How Diesel Engines Work?

Diesel engines are the engines that are widely used in vehicles that require high efficiency and power and that give these vehicles the power to move.

The diesel engine powers heavy vehicles such as trucks, trains and tractors. These remarkable engines are possible thanks to a rather simple but surprising scientific principle laid out by Rudolf Diesel in 1893. In a diesel engine, air is compressed to a high temperature to ignite the diesel fuel injected into the cylinder. The resulting combustion and expansion moves the piston. Thus, the chemical energy stored in the fuel is converted into mechanical energy. In this way, these engines provide power to the vehicles.

What are the Diesel Engine Types?

Different technologies are used in diesel engine production. For this reason, motors are divided into some types. diesel engines;

Turbo Direct Injection (TDI),
Common Direct Turbo Injection (CDTI)
High Pressure Direct Injection (HDI).

What Are the Parts of a Diesel Engine?

The engine block is the main structure that supports all other engine parts. The components that make up the essence of the operation of a diesel engine are as follows:

Cylinder liners with sleeve
Pistons fitted with piston rings
Engine valves – intake and exhaust valves

How Does a Diesel Engine Work?

Most diesel engines operate on a four-stroke cycle. Stroke refers to the full movement of the piston through the cylinder in both directions. It also completes four separate strokes while rotating the crankshafts.

Air is injected into the cylinder chamber at regular intervals through the inlet valve. The piston inside the liner compresses the air above it by moving up and down.

When the piston reaches the end of its induction stroke, the intake valve closes. The power from the other pistons and the momentum of the flywheel help the piston go to the top of the cylinder. In this way, it compresses the air to about one-twentieth of its original volume. This compression generates heat that ignites the fuel/air mixture, allowing it to burn and expand, forcing the piston down, which turns the crankshaft.

The exhaust valve opens as the piston moves the cylinder upward. In this way, it allows the burning and expanding gases to go down the exhaust pipe. At the end of the exhaust stroke, the cylinder is ready for fresh air charging. Diesel engine working process can be categorized into four stages. These;

Induction: The inlet valve opens when the piston starts to move down the bore. In this way, air is injected into the chamber.
Compression: The intake valve closes at the end of the stroke and the piston rises to compress the air.
Ignition: The fuel is exposed to the heat of the compressed air. This results in combustion and expansion pushing the piston down.
Exhaust: When the piston moves up, the exhaust valve opens and the burned gas is thrown out.

What is Diesel Engine Structure?

Diesel engine parts must be made much more powerful than their gasoline engine equivalents due to the much higher loads involved. Therefore, the walls of the diesel engine block are much thicker than the gasoline engine block. It also has more support nets to provide extra strength and absorb stress. Besides being stronger, the heavy-duty block can also reduce noise more effectively.

In conclusion; pistons, connecting rods, crankshafts and bearing caps must be stronger than their petrol engine counterparts.

What are the Advantages of Diesel Engines?

The biggest advantage of diesel engines over gasoline engines is that they have lower operating costs. This is due to the typically low price and high compression ratio of diesel fuel. The volume of the cylinder when the piston is at the bottom of its stroke is divided by the volume of the cylinder when the piston is at the top. However, the price of fuel varies from one region to another. Therefore, if you live in an area where diesel fuel is high, the advantage of using a diesel vehicle will be slightly reduced.

It’s not just about deciding between petrol and diesel engines. The important thing is to choose the right parts for your engine according to the use of your vehicle. For this reason, it is very important to verify the authenticity of the engine parts you purchase and to check whether they meet the OEM specifications.