The Diesel Engine and Its Possibilities

Author(s): Sumner B. Ely

Source: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Apr., 1937), pp. 358-362
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/16107
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 THE DIESEL ENGINE AND ITS POSSIBILITIES
By SUMNER B. ELY
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OP POWER ENGINEERING, CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OP TECHNOLOGY

AT the presenttime the public is miraculously pull us out of the depres-

Diesel-minded.A year or more ago sion.
stream-lining absorbedthe publicinter- Young men tryingto earn a living
est; and beforethat,at varioustimes, havenaturallyturnedto thissupposedly
radio,free-wheeling and otherengineer- newfield,and as a consequence we find
ing ideas and novelties.Public opinion a large numberof Diesel schoolswhich
is not always logical or sensibleover havesprungup overthecountry.These
suchmatters.For example,at one time schoolsare generallyof a "practical"
enthusiasm was so greatthateverythingnature,wherea smallamountof theory
possiblemustbe stream-lined. It became is givenwithopportunities to observean
a veritablecraze,and absurdadvertise- enginein operationor evento dismantle
mentsappeared,such as "stream-linedand assembleDiesel engines. The criti-
roller skates," "stream-lined shoe cismadvancedagainstthemis thatthey
brushes,"etc. As a matterof fact,an not onlypromiseto turnout an expert
automobile musttravelat leastfifty-five in a veryshorttime,butassureany one
miles an hour beforeany appreciable whowilltaketheircoursea certainty of
savingwill resultfromstream-lining. immediate employment. As a matterof
To-daymuchthe same thingis hap- fact,thereis little demandfor Diesel
peningwiththeDiesel engine. We hear mechanicsand servicemenin the Pitts-
that we are now enteringthe "Diesel burghdistrictat thepresenttime.
age," and we read in thepapersthatwe However,whileat presentthedemand
are to rideto prosperity on thestalwart maybe small,it is wellto remember that
cylinders oftheDiesel engine. However in the last two or threeyears,several
muchthismay be exaggerated, thereis thousandbusses in London have been
someverygood backgroundfor public changedfromgasolineto Diesels, and
interest,as will be seen by a glanceat many men have been needed. In our
the diagramof horsepower of Diesel owncountry Dieselbussesare beingused
enginesproduced. The growthof the moreand moreon ourthroughroutes.
1932 130,000 H.P.
1933 280,000 H.P.
1934 750,000 H.P.
1935 1,250,000 H.P.
Production of Diesel Engines in the United States
An increase of nearly 1000% in three years.
Diesel industryis indeed spectacular, Some of our collegesand technical
and particularly in viewofthefactthat schoolshavetriedto helpoutbypopular
it occurredduring depressionyears. eveningcourses, butadequateequipment
This growth,amongotherthings,such in almosteverycasehas beenlacking;so
as thewidepublicity technicaleducation.
giventhesuccessful toowithhigh-grade
innovationof the stream-lined Diesel- While the fundamentalprinciplesare
electrictrains,has firedthepublicimag- alreadyincludedor can be includedin
ination,and it is no wonderthat the existingcourses,goodexamplesofDiesel
Diesel industryhas been heraldedto enirnes are needed in laboratories or
358
 THE DIESEL ENGINE 359

elsewhere.There are in the United to thesquareinch. Thecompressed mix-

Statesfewcollegeswithsuitable equip- ture is now ignited by a spark plug,and
mentto offer graduatecoursesin Diesel theresultingexplosiondrivesthepiston
engineering.This informationis the onitsoutwardstrokeagain,butthistime
resultof a recentquestionnaire. developing power.
As almosteveryone knows, the gaso- It is a well-known factthatthehigher
line engineused to-dayin our automo- the compressionbefore ignition,the
bilesconsistsof a cylinder, havingin it greateris theefficiency ofthemotor;and
a pistonwhichis drivenby an explosion theaimoftheengineer is to increasethe
of gasoline vapor. The reciprocating compression as much as possible. But
motionof the piston,througha crank, herehe soonreachesa limit. Any com-
connecting rod and gears,is turnedinto pressiblesubstance,suchas air or gaso-
circularmotionat thewheeloftheauto- line vapor, when compressedbecomes
mobile. warm;and theharderit is compressed,
To obtainan explosion(and explosion the hotterit gets. We all know how
is nothing butveryrapidburning),there smallhand air pumpsgetwarm,and in
mustbe a mixtureof air and gasoline large air compressors it is necessaryto
vapor, and in the proper proportion. surround the cylinder with coolingwater
The carburetor accomplishes thismixing to preventoverheating and burningof
byautomizing liquidgasolineand meter- thelubricating oil.
ing the amountof air supplied. How- And so with the gasoline-vapor-air
ever,the carburetorcan not properly mixture;if compressed toomuch,it will
atomizea heavy liquid. It must be sup- become so hot as to explode sponta-
plied with an easily vaporizedliquid neously,withoutany sparkwhatsoever.
fuel,such as gasoline,whichhas been This,of course,mustnothappen,as the
derivedfromcrudepetroleum. timeof theexplosionmustbe controlled
The first indictmentagainst the to prevent backfireand detonation.
present-day automobile, therefore, is that Each fuel has its own auto-ignition
it can notutilizeheavyoil fuels,which point. No-knockgasoline will stand
are comparatively cheapnow. highercompression than ordinarygaso-
In theearlydaysof theinternal com- line.
bustionengine,it was discovered thatan We may thenmake a secondindict-
explosivemixturemust be put under mentagainstthepresentgasolinemotor,
pressurebeforeit is ignited;otherwise,viz.,thecompression pressureand conse-
insteadof a quick,sharpexplosion pro- quently the efficiency are limited.
ducing a high pressure, a long, slow About 1890 an engineer named Ru-
burningwithverylittlepressureresults. dolph Diesel took out some German
Compression of thechargebeforeexplo- patentswhichwereultimately triedand
sion is absolutelynecessary for the worked out with the assistance of the
properworkingof the engine. This is Germanfirmsof Krupp and M.A.N.
obtainedin mostof our automobiles by Diesel's idea was verysimple,viz.,to do
lettingthepistonfillthecylinderon its away witha carburetor and duringthe
outwardstroke,drawingin the mixture forward piston stroke to draw into the
from the carburetor;the valve then cylinderpure air only. On the return
closesso themixturecan notescape,and strokethis air was very highlycom-
on the returnstrokeof the piston,it is pressedto some500 or 600 poundsper
compressed intoa smallspaceleftin the square inch,whichwouldbringit to a
end of the cylinder. The smallerthis red-hot heat. Unlikethegasolinemotor,
space,thehigherwillbe thecompression,no auto-ignition couldtakeplace,as pure
whichis commonly around100 pounds air alonecan notexplodeor burn. Into
360 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY
thissmallvolumeof red-hotair, caught bustionmayraiseit to 800or 900pounds
at theend of thestroke,liquid fuelwas or more. In thegasolineengine,on the
forcedby meansof an injectionpump. otherhand,themaximum pressureafter
The fuel of coursewould immediatelyexplosionwill seldomexceed400 or 500
burnand drivethepistonforwardagain pounds per square inch. The Diesel
on its workingstroke. musthavethicker cylinders and stronger
Here,then,is an enginewhichis sim- partsto resistthe greaterpressureand
plifiedby havingneithercarburetor nor is consequently heavierand morecostly.
spark plug, althougha somewhatcom- To expressthisin anotherway: due to
plicatedinjectionsystem hasbeenadded. the high compression and long expan-
Furthermore, it possessestwo greatad- sion,togetthesameaverage pressureper
vantages:(1) The abilityto use cheap, squareinchon thepistonthroughout its
heavyfueloil; (2) due to thehighcom- working stroke,themaximumpressureis
pression,it has thehighestknownther- greaterin theDiesel.
mal efficiency. In thelast analysistheDieselwillsuc-
The Diesel engine,as builtto-dayfor ceed or fail on its commercial efficiency.
equal powers,will use only about one The cost of generatingpoweris not a
half the quantityof fuel requiredby a matterof thermalefficiency alone. We
gasolinemotor;and in addition will use must takeinto account the interest onthe
a muchcheapergradeof fuel. The ob- investment, the costof repairs,mainte-
jection is oftenraised that if in the nance,wear and tear,lengthof service,
futurethe demandfor Diesel fuel oil etc.,and thiscan onlybe determined by
greatlyincreases, probably thelawgivers operation over a period of years. The
of this countrywill see fitto tax it as Diesel enginehas nowbeenin operation
heavilyas gasolineis taxedto-day. But forsometwenty-five yearsand has dem-
eventhentherewouldstill be a saving onstratedits worth. It does not seem
ofonehalftheamountused. It has been to be generallyknown,but the fact is
estimated thatin thePittsburgh district that to-daymorethan 50 per cent. of
the Diesel engine to-day could afford to our shippingis equipped with Diesel
pay foritsfueloil fourtimesitspresent engines. We perhapsthinkthatthisis
priceand stillproducepoweras cheaply so becausethe internalcombustion en-
as a gasoline engine. Furthermore, gine does away with the inconvenience
whilethe tax on fuel oil in the future of a boiler; but records show that
may be increased,therewill be great medium-speed shipsthat are constantly
pressurebroughtto bear on the part of in serviceare equippedwithDiesel en-
the oil companiesto keepit down. The gines,whilethoseremaining in portfor
greatbulk of fuel oil produced is used long periodshave cheaper steam installa-
for other purposes than generating tions. In otherwords,wherea greatdeal
power in oil engines,and if its price offuelis to be used,it paysto makethe
becomestoo high,theseuserswill go to largerinvestment and use thebettersav-
coal or otherfuel,and theoil companies ing equipment-a matterof dollarsand
will find themselves left with a very re- cents.
stricted market. In Europe,wherefuelis expensive, we
To offsetthis great saving in fuel, find many more Diesel engines than in
however, theDiesel has a higher firstcost America, where fuel is cheaper. The
and is heavierthanthe gasolineengine. registration in Germanyalone for 1935
It was stated above that the Diesel was over30,000Dieseltrucks, bussesand
cylindercompressionpressurewas as automobiles, and it is estimated thatthe
high as 500 or 600 pounds per square Diesel engine manufacturers of Europe
inch;andaftertheoil is injecteditscom- together turnout4,000trucksand busses
 THE DIESEL ENGINE 361

monthly.To this must be added the mustbelievethereis a goodDiesel field

Dieselsinstalledin stationaryservice. here,in spiteof low coal fuelprices.
And in the United States we have Regarding the application of the
alreadysomefifty well-established Diesel Diesel to automobiles and airplanes,the
enginemanufacturers. They have sta- chief requisite is light weight. The
tionaryDiesels of moderatecapacityin powerdevelopedby an engineis a func-
all kinds of service; lightingplants, tion of its speed. Consideran engine
pumpingplants,ice plants,cottonmills, developinga certainhorsepowerat a
flourmillsand in all sortsof industrial certainnumberof revolutions per min-
work. Thereis a growingdemandfor ute. Usingthesameamountoffuelper
themin largeoffice and hotelbuildings. revolution, if we can doublethe revolu-
In many cases wheresteam power is tions,the enginewould use twice the
alreadyinstalledand the exhaustused total fuel and develop approximately
for heating the building in winter, twicethehorsepower;notexactlytwice,
Dieselshavebeenadded,notonlyto in- as frictionwouldmodifyit. However,
creasethepoweroftheplant,butto save the higherthe speed of an engine,the
theexpenseofoperating thesteamplant morehorsepoweris developedfor the
in summer.For example,theHotelNew sameweight,withinlimits.
Yorkerhas latelyadded750 Diesel H.P., The gasolineenginehas theadvantage
and 525 H.P. is installedin the Singer of speed over the Diesel. A Diesel
Tower,NewYork City. cylinderof the same power must be
The greatimpetusgiventheDiesel in thicker toresistthehigherpressures, and
thelastfewyearshas comeaboutlargely its piston and movingparts must be
by improvingthe methodof injection. heavier. Thesereciprocating partsmust
The olderDieselsinjectedthefueloil by
meansof an air spray,in orderto help stop and startat the end of each stroke.
A gasolineautomobileenginewill run
combustion and regulation.This meant
outsideadditionalpumpsand auxiliary 3,500 or morerevolutionsper minute,
apparatus. The Dieselsbuiltto-dayare whichmeansstartingand stoppingthem
self-containedand thefueloil is injected 7,000 or moretimesin a minute. The
4"solid" withoutair spray. This im- weightof reciprocating parts at high
provementhas been accomplishedby speeds is very important, fortheengine
properinjectionatomizingnozzlesand may not stand up in serviceunderthe
pumpsand by properlyshapedcombus- severe stressesthey produce. Diesels do
tionchambers, and has greatlysimplifiednotgenerallyexceed1,000or 1,500revo-
theengine. lutionsper minute. A few have been
Diesel installations are scattered builtand operatedat higherspeeds,but
widelythroughout theUnitedStates;the theyare moreor less experimental and
demandforthemofcoursevariesin dif- nottriedout by muchlengthof service.
ferentlocalities,dependingto a great As statedabove,forequal powers,or
4extenton thecostoffuelin thatlocality. equal size cylinders(same M.E.P. and
As a consequence, in thePittsburgh dis- sameR.P.M.) theDiesel is heavierthan
trict,wherecoal fuel is comparativelythegasolineengine. But further, if the
cheap, we find few installations;al- gasolinepistonrunsfaster,its cylinder
thoughthereare a numberof Diesel canbe smallerand stillproducethesame
tractorsand power shovels working power. Therefore,the gasolineengine
around Pittsburghand several river has theadditionaladvantageof smaller
boatshaveDiesel engines. A numberof size per horsepowerdue to its greater
largeDieselmanufacturers havealready speed,whichreducestheweightcompari-
establishedofficesin Pittsburgh,and son stillfurther.
362 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY
All this means that the Diesel en- speedand thusto decreaseitsweightfor
gine,if applied to an automobile, must thesamepower.
runmoreslowlyand therefore be larger Whenwe cometo considerverylarge
and costmorethanthe gasolinemotor. installations, such as greatcentralelec-
Of coursethesavingin fuelundersome tric generatingstationsand our very
conditions maymorethanoffset theaddi- large oceanships,hereagain the Diesel
tional expense;and in Europe we find is at a verydistinctdisadvantage.There
quite a numberof automobileswith is a limitto thesize of a Diesel cylinder.
Diesel engines.There are no Diesel- If thediameterexceeds35 or 40 inches,
engined automobilesin the United it is verydifficult, withthehightempera-
States,exceptpossiblyan experimentaltureswhichconstantly occur,to prevent
one here or there. Should we startto the cylinderheads and bodies from
apply Diesels it would mean larger, cracking.And even if a successful
heavierand more expensivecars; and cylinderofverylargediametercouldbe
under presentfuel conditionshere, it built,it would be too heavyand cum-
seemshard to believethat the public bersomeforpracticalservice; The con-
wouldpay theincrease. sequenceis that large powerscan be
Whilewe maynotsee Dieselsapplied obtainedonly by using a great many
to passengercarsin thiscountry, it looks cylinders.This involvesgreatexpense,
as if the Diesel was likelyto take over immense weightand a verylargespace
thewholefieldoftrucks, busses,tractors in which to house them. This is also
and transportationmachinerywhere trueof steamengines.
slowerenginesare used,and fuelcostis Comparethis with the present-day
an importantconsideration.We find steam turbine,whichcan be built for
greatnumbersof thesemachinesnowin enormous horsepowersso compactly as
the United States, particularlyin the to be easily operated and manipulated,
West,working onfarms,earthstripping, and of less firstcost and much less
weight.In theturbineimmense volumes
roadmaking, in loggingcamps,etc. The ofsteam
blowthrough a longcylinder in
CaterpillarTractorCompanyon Janu- whichis a rotatingpiece only,withno
ary 1, 1935, made the statementthat reciprocating partsto limitthe volume
theyhad 28,352tractorsin service. of steamtakenin. Steamturbineunits
Regardingthe airplane,its propeller, can be built to generate50,000,60,000
shouldrun around1,800 and morehorsepower;whereasa ship
to be efficient,
or 1,900revolutions perminute.Diesels such as the Saturnia, having 20,000
have been made to run at such speeds, horsepowerof Diesel engines,is a very
and someairplaneshave been equipped large installationindeed. There are
with them; but as alreadystated,for sixteen cylinders,36" diameter x 42"
equal power developed,the gasoline stroke,and the reciprocating parts of
engineis lighter;and as weightis such each cylinderweighsomething like four
an important consideration,theDiesel is tons. Specialtoolsand devicesareneces-
not likelyto becomepopularwithair- saryto getat theinsideof thecylinders
plane builders. Furthermore, in order to examineand repair them. Of late
to reducestill morethe weightof the years,too,the thermalefficiency of the
airplane,we havelatelyseenhigh-speed steamturbinehas been improved;and
gasoline enginesused. Instead of di- whilenot as highas that of the Diesel
rectlyconnecting the engineto thepro- engine,we maybe verysurethatsteam
peller shaft, gearing has been used, will still be used to produceour great
allowingthe engineto run at a greater powers.