Diesel Engines

Aidan Reed

Recourses:​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YT0WcI7hjk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlK7JIAz9WY

What is diesel:
Diesel is a kind of fuel similar to gasoline. Both gas and diesel engines use a four stroke internal
combustion mechanism, however there are some key differences. Unlike gasoline, diesel is not
nearly as flammable and can withstand much more pressure. This means it can be directly
injected instead of using a carburetor or fuel line. This also means it does not require a spark
plug because of its ability to withstand higher compression.
Why they are more efficient:
One of the main reasons diesel is more efficient than gas is because of its higher compression
ratio. Gas has a compression ratio of around 12:1 whereas Diesel’s is around 25:1. This means
diesel can get much more power out of each stroke, making it more fuel efficient. Diesel also
has a much higher energy content than gasoline. When you compare the 147,000 BTU per
gallon generated by diesel to the 125 BTU generated by gas. These benefits do come at a cost
however because burning Diesel releases high amounts of nitrogen compounds which can
cause cancer. Diesel also produces extremely large amounts of sut which you can see in tha
pictures below.
Chemistry
Diesel and gasoline are both forms of crude oil that have been processed in different ways.
Crude oil is made up of hydrocarbons. The reason Diesel can produce more power than gas is
because diesel is made up of longer chains of hydrocarbons. This basically means the longer
the chains, the less flammable and unpredictable the materials is. Below is an example that also
uses plastic and boat fuel to put it into better perspective. On the top you can see plastic is very
stable with a longer chain and on the bottom gasoline is very unstable with a shorter chain.