(31) Diesel Oil Engine.
The Diesel engine marks the greatest progress in the internal combustion field made in the last few years. It marks a distinct advance in both thermal efficiency, and in the character of the fuel that it has made a commercial possibility. By the use of cheap fuel heretofore unavailable for any type of prime mover, such as the asphaltum residual oils, coal tar, etc., it has lowered the cost of power production to a point where it is unapproached by any type of heat engine. Besides its thermal efficiency, the engine is free from the annoyances due to delicacy of the auxiliary appliances such as the carburetor, and ignition system which are indispensable with the ordinary type of gasoline engine.
This engine belongs to that type of engine in which combustion takes place at constant pressure (Brayton Cycle), that is the combustion pressure is maintained at a constant value for a considerable distance on the working stroke of the piston. This method differs from the Otto cycle in which the combustion proceeds at a constant volume, or the type in which combustion is completed before the piston moves forward on the working stroke.
In the Diesel cycle the first stroke of the piston draws pure air into the cylinder; the piston then moves forward on the compression stroke, compressing the air to 500 or 600 pounds per square inch and raising the temperature of the air to about 1,000 degrees C, the exact temperature and pressure depending on the character of the fuel used in the engine. The high pressure is obtained by using a small clearance space in the end of the cylinder. At the end of the compression stroke a spray of oil is injected into the cylinder which is instantly ignited by the high temperature of the compressed air.
The oil continues to burn as long as it is sprayed into the cylinder, this period being from one-quarter to one-third of the working stroke. After the oil is cut off, the hot gas is expanded to the end of the stroke at which point the pressure is very considerably reduced due to the mechanical work performed. It should be noted that the type of engine just described performs the complete cycle in four strokes, the fourth stroke being the scavenging stroke as in the ordinary four stroke cycle engine. While the four stroke cycle type of Diesel engine is by far the most common type, it is also built as a two stroke cycle that is similar to the two stroke cycle gas engine previously described except that pure air is received and compressed in the air compressor in place of the combustible mixture.
Fig. 9. Cross Section of Four Stroke Cycle Diesel Engine. The Center Valve is the Fuel Admission Valve.
It will be noted, that as there is no fuel in the cylinder during the compression stroke that there is no danger from preignition from an over heated charge, nor is there trouble from decomposed fuels due to a gradually increasing temperature so often met with in oil engines that compress the entire mixture. As the clearance space is exceptionally small there is a minimum of residual gas held in the cylinder after the explosion with the result that the fuel is completely consumed, and that a full charge is taken into the cylinder.
The speed and output are regulated by controlling the point in the working stroke at which the oil spray is cut off, and as this has no effect on the maximum pressure developed in the cylinder, as in the case of the ordinary gas engine control, the pressure charge under varying loads is not so severe. Because of the high compression, and the continued combustion, there is a very gradual increase of pressure. Since the amount of pure air admitted to the cylinder is the same at no load as at full load there is always sufficient air for the complete combustion of the fuel, and as there is a constant compression pressure there is a constant ignition temperature and constant quantity of the working medium. Because of the high compression obtained by the Diesel type, it has an efficiency that is far beyond that of any other form of internal combustion motor.
