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How a diesel engine works

Diesel Engine Strokes

There are both four-stroke and two-stroke diesel engines, but the majority fall into the four-stroke category. The four-stroke cycle consists of:

Intake stroke
During the intake stroke, the inlet valve opens and air is forced into the combustion chamber, either under atmospheric pressure or by a turbocharger. In order to enhance the subsequent mixing of air and fuel, the air is swirled as it enters the cylinder.

Compression stroke
The piston compresses the air in the cylinder, heating it in the process. During the cycle the air pressure can become as high as 1,350 atmospheres and the temperature can reach 550°C, well above the flash point of the fuel. At the appropriate moment, the fuel injector opens and fuel is injected into the hot air in a very fine mist. The hot air vapourizes the fuel, and combustion begins.

Power stroke
The high pressure resulting from the combustion of the fuel forces the piston in a downward motion, providing power to the engine. It is during this stroke that the exploding fuel/air mixture creates a shock wave which we receive - hear - as a loud noise.

Exhaust stroke
During the exhaust stroke, as the piston moves in an upward direction, unburned gases are forced through the exhaust valve to complete the four strokes. If there is a turbocharger in the system, those gases turn a turbine, which runs an air compressor. The air compressor forces air under high pressure into the cylinder during the next intake stroke, helping to provide a higher compression pressure.

 

 

We sell and install fuel systems so that you can run your car on Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) which includes the use of Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO)

 

Southern Fried Fuel Systems
 
Rudolph Diesel demonstrated his engine at the Exhibition Fair in Paris, France in 1898. This engine stood as an example of Diesel's vision because it was fueled by peanut oil. He thought that the utilization of a biomass fuel was the real future of his engine. He hoped that it would provide a way for the smaller industries, farmers, and "common folk" a means of competing with the monopolizing industries, which controlled all energy production at that time, as well as serve as an alternative for the inefficient fuel consumption of the steam engine. As a result of Diesel's vision, compression ignited engines were powered by a biomass fuel, vegetable oil, until the 1920's and are being powered again, today, by vegetable oil.