DIESEL ENGINE AND PETROL ENGINE ERIK REYES JUAREZ IH15315

FIDEL RAMIREZ
DIESEL ENGINE VS PETROL ENGINE
Petrol and diesel engines are the two most commonly used internal combustion
engines. Even though their operation seems similar, they have some interesting
differences, and each has advantages over the other. This presentation is aimed at
exploring these differences and advantages from a scientific point of view.
THE BASIC OPERATION - 4 STROKE ENGINE

Before going to the main topic let's have a look at the basic operation of a 4 stroke
I.C engine. Both engines have the same basic 4 strokes:
Intake.
Compression.
Power.
Exhaust.
WHY THERE EXISTS TWO DIFFERENT ENGINES
?
There are differences between the two engines due to the difference between the
way fuels burn.
Petrol is a volatile fuel.
Diésel isn´t a volatile fuel.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PETROL AND DIESEL
ENGINE
This means that in petrol engines, the fuel and air should be pre-mixed, while in diesel
engines, mixing happens only during the combustion. Due to this reason diesel engines
use a fuel injector while petrol engines use a spark plug.
HOW A DIÉSEL ENGINE In the diesel engine, the air is contained
WORKS inside the combustion chamber of the
cylinders, where it is compressed to the
extreme of generating high temperatures. At
that moment, the fuel is introduced in a
pulverized form by an injector into the
chamber, where it explodes spontaneously,
which generates a pressure that pushes the
piston of the cylinder downwards, causing
the connecting rod to transmit this movement
to the crankshaft, to which it rotates,
transforming this force into mechanical work.
WHY DIESEL ENGINES ARE HEAVIER ?

You might have noticed that petrol engines are less noisy and vibrate less compared
to diesel engines. This is because the combustion process in a pre-mixed mixture is
smooth and propagates well (. But in a diesel engine, the combustion could begin
anywhere in the combustion chamber, and it turns out to be an uncontrolled process.
WHY DIESEL ENGINES ARE MORE FUEL
ECONOMICAL ?
Since the diesel engine is compressing only the air, it can achieve a good compression
ratio without risk of self-ignition. But, in a pre-mixed petrol engine, such a high
compression ratio is not possible. As we increase compression ratio of petrol engine
the mixture becomes more prone to self ignition. This is known as knocking. Over the
period of operation knocking badly damages the engine.