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Diesel Engine Facts & Trivia That May Interest You....
- Rudolph Diesel inventor of "you guessed it" the Diesel Engine was an environmentalist, he was an avid proponent to vegetable oil [or Biodiesel as we know it] as a fuel source for his invention. This was in the early 1900's. A man ahead of his time!
Biodiesel is fuel made from renewable resources such as vegetable
oils or animal fats. It is biodegradable and non-toxic, and has
significantly fewer emissions than petroleum-based diesel when burned.
Biodiesel functions in current engines, and is a possible candidate to
replace fossil fuels as the world's primary transport energy source.
With
a flash point of 150°C, Biodiesel is classified as a non-flammable
liquid by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This
property makes a vehicle fueled by pure biodiesel far safer in an
accident than one powered by petroleum diesel or the explosively
combustible gasoline.
Precautions should be taken in very cold
climates, where biodiesel may gel at higher temperatures than petroleum
diesel.
Biodiesel can be distributed using today's
infrastructure, and its use and production is increasing rapidly
(especially in Europe, the United States, and Asia).
Fuel stations are
beginning to make biodiesel available to consumers, and a growing
number of transport fleets use it as an additive in their fuel.
Biodiesel is generally more expensive to produce than petroleum diesel,
although this differential may diminish due to economies of scale and
the rising cost of petroleum.
On today's high performance diesel engines fuel passes through the injector at speeds of nearly 1500 miles per hour - as fast as a jet plane at top speed. Fuel is injected into the combustion chamber in less than 1.5 milliseconds, the same time it takes for a camera flash to go off.
The minimum amount of fuel injected into a diesel engine is one cubic millimetre - about the same volume as the head of a pin. Volkswagen has developed a 1 litre diesel powered car that got 100 kilometres out of .89 litres of fuel {60 miles on approximately 3/4 of a quart of fuel!}
- A Diesel Engine ignites the highly compressed air fuel mixture entering each cylinder by the Heat Of Compression compared to a high energy spark in a gas engine.
- Diesels are built much stronger than gas engines because of the high torque and heat it has to withstand. In turn the average life of a well maintained diesel engine can reach as high as 400,000 kilometers or 240,000 miles.
- You need special readers, laptops and software to diagnose and repair the Electronic/Emission controlled Diesel Engines of today.
There is much to learn about diesel engines and a ton of information online. If you have ever considered buying a vehicle with a diesel engine you have my blessing!
The extra cost will be to your benefit, so I recommend finding out more about diesel engines before you decide which engine to choose.
- For More Info Go To: My School Bus Mechanic Blog
Crowd Power
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mickikrimmel
Los Angeles, California, United States -
joaobambu
São Paulo, São PAulo, Brazil -
dopry
New York, New York, United States -
jelletse
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Recommendations (1)

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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (6)
at 08:13 on February 27th, 2007
As one of the NowPublic editors, I’ve flagged your item as Incomplete. An interesting post (though it fails to mention WHY deisel's veg-oil capability has been lost), but there is not really a "news" element to it.
Please feel free to write your own comment in response, but first check out NowPublic news values and our Code of Conduct. These will make your stuff better.
at 09:43 on March 3rd, 2007
Hi Jordan,
Thank you for your comment, I actually have not read the Editor's requirements until now and I will change my format. News is what you are looking for so I understand your point , my post was more informational than anything else. I will make an edit soon.
Regards,
Jelletse aka John Whelan.
at 22:46 on August 13th, 2007
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd has recently announced its plans of launching a
new clean diesel engine that will be used for the X-TRAIL sport utility
vehicle which will be introduced in Japan in the fall of 2008. The
new diesel engine will be based on the M9R engine which Nissan has
developed in partnership with Renault. But of course Nissan plans to do
something more with their version of the M9R. Nissan’s new clean diesel will employ an original clean diesel
technologies consisting of high-performance catalyst and advanced
engine management. The main objective of the clean diesel engine is to
lower harmful exhaust gas emissions that would meet new emission
standards in Japan. At present, Daimler is the only carmaker that is offering a diesel
passenger car in Japan with its Mercedes E320 CDI sedan(with Mercedes Benz Shock) and it’s quite
excited to see other local brands entering the niche since it would
help to promote the powertrain in which the German automaker has a
technological edge but with Nissan and soon Honda coming into the
scene, its going to be exciting to keep track of Daimler’s position in
the market since we all know what these Japanese automakers are capable
of.
at 23:50 on August 13th, 2007
jelletse, does this mean that all diesel engines can run on biodiesel fuel? Please enlighten. Thanks. Interesting write-up.
at 05:50 on August 14th, 2007
Yes, biodiesel is safe and can be used in any diesel engine since it's oil based and comes in different purities like B20 & B100. Cummins Engines have approved the use of B20 in there products, see the article here http://schoolbusmechanic.blogspot.com
Thanks for your comment!
John
at 18:08 on September 7th, 2007
The US car market is going crazy over cars that produce lower emission of CO2 to compensate with the stricter emission standards of the US. If ethanol is a gasoline, Biodiesel is also a kind of diesel. It is a renewable alternative fuel that produces low CO2 but at low cost. It can also be used by a conventional powertrain part although without modifications. Be able to identify the proper source of your biodiesel. There are several kinds of biodeisel. B5 is a combination of 5% biodiesel and 95% petrodiesel. The B20 is composed of 20% biodiesel and 80% petrodiesel and the B100 which is 99% biodiesel. Active Brakes Direct.