Diesel locomotive

The invention: An internal combustion engine in which ignition is
achieved by the use of high-temperature compressed air, rather
than a spark plug.
The people behind the invention:
Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), a German engineer and inventor
Sir Dugold Clark (1854-1932), a British engineer
Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900), a German engineer
Henry Ford (1863-1947), an American automobile magnate
Nikolaus Otto (1832-1891), a German engineer and Daimler’s
teacher
A Beginning in Winterthur
By the beginning of the twentieth century, new means of providing
society with power were needed. The steam engines that were
used to run factories and railways were no longer sufficient, since
they were too heavy and inefficient. At that time, Rudolf Diesel, a
German mechanical engineer, invented a new engine. His diesel engine
was much more efficient than previous power sources. It also
appeared that it would be able to run on a wide variety of fuels,
ranging fromoil to coal dust. Diesel first showed that his engine was
practical by building a diesel-driven locomotive that was tested in
1912.
In the 1912 test runs, the first diesel-powered locomotive was operated
on the track of the Winterthur-Romanston rail line in Switzerland.
The locomotive was built by a German company, Gesellschaft
für Thermo-Lokomotiven, which was owned by Diesel and
his colleagues. Immediately after the test runs atWinterthur proved
its efficiency, the locomotive—which had been designed to pull express
trains on Germany’s Berlin-Magdeburg rail line—was moved
to Berlin and put into service. It worked so well that many additional
diesel locomotives were built. In time, diesel engines were
also widely used to power many other machines, including those
that ran factories, motor vehicles, and ships.Diesels, Diesels Everywhere
In the 1890’s, the best engines available were steam engines that
were able to convert only 5 to 10 percent of input heat energy to useful
work. The burgeoning industrial society and a widespread network
of railroads needed better, more efficient engines to help businesses
make profits and to speed up the rate of transportation
available for moving both goods and people, since the maximum
speed was only about 48 kilometers per hour. In 1894, Rudolf Diesel,
then thirty-five years old, appeared in Augsburg, Germany, with a
new engine that he believed would demonstrate great efficiency.
The diesel engine demonstrated at Augsburg ran for only a
short time. It was, however, more efficient than other existing engines.
In addition, Diesel predicted that his engines would move
trains faster than could be done by existing engines and that they
would run on a wide variety of fuels. Experimentation proved the
truth of his claims; even the first working motive diesel engine (the
one used in the Winterthur test) was capable of pulling heavy
freight and passenger trains at maximum speeds of up to 160 kilometers
per hour.
By 1912, Diesel, a millionaire, saw the wide use of diesel locomotives
in Europe and the United States and the conversion of hundreds
of ships to diesel power. Rudolf Diesel’s role in the story ends
here, a result of his mysterious death in 1913—believed to be a suicide
by the authorities—while crossing the English Channel on the
steamer Dresden. Others involved in the continuing saga of diesel
engines were the Britisher Sir Dugold Clerk, who improved diesel
design, and the American Adolphus Busch (of beer-brewing fame),
who bought the North American rights to the diesel engine.
The diesel engine is related to automobile engines invented by
Nikolaus Otto and Gottlieb Daimler. The standard Otto-Daimler (or
Otto) engine was first widely commercialized by American auto
magnate Henry Ford. The diesel and Otto engines are internalcombustion
engines. This means that they do work when a fuel is
burned and causes a piston to move in a tight-fitting cylinder. In diesel
engines, unlike Otto engines, the fuel is not ignited by a spark
from a spark plug. Instead, ignition is accomplished by the use of
high-temperature compressed air.In common “two-stroke” diesel engines, pioneered by Sir Dugold
Clerk, a starter causes the engine to make its first stroke. This
draws in air and compresses the air sufficiently to raise its temperature
to 900 to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point, fuel (usually
oil) is sprayed into the cylinder, ignites, and causes the piston to
make its second, power-producing stroke. At the end of that stroke,
more air enters as waste gases leave the cylinder; air compression
occurs again; and the power-producing stroke repeats itself. This
process then occurs continuously, without restarting.
Impact
Proof of the functionality of the first diesel locomotive set the
stage for the use of diesel engines to power many machines. Although
Rudolf Diesel did not live to see it, diesel engines were
widely used within fifteen years after his death. At first, their main
applications were in locomotives and ships. Then, because diesel
engines are more efficient and more powerful than Otto engines,
they were modified for use in cars, trucks, and buses.
At present, motor vehicle diesel engines are most often used in
buses and long-haul trucks. In contrast, diesel engines are not as
popular in automobiles as Otto engines, although European auto makers make much wider use of diesel engines than American
automakers do. Many enthusiasts, however, view diesel automobiles
as the wave of the future. This optimism is based on the durability
of the engine, its great power, and the wide range and economical
nature of the fuels that can be used to run it. The drawbacks
of diesels include the unpleasant odor and high pollutant content of
their emissions.
Modern diesel engines are widely used in farm and earth-moving
equipment, including balers, threshers, harvesters, bulldozers,rock
crushers, and road graders. Construction of the Alaskan oil pipeline
relied heavily on equipment driven by diesel engines. Diesel engines
are also commonly used in sawmills, breweries, coal mines,
and electric power plants.
Diesel’s brainchild has become a widely used power source, just
as he predicted. It is likely that the use of diesel engines will continue
and will expand, as the demands of energy conservation require
more efficient engines and as moves toward fuel diversification
require engines that can be used with various fuels.