The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is called a compression-ignition engine. This contrasts with engines using spark plug-ignition of the air-fuel mixture, such as a petrol engine or a gas engine.
Diesel engine built by Langen & Wolf under licence, 1898
Rudolf Diesel's 1893 patent on a rational heat motor
Diesel's second prototype. It is a modification of the first experimental engine. On 17 February 1894, this engine ran under its own power for the first time. Effective efficiency 16.6% Fuel consumption 519 g·kW−1·h−1
First fully functional diesel engine, designed by Imanuel Lauster, built from scratch, and finished by October 1896. Rated power 13.1 kW Effective efficiency 26.2% Fuel consumption 324 g·kW−1·h−1.
Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor and mechanical engineer who is famous for having invented the Diesel engine, which burns Diesel fuel; both are named after him.
Diesel c. 1900
Dresden in Antwerp Harbour, 1913
Rudolf Diesel on a 1958 German postage stamp