Popularity of the Diesel engine essays

Popularity of the Diesel engine essays In the past ten years, mankind has been searching for a viable solution to the biggest pollution problem; exhaust emissions from cars. Several alternatives have been explored and tested. The more popular of these are the gasoline/electric hybrids. In recent years many foreign car companies have put into production several successful models, including the Honda civic hybrid. These cars offer a drastic improvement in both fuel consumption and emission problems. But at the same time, has there been a solution to these problems all along? I believe this to be in the form of a word synonymous with dirty and smelly. Diesel. So what makes diesel so efficient? A lot of it has to do with the fuel. The chemical make up of diesel fuel gives it roughly 11% more energy per gallon than the energy in gasoline. And since diesel fuel is injected directly into the piston chamber, power output is controlled directly by the precise metering of the fuel to be injected, so the engine does not waste power creating vacuum that would be used in a gasoline engine to pull the fuel in. Since the engines compression ratio is much higher(typically double that of a gasoline engine), the higher the compression, the higher the power and engine efficiency. All this and several other factors combine for an power output of fuel energy being released being converted into actual energy that makes it to the driving wheels of 33%. Now compare that to the meager 7% that makes it to the rear wheels of a gasoline engine. This translates to about a 25 to 30% better fuel economy than equally performing gasoline engines.1,3 So if diesels are so great, then why dont we see more of them on the road? It all boils down to what comes out the tail pipe. Diesels are notorious for Pollution. This comes from the benefits mentioned above. Because of the high compression, and subsequently the high combustion chamber temperature, this raises one of the gasses the EPA ...