
Diesel engines have lower power output than
equivalent size petrol engine because its speed
is limited by the time required for
combustion. A combination of improved
mechanical technology (such as multi-stage
injectors which fire a short "pilot charges" of
fuel into the cylinder to warm the combustion
chamber before delivering the main fuel
charge), higher injection pressures that have
improved the atomisation of fuel into smaller
droplets, and electronic control (which can
adjust the timing and length of the injection
process to optimise it for all speeds and
temperatures), have mostly mitigated these
problems in the latest generation of common-
rail designs, while greatly improving engine
efficiency. Poor power and narrow torque
bands have been addressed by the use of
superchargers, turbochargers,
especially variable geometry
turbochargers), intercoolers, and a large
efficiency increase from about 35% for IDI to
45% for the latest engines in the last 15 years.
Even though diesel engines have a theoretical
fuel efficiency of 75%, in practice it is less.
Engines in large diesel trucks, buses, and newer
diesel cars can achieve peak efficiencies around
45%, and could reach 55% efficiency in the
near future. However, average efficiency over a
driving cycle is lower than peak efficiency. For
example, it might be 37% for an engine with a
peak efficiency of 44%.
Emissions
Diesel engines produce very little carbon
monoxide as they burn the fuel in excess air
even at full load, at which point the quantity of
fuel injected per cycle is still about 50% lean
of stoichiometric. However, they can produce
black soot (or more specifically diesel
particulate matter) from their exhaust, which
consists of unburned carbon compounds. This
is caused by local low temperatures where the
fuel is not fully atomized. These local low
temperatures occur at the cylinder walls and at
the outside of large droplets of fuel. At these
areas where it is relatively cold, the mixture is
rich (contrary to the overall mixture which is
lean). The rich mixture has less air to burn and
some of the fuel turns into a carbon deposit.
Modern car engines use a diesel particulate
filter (DPF) to capture carbon particles and
then intermittently burn them using extra fuel
injected into the engine.
The full load limit of a diesel engine in normal
service is defined by the "black smoke limit".
Beyond which point the fuel cannot be
completely combusted, as the "black smoke
limit" is still considerably lean of
stoichiometric. It is possible to obtain more
power by exceeding it, but the resultant
inefficient combustion means that the extra
power comes at the price of reduced
combustion efficiency, high fuel consumption
and dense clouds of smoke. This is only done in
specialized applications (such as tractor
pulling competitions) where these
disadvantages are of little concern.
Likewise, when starting from cold, the engine's
combustion efficiency is reduced because the
cold engine block draws heat out of the cylinder
in the compression stroke. The result is that
fuel is not combusted fully, resulting in
blue/white smoke and lower power outputs
until the engine has warmed through. This is
especially the case with indirect injection
engines, which are less thermally efficient. With
electronic injection, the timing and length of the
injection sequence can be altered to
compensate for this. Older engines with
mechanical injection can have mechanical and
hydraulic governor control to alter the timing,
and multi-phase electrically controlled glow
plugs, that stay on for a period after start-up to
ensure clean combustion—the plugs are
automatically switched to a lower power to
prevent them burning out.
Particles of the size normally called PM10
(particles of 10 micrometres or smaller) have
been implicated in health problems, especially
in cities. Some modern diesel engines
feature diesel particulate filters, which catch
the black soot and when saturated are
automatically regenerated by burning the
particles. Other problems associated with the
exhaust gases (nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides)
can be mitigated with further investment and
equipment; some diesel cars now have catalytic
converters in the exhaust.
All diesel engine exhaust emissions can be
significantly reduced by the use
of biodiesel fuel. Oxides of nitrogen do increase
from a vehicle using biodiesel, but they too can
be reduced to levels below that of fossil fuel
diesel, by changing fuel injection timing.
Power and torque
For commercial uses requiring towing, load
carrying and other tractive tasks, diesel engines
tend to have better torque characteristics.
Diesel engines tend to have their torque peak
quite low in their speed range (usually between
1600–2000 rpm for a small-capacity unit, lower
for a larger engine used in a truck). This
provides smoother control over heavy loads
when starting from rest, and, crucially, allows
the diesel engine to be given higher loads at low
speeds than a gasoline engine, making them
much more economical for these applications.
This characteristic is not so desirable in private
cars, so most modern diesels used in such
vehicles use electronic control, variable
geometry turbochargers and shorter piston
strokes to achieve a wider spread of torque
over the engine's speed range, typically peaking
at around 2500–3000 rpm.
Noise
The characteristic noise of a diesel engine is a
contributor to low consumer acceptance of
diesel engines for passenger cars. This noise is
variably called diesel clatter, diesel nailing, or
diesel knock. Diesel clatter is caused largely by
the diesel combustion process, the sudden
ignition of the diesel fuel when injected into the
combustion chamber causes a pressure wave.
Engine designers can reduce diesel clatter
through: indirect injection; pilot or pre-
injection; injection timing; injection rate;
compression ratio; turbo boost; and exhaust gas
recirculation (EGR). Common rail diesel
injection systems permit multiple pre-
injections as an aid to noise reduction. Diesel
fuels with a higher cetane rating modify the
combustion process and reduce diesel
clatter.CN (Cetane number) can be raised by
distilling higher quality crude oil, or by using a
cetane improving additive. Some oil companies
market high cetane or premium diesel.
Biodiesel has a higher cetane number than
petro diesel, typically 55CN for 100% biodiesel.
A combination of improved mechanical
technology such as multi-stage injectors which
fire a short "pilot charges" of fuel into the
cylinder to initiate combustion before
delivering the main fuel charge, higher injection
pressures that have improved the atomisation
of fuel into smaller droplets, and electronic
control (which can adjust the timing and length
of the injection process to optimise it for all
speeds and temperatures), have mostly
mitigated these problems in the latest
generation of common-rail designs, while
improving engine efficiency.
Reliability
The lack of an electrical ignition system greatly
improves the reliability. The high durability of a
diesel engine is also due to its overbuilt nature
(see above) as well as the diesel's combustion
cycle, which creates less-violent changes in
pressure when compared to a spark-ignition
engine, a benefit that is magnified by the lower
rotating speeds in diesels. Diesel fuel is a better
lubricant than gasoline so is less harmful to the
oil film on piston rings and cylinder bores; it is
routine for diesel engines to cover 250,000
miles (400,000 km) or more without a rebuild.
Due to the greater compression force required
and the increased weight of the stronger
components, starting a diesel engine is harder.
More torque is required to push the engine
through compression.
Either an electrical starter or an air start
system is used to start the engine turning. On
large engines, pre-lubrication and slow turning
of an engine, as well as heating, are required to
minimize the amount of engine damage during
initial start-up and running. Some smaller
military diesels can be started with an explosive
cartridge, called a Coffman starter, which
provides the extra power required to get the
machine turning. In the past, Caterpillar
and John Deere used a small
gasoline pony motor in their tractors to start
the primary diesel motor. The pony motor
heated the diesel to aid in ignition and utilized a
small clutch and transmission to actually spin
up the diesel engine. Even more unusual was
an International Harvester design in which the
diesel motor had its own carburettor and
ignition system, and started on gasoline. Once
warmed up, the operator moved two levers to
switch the motor to diesel operation, and work
could begin. These engines had very complex
cylinder heads, with their own gasoline
combustion chambers, and in general were
vulnerable to expensive damage if special care
was not taken (especially in letting the engine
cool before turning it off).
As mentioned above, diesel engines tend to
have more torque at lower engine speeds than
gasoline engines. However, diesel engines tend
to have a narrower power band than gasoline
engines. Naturally-aspirated diesels tend to lack
power and torque at the top of their speed
range. This narrow band is a reason why a
vehicle such as a truck may have a gearbox with
as many as 18 or more gears, to allow the
engine's power to be used effectively at all
speeds. Turbochargers tend to improve power
at high engine speeds; superchargers improve
power at lower speeds; and variable geometry
turbochargers improve the engine's
performance equally by flattening the torque
curve.
Quality and variety of fuels
Petrol/gasoline engines are limited in the
variety and quality of the fuels they can burn.
Older petrol engines fitted with
a carburettor required a volatile fuel that would
vaporize easily to create the necessary fuel/air
mix for combustion. Because both air and fuel
are admitted to the cylinder, if the compression
ratio of the engine is too high or the fuel too
volatile (with too low an octane rating), the fuel
will ignite under compression, as in a diesel
engine, before the piston reaches the top of its
stroke. This pre-ignition causes a power loss
and over time major damage to the piston and
cylinder. The need for a fuel that is volatile
enough to vaporize but not too volatile (to
avoid pre-ignition) means that petrol engines
will only run on a narrow range of fuels. There
has been some success at dual-fuel engines that
use gasoline/ethanol, gasoline/propane, and
gasoline/methane.
In diesel engines, a mechanical injector system
vaporizes the fuel into a pre-combustion
chamber (as opposed to a Venturi jet in a
carburettor, or a Fuel injector in a fuel injection
system vaporizing fuel into the intake manifold
or intake runners as in a petrol engine).
This forced vaporisation means that less-volatile
fuels can be used. More crucially, because only
air is inducted into the cylinder in a diesel
engine, the compression ratio can be much
higher as there is no risk of pre-ignition
provided the injection process is accurately
timed. This means that cylinder temperatures
are much higher in a diesel engine than a petrol
engine, allowing less-combustible fuels to be
used.
Diesel fuel is a form of light fuel oil, very similar
to kerosene, but diesel engines, especially older
or simple designs that lack precision electronic
injection systems, can run on a wide variety of
other fuels. Some of the most common
alternatives are Jet A-1 or vegetable oil from a
very wide variety of plants. Some engines can
be run on vegetable oil without modification,
and most others require fairly basic alterations.
Biodiesel is a pure diesel-like fuel refined from
vegetable oil and can be used in nearly all diesel
engines. The only limits on the fuels used in
diesel engines are the ability of the fuel to flow
along the fuel lines and the ability of the fuel to
lubricate the injector pump and injectors
adequately. In general terms, inline mechanical
injector pumps tolerate poor-quality or bio-
fuels better than distributor-type pumps. Also,
indirect injection engines generally run more
satisfactorily on bio-fuels than direct injection
engines. This is partly because an indirect
injection engine has a much greater 'swirl'
effect, improving vaporisation and combustion
of fuel, and also because (in the case of
vegetable oil-type fuels) lipid depositions can
condense on the cylinder walls of a direct-
injection engine if combustion temperatures
are too low (such as starting the engine from
cold).
At the request of the French Government the
Otto company demonstrated a diesel engine at
the 1900 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair)
which used peanut oil (see biodiesel). The
French government were at the time exploring
the possibility of using peanut oil as a locally
produced fuel in their African colonies. Diesel
himself later tested extensively the use of plant
oils in his engine and began to actively promote
the use of these fuels.
Most large marine diesels (often
called cathedral engines due to their size) run
on heavy fuel oil (sometimes called "bunker
oil"), which is a thick, viscous and almost un-
flammable fuel which is very safe to store and
cheap to buy in bulk as it is a waste product
from the petroleum refining industry. The fuel
must be heated to thin it out (often by the
exhaust header) and is often passed through
multiple injection stages to vaporize it.
Fuel and fluid characteristics
Diesel engines can operate on a variety of
different fuels, depending on configuration,
though the eponymous diesel fuel derived
from crude oil is most common. The engines
can work with the full spectrum of crude oil
distillates, from natural gas, alcohols,
gasoline, wood gas to the fuel oils from diesel oil
to residual fuels.[34]
The type of fuel used is a combination of service
requirements, and fuel costs. Good-quality
diesel fuel can be synthesised from vegetable
oil and alcohol. Diesel fuel can be made from
coal or other carbon base using the Fischer-
Tropsch process. Biodiesel is growing in
popularity since it can frequently be used in
unmodified engines, though production
remains limited. Recently, Biodiesel from
coconut, which can produce a very promising
coco methyl esther (CME), has characteristics
which enhance lubricity and combustion giving
a regular diesel engine without any
modification more power, less particulate
matter or black smoke, and smoother engine
performance. The Philippines pioneers in the
research on Coconut based CME with the help
of German and American scientists. Petroleum-
derived diesel is often called petrodiesel if there
is need to distinguish the source of the fuel.
Pure plant oils are increasingly being used as a
fuel for cars, trucks and remote combined heat
and power generation especially
in Germany where hundreds of decentralised
small- and medium-sized oil presses cold press
oilseed, mainly rapeseed, for fuel. There is
a Deutsches Institut für Normung fuel standard
for rapeseed oil fuel.
Residual fuels are the "dregs" of the distillation
process and are thicker, heavier oil, or oil with
higher viscosity, which are so thick that they
are not readily pump able unless heated.
Residual fuel oils are cheaper than clean,
refined diesel oil, although they are dirtier.
Their main considerations are for use in ships
and very large generation sets, due to the cost
of the large volume of fuel consumed,
frequently amounting to many tonnes per hour.
The poorly refined bio fuels straight vegetable
oil (SVO) and waste vegetable oil (WVO) can fall
into this category, but can be viable fuels on non
common rail or TDI PD diesels with the simple
conversion of fuel heating to 80 to 100 degrees
Celsius to reduce viscosity, and adequate
filtration to OEM standards. Engines using these
heavy oils have to start and shut down on
standard diesel fuel, as these fuels will not flow
through fuel lines at low temperatures. Moving
beyond that, use of low-grade fuels can lead to
serious maintenance problems because of their
high sulphur content. Most diesel engines that
power ships like super tankers are built so that
the engine can safely use low-grade fuels due to
their separate cylinder and crankcase
lubrication.
Normal diesel fuel is more difficult to ignite and
slower in developing fire than gasoline because
of its higher flash point, but once burning, a
diesel fire can be fierce.
Safety
The diesel engine is a very safe type of engine.
Diesel engines are equipped with a mechanical
or electronic governor to control minimum and
maximum rpm, which makes Diesel engine
runaway unlikely. The fuel is
barely flammable so fire risk is low.
Yachts
In yachts diesels are used because petrol
engines generate combustible vapours, which
can accumulate in the bottom of the vessel,
sometimes causing explosions. Therefore
ventilation systems on petrol powered vessels
are required.
Military vehicle safety
The US Army and NATO use only diesel fuel
engines and turbines because of fire hazard.
Diesel does not explode in a manner such as
gasoline does, it just slowly burns. US Army
gasoline-engine tanks during World War
II were nicknamed Ronsonlighters, because it
only took a single spark to ignite 50 or more
gallons of highly volatile gasoline.
Diesel applications
Passenger Cars
Diesel engines have long been popular in bigger
cars and this is spreading to smaller cars. Diesel
engines tend to be more economical at regular
driving speeds and are much better at city
speeds and at tick-over. Their reliability and
life-span tend to be better (as detailed). Some
40% or more of all cars sold in Europe are
diesel-powered where they are considered a
low CO2 option. (However, particulate emission
can be a concern). European governments
traditionally favoured diesel engines in taxation
policy, but this may be changing, and diesel is
currently more expensive than petrol in the UK.
Diesel cars cannot accelerate as quickly as
petrol cars and the increased weight of their
engines (normally at the front) tends to
increase tyre wear. Cold-starting is more
problematical in colder climates, and in cases of
difficulty they are more difficult to jump
start and to bump start.
Mercedes-Benz in conjunction with Robert
Bosch GmbH produced diesel-powered
passenger cars starting in 1936(eMB) and very
large numbers are used all over the world
(often as "Taxi’s in the Third). They have put
the emphasis on high performance diesel cars
in their newer ranges, as
does Volkswagen across various brands. Other
manufacturers (Borgward in 1952, Fiat in 1953
andPeugeot in 1958) joined in, a trend which
increased further in the 1970s and
1980s. Citroën sells more cars with diesel
engines than gasoline engines, Peugeot)
pioneered smoke-less HDI designs with filters.
The Italian marque Alfa Romeo, known for
design and successful history in racing, is now
focusing on diesels that can be and are raced.
Turbodiesels can outperform their naturally
aspirated petrol-powered sister cars. One
anecdote tells of Formula One driver Jenson
Button, who was arrested while driving a
diesel-powered BMW 330cd Coupé at
230 km/h (about 140 mph) in France, where he
was too young to have a gasoline-engined car
hired to him. Button dryly observed in
subsequent interviews that he had actually
done BMW a public relations service, as nobody
had believed a diesel road car could be driven
that fast. Yet, BMW had already won the 24
Hours Nürburgring overall in 1998 with a 3-
series diesel. The BMW diesel lab in
Steyr, Austria is led by Ferenc Anisits and
develops innovative diesel engines.
In the United States, diesel is not as popular in
passenger cars as in Europe. Such cars have
been traditionally perceived as heavier, noisier,
having performance characteristics which make
them slower to accelerate, sootier, smellier, and
of being more expensive than equivalent
gasoline vehicles. From the late seventies to the
mid-eighties, General
Motors' Oldsmobile, Cadillac,
and Chevrolet divisions produced a low-
powered and unreliable V8 diesel engine which
generally serves as the prime example for this
reputation. Dodge with its ever-
famous Cummins inline-six diesels optioned in
pickup trucks (since about the late 1980s)
really revitalized the appeal for diesel power in
light vehicles among American consumers, but
a superior and widely-accepted American
regular-production diesel passenger car never
materialized. Ford Motor Company tried diesel
engines in some passenger cars in the 1980s,
but to not much avail. In addition, before the
introduction of 15 parts per million ultra-low
sulfur diesel, which started at 15
October 2006 in the U.S. (1 June 2006 in
Canada), diesel fuel used in North America still
had higher sulfur content than the fuel used in
Europe, effectively limiting diesel use to
industrial vehicles, which had further
contributed to the negative image. Ultra-low
sulfur diesel is not mandatory until 2010 in the
US. This image does not reflect recent designs,
especially where the very high low-rev torque
of modern diesels is concerned—which have
characteristics similar to the big V8 gasoline
engines popular in the US. Light and heavy
trucks, in the U.S., have been diesel-optioned for
years. After the introduction of ultra-low sulfur
diesel, Mercedes-Benz has marketed passenger
vehicles under the BlueTec banner. In addition,
other manufacturers such as Ford, General
Motors, Honda, Subaru, Audi,Volkswagen, BMW
, and Nissan plan to sell Diesel vehicles in the US
in 2008-2010, designed to meet the tougher
emissions requirements in 2010. Recently, in
early 2008, Honda has stated that they plan to
offer their 50 state compliant 2.2 liter i-DTEC
diesel engine in the new 2009 Acura TSX for the
US market.
In Canada, Smart Fortwo was first introduced in
2004 with a diesel engine, up until 2008.
In Japan, newly registered Diesel vehicles were
less than 1% in 2005.[37] Honda and Mercedes-
Benz have made plans to offer Diesel vehicles in
the future, with Mercedes-Benz having already
started selling the Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI in
autumn 2006.
Other transport uses
Larger transport applications
(trucks, buses etc.) also benefit from the diesel's
reliability and high torque output. Diesel
displaced paraffin (or "Tractor Vaporising Oil",
TVO) in most parts of the world by the end of
the 1950s with the U.S. following some 20 years
later.
In merchant ships and boats the same
advantages apply, with the relative safety of
diesel fuel an additional benefit. The German
"pocket battleships" were the largest diesel
warships, but the German torpedo-boats known
as E-boats (Schnellboot) of the Second World
War were also diesel craft.
Conventional submarines have used them since
before the First World War. American World
War II diesel-electric submarines operated on
two-stroke cycle as opposed to the four-stroke
cycle that other navies used.
Military fuel standardisation
NATO has a single vehicle fuel policy and has
selected diesel for this purpose. NATO and the
United States Marine Corps have even been
developing a diesel military motorcycle based
on a Kawasaki off road motorcycle, with a
purpose designed naturally aspirated direct
injection diesel at Cranfield University in
England, to be produced in the USA, because
motorcycles were the last remaining
petrol/gasoline powered vehicle in their
inventory. Previous to this, a few
civilian motorcycles had been built using
adapted stationary diesel engines, but the
weight and cost disadvantages generally
outweighed the efficiency gains.
Engine speeds
Within the diesel engine industry, engines are
often categorized by their rotational speeds
into three unofficial groups:
High speed engines, medium speed engines and
slow speed engines
High and medium speed engines are
predominantly four stroke engines. Medium
speed engines are physically larger than high
speed engines and can burn lower grade
(slower burning) fuel than high speed engines.
Slow speed engines are predominantly large
two stroke crosshead engines, hence very
different from high and medium speed engines.
Due to the lower rotational speed of slow and
medium speed engines, there is more time for
combustion during the power stroke of the
cycle, and these engines are capable of utilising
lower fuel grades (slower burning) fuels than
high speed engines.
High-speed engines
High-speed (approximately 1000 rpm and
greater) engines are used to power trucks
(lorries), buses, tractors, cars, yachts, compress
ors, pumps and small electrical generators. As
of 2008 most high-speed engines have indirect
injection, although many modern engines,
particularly in on-highway applicatons,
have common rail direct injection, which is not
as reliable as mechanical injection, but is
cleaner burning.
Medium-speed engines
Medium speed engines are used in large
electrical generators, ship propulsion and
mechanical drive applications such as large
compressors or pumps.
Engines used in electrical generators run at
approximately 300 to 1000 rpm and are
optimized to run at a set synchronous
speed depending on the generation frequency
(50 or 60 Hertz) and provide a rapid response
to load changes. Typical synchronous speeds
for modern medium speed engines are 500/514
RPM (50/60 Hz), 600 RPM (both 50 and 60 Hz),
720/750 rpm, and 900/1000 rpm.
As of 2009 the largest medium speed engines in
current production have outputs up to
approximately 20,000 kW (26,800 bhp) and
are supplied by companies like MAN
B&W, Wartsila, and Rolls-Royce (acquired
Ulstein Bergen Diesel in 1999). Medium speed
engines produced are four-stroke machines and
two-stroke units.
Typical cylinder bore size for medium speed
engines ranges from 20 cm to 50 cm, and
engine configurations typically are offered
ranging from in-line 4 cylinder units to Vee 20
cylinder units.
Most larger medium speed engines are started
with compressed air direct on pistons, using an
air distributor, as opposed to a pneumatic
starting motor acting on the flywheel, which
tends to be used for smaller engines. There is
no definitive engine size cut-off point for this.
Medium speed diesel engines operate on either
diesel fuel or heavy fuel oil by direct injection in
the same manner noted below for low speed
engines.
It should also be noted that most major
manufacturers of medium speed engines make
natural gas fueled versions of their diesel cycle
engines, which in fact operate on the Otto cycle,
and require spark ignition, typically provided
with a spark plug.
There are also dual (diesel/natural gas/coal
gas) fuel versions of medium and low speed
diesel engines using a lean fuel air mixture and
a small injection of diesel fuel (so called "pilot
fuel") for ignition. In case of a gas supply failure
or maximum power demand these engines will
instantly switch back to full diesel fuel
operation.
Low-speed engines
The MAN B&W 5S50MC 5-cylinder, 2-stroke,
low-speed marine diesel engine. This particular
engine is found aboard a 29000 tonne chemical
carrier.
Also known as "slow-speed" or traditionally "oil
engines", the largest diesel engines are
primarily used to power ships, although there
are a few land-based power generation units as
well. These extremely large two-stroke engines
have power outputs up to approximately
85 MW, operate in the range from
approximately 60 to 200 rpm and are up to
15.25m (50ft) tall, and can weigh over 2000
tons. They typically use direct injection running
on cheap low-grade "heavy fuel", also known as
"Bunker C" fuel, which requires heating in the
ship for tanking and before injection due to the
fuel's high viscosity. The heat for fuel heating is
often provided by waste heat recovery boilers
located in the exhaust ducting of the engine,
which produce the steam required for fuel
heating. Provided the heavy fuel system is kept
warm and circulating, engines can be started
and stopped on heavy fuel.
Large and medium marine engines are started
with compressed air directly applied to the
pistons. Air is applied to cylinders to start the
engine forwards or backwards because they are
normally directly connected to
the propeller without clutch or gearbox, and to
provide reverse propulsion the engine must be
run backwards. At least three cylinders are
required with two stroke engines and at least
six cylinders with four stroke engines to
provide torque every 120 degrees.
Companies such as MAN B&W Diesel,
(formerly Burmeister & Wain)
and Wärtsilä (which acquired Sulzer Diesel)
design such large low speed engines. They are
unusually narrow and tall due to the addition of
a crosshead bearing. Today (2007), the 14
cylinder Wärtsilä-Sulzer 14RTFLEX96-
C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine built
by Wärtsilä licensee Doosan in Korea is the
most powerful diesel engine put into service,
with a cylinder bore of 960 mm (37.8 in)
delivering 84.42 MW (114,800 bhp). It was put
into service in September 2006, aboard the
world's largest container ship Emma
Maersk which belongs to the A.P. Moller-Maersk
Group. Typical bore size for low speed engines
ranges from approximately 35 to 98 cm (14 to
39 in). As of 2008, all produced low speed
engines with crosshead bearingsare in-line
configurations; no Vee versions have been
produced.
Supercharging and turbocharging
Most diesels are now turbocharged and some
are both turbo charged and supercharged.
Because diesels do not have fuel in the cylinder
before combustion is initiated, more than one
bar of air can be loaded in the cylinder without
preignition. A turbocharged engine can produce
significantly more power than a naturally
aspirated engine of the same configuration, as
having more air in the cylinders allows more
fuel to be burned and thus more power to be
produced. A supercharger is powered
mechanically by the engine's crankshaft; while
a turbocharger is powered by the engine
exhaust, not requiring any mechanical power,
hence turbocharging does not adversely affect
the fuel economy. A two-stroke engine does not
have an exhaust and intake stroke. These are
performed when the piston is at the bottom of
the cylinder. Therefore large two-stroke
engines have a piston pump or electrical driven
turbo at startup. Smaller two stroke engines
(example Detroit 71 series) are fitted with
turbochargers and a mechanically driven
supercharger (i.e. a Roots blower). Because
turbocharged or supercharged engines produce
more power for a given engine size as
compared to naturally aspirated engines,
attention must be paid to the mechanical design
of components, lubrication, and cooling to
handle the power.
Other applications
• Aircraft diesel engine
• Motorcycles
Current and future developments
See also: Diesel car history
As of 2008, many common rail and unit
injection systems already employ new injectors
using stacked piezoelectric wafers in lieu of a
solenoid, giving finer control of the injection
event.
Variable geometry turbochargers have flexible
vanes, which move and let more air into the
engine depending on load. This technology
increases both performance and fuel economy.
Boost lag is reduced as turbo impeller inertia is
compensated for.
Accelerometer pilot control (APC) uses
an accelerometer to provide feedback on the
engine's level of noise and vibration and thus
instruct the ECU to inject the minimum amount
of fuel that will produce quiet combustion and
still provide the required power (especially
while idling).
The next generation of common rail diesels is
expected to use variable injection geometry,
which allows the amount of fuel injected to be
varied over a wider range, and variable valve
timing similar to that ongasoline engines.
Particularly in the United States, coming
tougher emissions regulations present a
considerable challenge to diesel engine
manufacturers. Ford's HyTrans Project has
developed a system which starts the ignition in
400 ms, saving a significant amount of fuel on
city routes, and there are other methods to
achieve even more efficient combustion, such
as homogeneous charge compression ignition,
being studied.
Maintenance hazards
Fuel injection introduces potential hazards in
engine maintenance due to the high fuel
pressures used. Residual pressure can remain
in the fuel lines long after an injection-equipped
engine has been shut down. This residual
pressure must be relieved, and if it is done so by
external bleed-off, the fuel must be safely
contained. If a high-pressure diesel fuel injector
is removed from its seat and operated in open
air, there is a risk to the operator of injury
by hypodermic jet-injection, even with only
100 psi pressure. The first known such injury
occurred in 1937 during a diesel engine
maintenance operation.

Diesel Generator
A diesel generator is the combination of
a diesel engine with an electrical
generator (often called an alternator) to
generate electric energy. Diesel generating
sets are used in places without connection to
the power grid or as emergency power-
supply if the grid fails. Small portable diesel
generators range from about 1kVA to 10kVA
may be used as power supplies on
construction sites, or as auxiliary power for
vehicles such as mobile homes.
Diesel generator set
The packaged combination of a diesel engine, a
generator and various ancillary devices such as
base, canopy, sound attenuation, control
systems, circuit breakers, jacket water heaters,
starting systems etc, is referred to as a
generating set or a gen set for short.
While the larger industrial generators can range
from 8kVA - 30kVA for homes, small shops &
offices up to 2000kVA used for large office
complexes, factories. A 2000 kVA set can be
housed in a 40ft ISO container and be fully
packaged and portable. Sizes up to about 5 MW
are used for small power stations and these
may use from one to 20 units. In these larger
sizes the engine and generator are brought to
site separately and assembled along with
ancillary equipment. Diesel generators,
sometimes as small as 250 kVa are widely used
not only for emergency power, but also many
have a secondary function of feeding power to
utility grids either during peak periods, or
periods when there is a shortage of large power
generators.
Ships often also employ diesel generators,
sometimes not only to provide auxiliary power
for lights, fans, and winches, etc. but also for
main propulsion. With electric propulsion the
generators can be placed in a convenient
position, to allow more cargo to be carried.
Electric drives for ships were developed prior
to WW I. Electric drives were specified in many
warships built during WW II because
manufacturing capacity for large reduction
gears was in short supply, compared to capacity
for manufacture of electrical equipment. [1] Such
a diesel-electric arrangement is also used in
some very large land vehicles. Generating sets
are selected based on the load they are
intended to supply power for, taking into
account the type of load, ie emergency or for
continuous power, and the size of the load, and
size of any motors to be started which is
normally the critical parameter.
Power plants - electrical "Island" mode
One or more diesel generators operating
without a connection to an electrical grid are
operating in "island" mode. Several parallel
generators provides the advantages of
redundancy and better efficiency at part loads.
An island power plant intended for primary
power source of an isolated community will
often have at least three diesel generators, any
two of which are rated to carry the required
load. Groups of up to 20 are not uncommon.
Generators can be electrically connected
together through the process of
synchronization. Synchronization involves
matching voltage, frequency and phase before
connecting the generator to a live bus-bar.
Failure to synchronize before connection could
cause a high current short-circuits or wears and
tears on the generator and/or its switchgear.
The synchronization process can be done
automatically by an auto-synchronizer module.
The auto-synchronizer will read the voltage,
frequency and phase parameters from the
generator and bus-bar voltages, while
regulating the speed through the engine
governor or ECU (Engine Control Module).
Typical manufacturers are ComAp, GAC,
Woodward and Heinzman who dominate this
market
Load can be shared among parallel running
generators through load sharing. Like auto-
synchronization, load sharing can be automated
by using a load sharing module. The load
sharing module will measure the load and
frequency at the generator, while it constantly
adjusts the engine fuel control to shift load to
and from the remaining power sources. As the
prime mover of a diesel generator runs at
constant speed, it will take more loads when the
fuel supply to its combustion system is
increased, while load is released if fuel supply is
decreased.
Supporting main utility grids
In addition to their well known role as power
supplies during power failures, diesel generator
sets also routinely support main power grids
worldwide in two distinct ways:
Peak Shaving
Maximum demand tariffs in many areas
encourage the use of diesels to come on at times
of maximum demand.In Europe this is typically
on winter weekdays around tea time (3 pm),
whereas in the USA this is often in the summer
to meet the air conditioning load.
Grid support
Emergency standby diesel generators such as
those used in hospitals, water plant etc, are, as a
secondary function, widely used in the US and
the UK to support the respective national grids
at times for a variety of reasons. In the UK for
example, some 2 GWe of diesels are routinely
used to support the National Grid, whose peak
load is about 60 GW. These are sets in the size
range 200kW to 2 MW. This usually occurs
during say the sudden loss of a large
conventional plant of say 660 MW, or a sudden
unexpected rise in power demand eroding the
normal spinning reserve available.
This is extremely beneficial for both parties -
the diesels have already been purchased for
other reasons; but to be reliable need to be fully
load tested. Grid paralleling is a convenient way
of doing this. In this way the UK National Grid
can call on about 2 GW of plant which is up and
running in parallel as quickly as two minutes in
some cases. This is far quicker than a base load
power station which can take 12 hours from
cold, and faster than a gas turbine, which can
take several minutes. Whilst diesels are very
expensive in fuel terms, they are only used a
few hundred hours per year in this duty, and
their availability can prevent the need for base
load station running inefficiently at part load
continuously. The diesel fuel used is fuel that
would have been used in testing anyway.
See Control of the National Grid (UK), National
Grid (UK) reserve service
A similar system operates in France known as
EJP, where at times of grid extremis special
tariffs can mobilize at least 5,000 MW(5 GW of
diesel generating sets to become available.In
this case, the diesels prime function is to feed
power into the grid.
Typical operating costs
Fuel consumption is the major portion of diesel
plant owning and operating cost for power
applications, whereas capital cost is the
primary concern for backup generators. Specific
consumption varies, but a modern diesel plant
will consume between 0.28 and 0.4 litres of fuel
per kilowatt hour at the generator terminals.
However diesel engines can operate on a
variety of different fuels, depending on
configuration, though the eponymous diesel
fuel derived from crude oil is most common.
The engines can work with the full spectrum of
crude oil distillates, from natural gas, alcohols,
gasoline, wood gas to the fuel oils from diesel oil
to residual fuels. This is implemented by
introducing gas with the intake air and using a
small amount of diesel fuel for ignition.
Conversion to 100% diesel fuel operation can
be achieveved instantaneously.
• Fuel cost 18p - 26p/kWh (using farm diesel
at 65p/litre)
• lifetime engine maintenance about is
0.5p/kWh - 1.0/kWh
Typical costs of conversion to paralleling
for grid operation
To be able to operate in parallel with the mains
certain modifications are necessary which
include the following:
• Approx. £3k to fit a PLC to the set
• Paralleling and synchronising gear and G59
equipment (this allows grid connection)
Approx £5k
• Tidying up set (noise, larger fuel tank)
Approx another £5k
• So for a 1MW set…£13/kW
• 50 kW…maybe £260/kW
This capital cost of £13/kW - £260/kW is low
compared to combined cycle gas turbines that
cost £350/kW.
Generator Sizing and Ratings
Rating
Generators must be capable of delivering the
power required for the hours per year
anticipated by the designer to allow reliable
operation and prevent damage. Typically a
given set can deliver more power for fewer
hours per year, or less power continuously.
That is a standby set is only expected to give its
peak output for a few hours per year, whereas a
continuously running set, would be expected to
give a somewhat lower output, but literally
continuously, and both to have reasonable
maintenance and reliability.
To meet the above criteria manufactures give
each set a rating based on internationally
agreed definitions.
These standard rating definitions are designed
to allow correct machine selection and valid
comparisons between manufacturers to
prevent them from misstating the performance
of their machines, and to guide designers.
Generator Rating Definitions
Standby Rating based on Applicable for
supplying emergency power for the duration of
normal power interruption. No sustained
overload capability is available for this rating.
(Equivalent to Fuel Stop Power in accordance
with ISO3046, AS2789, DIN6271 and BS5514).
Nominally rated. Typical application -
emergency power plant in hospitals, offices,
factories etc. Not connected to grid.
Prime (Unlimited Running Time) Rating
based on: Applicable for supplying power in
lieu of commercially purchased power. Prime
power is the maximum power available at a
variable load for an unlimited number of hours.
A 10% overload capability is available for
limited time. (Equivalent to Prime Power in
accordance with ISO8528 and Overload Power
in accordance with ISO3046, AS2789, DIN6271,
and BS5514). This rating is not applicable to all
generator set models.
Typical application - where the generator is the
sole source of power for say a remote mining or
construction site, fairground, festival etc.
Base Load (Continuous) Rating based
on: Applicable for supplying power
continuously to a constant load up to the full
output rating for unlimited hours. No sustained
overload capability is available for this rating.
Consult authorized distributor for rating.
(Equivalent to Continuous Power in accordance
with ISO8528, ISO3046, AS2789, DIN6271, and
BS5514). This rating is not applicable to all
generator set models
Typical application - a generator running a
continuous unvarying load, or paralleled with
the mains and continuously feeding power at
the maximum permissible level 8760 hours per
year. This also applies to sets used for peak
shaving /grid support even though this may
only occur for say 200 hour per year.
As an example if in a particular set the Standby
Rating were 1000 kW, then a Prime Power
rating might be 850 kW, and the Continuous
Rating 800kW. However these ratings vary
according to manufacturer and should be taken
from the manufacturer's data sheet. Often a set
might be given all three ratings stamped on the
data plate, but sometimes it may have only a
standby rating, or only a prime rating.
Sizing
Typically however it is the size of the maximum
load that has to be connected and the
acceptable maximum voltage drop which
determines the set size, not the ratings
themselves. If the set is required to start
motors, then the set will have to be at least 3
times the largest motor, which is normally
started first. This means it will be unlikely to
operate at anywhere near the ratings of the
chosen set.
Manufactures have sophisticated software that
enables the correct choice of set for any given
load combination.
Correct Generator Installation
To ensure correct functioning, reliability and
low maintenance costs generators must be
installed correctly. To this end manufacturers
provide detailed installation
guidelines covering such things as:
*Sizing and selection
*Electrical factors
*Cooling
*Ventilation
*Fuel storage
*Noise
*Exhaust
*Starting systems
These are frequently ignored causing problems
for users
Diesel engine damage due to mis-
application or mis use of generating set
Diesel engines can suffer damage as a result of
mis-application or mis use - namely internal
glazing and carbon buildup. This is a common
problem in generator sets caused by failure to
follow application and operating guidelines -
ideally diesel engines should run at least
around 60-75% of their maximum rated load.
Short periods of low load running are
permissible providing the set is brought up to
full load, or close to full load on a regular basis.
Internal glazing and carbon buildup is due to
prolonged periods of running at low speeds
and/or low loads. Such conditions may occur
when an engine is left idling as a 'standby'
generating unit, ready to run up when needed,
(mis use); if the engine powering the set is
over-powered (mis application) for the load
applied to it, causing the diesel unit to be
under-loaded, or as is very often the case, when
sets are started and run off load as a test (mis
use).
Running an engine under low loads causes low
cylinder pressures and consequent poor piston
ring sealing since this relies on the gas pressure
to force them against the oil film on the bores to
form the seal. Low cylinder pressures cause
poor combustion and resultant low combustion
pressures and temperatures.
This poor combustion leads to soot formation
and unburnt fuel residues which clogs and
gums piston rings. This causes a further drop in
sealing efficiency and exacerbates the initial
low pressure. Glazing occurs when hot
combustion gases blow past the now poorly-
sealing piston rings, causing the lubricating oil
on the cylinder walls to 'flash burn', creating
an enamel-like glaze which smooths the bore
and removes the effect of the intricate pattern
of honing marks machined into the bore
surface. which are there to hold oil and return it
to the crankcase via the scraper ring.
Hard carbon also forms from poor combustion
and this is highly abrasive and scrapes the
honing marks on the bores leading to bore
polishing, which then leads to increased oil
consumption (blue smoking) and yet further
loss of pressure, since the oil film trapped in the
honing marks is intended to maintain the piston
seal and pressures. Un-burnt fuel leaks past the
piston rings and contaminates the lubricating
oil. Poor combustion causes the injectors to
become clogged with soot, causing further
deterioration in combustion and black smoking.
The problem is increased further the formation
of acids in the engine oil caused by condensed
water and combustion by-products which
would normally boil off at higher temperatures.
This acidic build-up in the lubricating oil causes
slow but ultimately damaging wear to bearing
surfaces.
This cycle of degradation means that the engine
soon becomes irreversibly damaged and may
not start at all and will no longer be able to
reach full power when required. Under loaded
running inevitably causes not only white smoke
from unburnt fuel but over time is joined by the
blue smoke of burnt lubricating oil leaking past
the damaged piston rings, and the black smoke
caused by the damaged injectors. This pollution
is unacceptable to the authorities and any
neighbours.
Once glazing or carbon build up has occurred, it
can only be cured by stripping down the engine
and re-boring the cylinder bores, machining
new honing marks and stripping, cleaning and
de-coking combustion chambers, fuel
injector nozzles and valves. If detected in the
early stages, running an engine at maximum
load to raise the internal pressures and
temperatures, allows the piston rings to scrape
glaze off the bores and allow carbon buildup to
be burnt off. However, if glazing has progressed
to the stage where the piston rings have seized
into their grooves this will not have any effect.
The situation can be prevented by carefully
selecting the generator set in accordance with
manufacturers printed guidelines.
For emergency only sets, which are islanded,
the emergency load is often only about 1/4 of
the sets standby rating, this apparent over size
being necessitated to be able to meet starting
loads and minimising starting voltage drop.
Hence the available load is not usually enough
for load testing and again engine damage will
result if this we used as the weekly or monthly
load test. This situation can be dealt with by
hiring in a load bank for regular testing, or
installing a permanent load bank. Both these
options cost money in terms of engine wear and
fuel use but are better than the alternative of
under loading the engine.
Often the best solution in these cases will be to
convert the set to parallel running and feed
power into the grid, if available, once a month
on load test, and or enrolling the set in utility
Reserve Service type schemes, thereby gaining
revenue from the fuel burnt.
Electrical Generator
In electricity generation, an electrical
generator is a device that converts mechanical
energy to electrical energy, generally
using electromagnetic induction. The reverse
conversion of electrical energy into mechanical
energy is done by a motor; motors and
generators have many similarities. A generator
forces electric charges to move through an
external electrical circuit, but it does
not create electricity or charge, which is already
present in the wire of its windings. It is
somewhat analogous to a water pump, which
creates a flow of water but does not create the
water inside. The source of mechanical
energy may be a reciprocating or turbine steam
engine, water falling through a turbine or
waterwheel, an internal combustion engine,
a wind turbine, a hand crank, compressed air or
any other source of mechanical energy.

Historic developments
Before the connection
between magnetism and electricity was
discovered, electrostatic generators were
invented that used electrostatic principles.
These generated very high voltages and
low currents. They operated by using
moving electrically charged belts, plates and
disks to carry charge to a high potential
electrode. The charge was generated using
either of two mechanisms:
• Electrostatic induction
• The tribo electric effect, where the contact
between two insulators leaves them
charged.
Because of their inefficiency and the difficulty
of insulating machines producing very high
voltages, electrostatic generators had low
power ratings and were never used for
generation of commercially-significant
quantities of electric power. The Wimshurst
machine and Van de Graaff generator are
examples of these machines that have survived.
Jedlik's Dynamo
In 1827, Hungarian Anyos Jedlik started
experimenting with electromagnetic rotating
devices which he called electromagnetic self-
rotors. In the prototype of the single-pole
electric starter (finished between 1852 and
1854) both the stationary and the revolving
parts were electromagnetic. He formulated the
concept of the dynamo at least 6 years
before Siemens and Wheatstone but didn't
patent it as he thought he wasn't the first to
realize this. In essence the concept is that
instead of permanent magnets, two
electromagnets opposite to each other induce
the magnetic field around the rotor. Jedlik's
invention was decades ahead of its time.

Faraday disk
In 1831-1832 Michael Faraday discovered the
operating principle of electromagnetic
generators. The principle, later called Faraday's
law, is that a potential difference is generated
between the ends of an electrical conductor that
moves perpendicular to a magnetic field. He
also built the first electromagnetic generator,
called the 'Faraday disc', a type of homopolar
generator, using a copper disc rotating between
the poles of a horseshoe magnet. It produced a
small DC voltage, and large amounts of current.
This design was inefficient due to self-
cancelling counter flows of current in regions
not under the influence of the magnetic field.
While current flow was induced directly
underneath the magnet, the current would
circulate backwards in regions outside the
influence of the magnetic field. This counter
flow limits the power output to the pickup
wires, and induces waste heating of the copper
disc. Later homopolar generators would solve
this problem by using an array of magnets
arranged around the disc perimeter to maintain
a steady field effect in one current-flow
direction.
Another disadvantage was that the output
voltage was very low, due to the single current
path through the magnetic flux. Experimenters
found that using multiple turns of wire in a coil
could produce higher more useful voltages.
Since the output voltage is proportional to the
number of turns, generators could be easily
designed to produce any desired voltage by
varying the number of turns. Wire windings
became a basic feature of all subsequent
generator designs. However, recent advances
(rare earth magnets) have made possible homo-
polar motors with the magnets on the rotor,
which should offer many advantages to older
designs.
Dynamo
Dynamos are no longer used for power
generation due to the size and complexity of the
commutator needed for high power
applications. This large belt-driven high-current
dynamo produced 310 amperes at 7 volts, or
2,170 watts, when spinning at 1400 RPM.
Dynamo Electric Machine [End View, Partly
Section] (U.S. patent 284,110 )
The first Turbo generator Designed by the
Hungarian engineer Ottó Bláthy in 1903
The Dynamo was the first electrical generator
capable of delivering power for industry. The
dynamo uses electromagnetic principles to
convert mechanical rotation into a pulsing
direct electric current through the use of
a commutator. The first dynamo was built
by Hippolyte Pixii in 1832.Through a series of
accidental discoveries, the dynamo became the
source of many later inventions, including the
DC electric motor, the AC alternator, the
AC synchronous motor, and the rotary
converter.
A dynamo machine consists of a stationary
structure, which provides a constant magnetic
field, and a set of rotating windings which turn
within that field. On small machines the
constant magnetic field may be provided by one
or more permanent magnets; larger machines
have the constant magnetic field provided by
one or more electromagnets, which are usually
called field coils.
Large power generation dynamos are now
rarely seen due to the now nearly universal use
of alternating current for power distribution
and solid state electronic AC to DC power
conversion. But before the principles of AC
were discovered, very large direct-current
dynamos were the only means of power
generation and distribution. Now power
generation dynamos are mostly a curiosity.
Other rotating electromagnetic generators
Without a commutator, the dynamo is an
example of an alternator, which is
a synchronous singly-fed generator. With an
electromechanical commutator, the dynamo is a
classical direct current (DC) generator. The
alternator must always operate at a constant
speed that is precisely synchronized to the
electrical frequency of the power grid for non-
destructive operation. The DC generator can
operate at any speed within mechanical limits
but always outputs a direct current waveform.
Other types of generators, such as
the asynchronous or induction singly-fed
generator, the doubly-fed generator, or
the brushless wound-rotor doubly-fed
generator, do not incorporate permanent
magnets or field windings (i.e., electromagnets)
that establish a constant magnetic field, and as a
result, are seeing success in variable speed
constant frequency applications, such as wind
turbines or other technologies. The full output
performance of any generator can be optimized
with electronic control but only the doubly-fed
generators or the brushless wound-rotor
doubly-fed generator incorporate electronic
control with power ratings that are
substantially less than the power output of the
generator under control, which by itself offer
cost, reliability and efficiency benefits.
MHD generator
A magneto hydrodynamic generator directly
extracts electric power from moving hot gases
through a magnetic field, without the use of
rotating electromagnetic machinery. MHD
generators were originally developed because
the output of a plasma MHD generator is a
flame, well able to heat the boilers of
a steam power plant. The first practical design
was the AVCO Mk. 25, developed in 1965. The
U.S. government funded substantial
development, culminating in a 25Mw
demonstration plant in 1987. In the Soviet
Union from 1972 until the late 1980s, the MHD
plant U 25 was in regular commercial operation
on the Moscow power system with a rating of
25 MW, the largest MHD plant rating in the
world at that time. MHD generators operated as
a topping cycle are currently (2007) less
efficient than combined-cycle gas turbines.
Terminology
Rotor from generator at Hoover Dam. The two
main parts of a generator or motor can be
described in either mechanical or electrical
terms.
Mechanical:
• Rotor: The rotating part of an alternator,
generator, dynamo or motor.
• Stator: The stationary part of an alternator,
generator, dynamo or motor.
Electrical:
• Armature: The power-producing
component of an alternator, generator,
dynamo or motor. In a generator,
alternator, or dynamo the armature
windings generate the electrical current.
The armature can be on either the rotor or
the stator.
• Field: The magnetic field component of an
alternator, generator, dynamo or motor.
The magnetic field of the dynamo or
alternator can be provided by either
electromagnets or permanent magnets
mounted on either the rotor or the stator.
(For a more technical discussion, refer to
the Field coil article.)
Because power transferred into the field circuit
is much less than in the armature circuit, AC
generators nearly always have the field winding
on the rotor and the stator as the armature
winding. Only a small amount of field current
must be transferred to the moving rotor, using
slip rings. Direct current machines necessarily
have the commutator on the rotating shaft, so
the armature winding is on the rotor of the
machine.
Excitation
A small early 1900s 75 KVA direct-driven
power station AC alternator, with a separate
belt-driven exciter generator.
An electric generator or electric motor that uses
field coils rather than permanent magnets will
require a current flow to be present in the field
coils for the device to be able to work. If the
field coils are not powered, the rotor in a
generator can spin without producing any
usable electrical energy, while the rotor of a
motor may not spin at all. Very large power
station generators often utilize a separate
smaller generator to excite the field coils of the
larger.
In the event of a severe widespread power
outage where islanding of power stations has
occurred, the stations may need to perform
a black start to excite the fields of their largest
generators, in order to restore customer power
service.
Equivalent circuit
Equivalent circuit of generator and load.
G = generator
VG=generator open-circuit voltage
RG=generator internal resistance
VL=generator on-load voltage
RL=load resistance
The equivalent circuit of a generator and load is
shown in the diagram to the right. To determine
the generator's VG and RG parameters, follow
this procedure: -
• Before starting the generator, measure the
resistance across its terminals using
an ohmmeter. This is its DC internal
resistance RGDC.
• Start the generator. Before connecting the
load RL, measure the voltage across the
generator's terminals. This is the open-
circuit voltage VG.
 • Connect the load as shown in the diagram,
and measure the voltage across it with the
generator running. This is the on-load
voltage VL.
• Measure the load resistance RL, if you don't
already know it.
• Calculate the generator's AC internal
resistance RGAC from the following formula:
Note 1: The AC internal resistance of the
generator when running is generally slightly
higher than its DC resistance when idle. The
above procedure allows you to measure both
values. For rough calculations, you can omit the
measurement of RGAC and assume
that RGAC and RGDC are equal.
Note 2: If the generator is an AC type, use an AC
voltmeter for the voltage measurements.
The maximum power theorem states that the
maximum power can be obtained from the
generator by making the resistance of the load
equal to that of the generator. This is inefficient
since half the power is wasted in the
generator's internal resistance; practical
electric power generators operate with load
resistance much higher than internal resistance,
so the efficiency is greater.
Vehicle-mounted generators
Early motor vehicles until about the 1960s
tended to use DC generators with
electromechanical regulators. These have now
been replaced by alternators with built-in
rectifier circuits, which are less costly and
lighter for equivalent output. Automotive
alternators power the electrical systems on the
vehicle and recharge the battery after starting.
Rated output will typically be in the range 50-
100 A at 12 V, depending on the designed
electrical load within the vehicle. Some cars
now have electrically-powered steering
assistance and air conditioning, which places a
high load on the electrical system. Large
commercial vehicles are more likely to use 24 V
to give sufficient power at the starter motor to
turn over a large diesel engine. Vehicle
alternators do not use permanent magnets and
are typically only 50-60% efficient over a wide
speed range.[2] Motorcycle alternators often use
permanent magnet stators made with rare
earth magnets, since they can be made smaller
and lighter than other types. See also vehicle.
Some of the smallest generators commonly
found power bicycle lights. These tend to be 0.5
ampere, permanent-magnet alternators
supplying 3-6 W at 6 V or 12 V. Being powered
by the rider, efficiency is at a premium, so these
may incorporate rare-earth magnets and are
designed and manufactured with great
precision. Nevertheless, the maximum
efficiency is only around 80% for the best of
these generators - 60% is more typical - due in
part to the rolling friction at the tire-generator
interface from poor alignment, the small size of
the generator, bearing losses and cheap design.
Sailing yachts may use water or wind powered
generator to trickle-charge the batteries. A
small propeller, wind turbine or impeller is
connected to a low-power alternator and
rectifier to supply currents of up to 12 A at
typical cruising speeds.
Engine-generator
An engine-generator is the combination of an
electrical generator and an engine (prime
mover) mounted together to form a single piece
of self-contained equipment. The engines used
are usually piston engines, but gas turbines can
also be used. Many different versions are
available - ranging from very small
portable petrol powered sets to large turbine
installations.
Human powered electrical generators
A generator can also be driven by human
muscle power (for instance, in field radio
station equipment).Human powered direct
current generators are commercially available,
and have been the project of
some DIY enthusiasts. Typically operated by
means of pedal power, a converted bicycle
trainer, or a foot pump, such generators can be
practically used to charge batteries, and in
some cases are designed with an integral
inverter. The average adult could generate
about 125-200 watts on a pedal powered
generator. Portable radio receivers with a crank
are made to reduce battery purchase
requirements, see clockwork radio. As it
required from Mahindra and Mahindra.