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 the mechanical compression. This contrasts with spark-ignition engines such as a petrol engine or gas engine, which use a spark plug to ignite an air-fuel mixture. Diesel engines work by compressing only the air; this increases the air temperature inside the cylinder to such a high degree that atomised diesel fuel injected into the combustion chamber ignites spontaneously. With the fuel being injected into the air just before combustion, the dispersion of the fuel is uneven; the torque a diesel engine produces is controlled by manipulating the air-fuel ratio. The diesel engine has the highest thermal efficiency of any practical internal or external combustion engine due to its high expansion ratio and inherent lean burn which enables heat dissipation by the excess air. A small efficiency loss is avoided compared with two-stroke non-direct-injection gasoline engines since unburned fuel is not present at valve overlap and therefore no fuel goes directly from the intake/injection to the exhaust.

Low-speed diesel engines can reach effective efficiencies of up to 55%. Diesel engines may be designed as either four-stroke cycles, they were used as a more efficient replacement for stationary steam engines. Since the 1910s they have been used in ships. Use in locomotives, heavy equipment and electricity generation plants followed later. In the 1930s, they began to be used in a few automobiles. Since the 1970s, the use of diesel engines in larger on-road and off-road vehicles in the US has increased. According to Konrad Reif, the EU average for diesel cars accounts for half of newly registered cars; the world's largest diesel engines put in service are 14-cylinder, two-stroke watercraft diesel engines. In 1878, Rudolf Diesel, a student at the "Polytechnikum" in Munich, attended the lectures of Carl von Linde. Linde explained that steam engines are capable of converting just 6–10% of the heat energy into work, but that the Carnot cycle allows conversion of much more of the heat energy into work by means of isothermal change in condition.

According to Diesel, this ignited the idea of creating a efficient engine that could work on the Carnot cycle. Diesel was exposed to a fire piston, a traditional fire starter using rapid adiabatic compression principles which Linde had acquired from Southeast Asia. After several years of working on his ideas, Diesel published them in 1893 in the essay Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Motor. Diesel was criticised for his essay, but only few found the mistake that he made. Diesel's idea was to compress the air so that the temperature of the air would exceed that of combustion. However, such an engine could never perform any usable work. In his 1892 US patent #542846 Diesel describes the compression required for his cycle: "pure atmospheric air is compressed, according to curve 1 2, to such a degree that, before ignition or combustion takes place, the highest pressure of the diagram and the highest temperature are obtained-that is to say, the temperature at which the subsequent combustion has to take place, not the burning or igniting point.

To make this more clear, let it be assumed that the subsequent combustion shall take place at a temperature of 700°. In that case the initial pressure must be sixty-four atmospheres, or for 800° centigrade the pressure must be ninety atmospheres, so on. Into the air thus compressed is gradually introduced from the exterior finely divided fuel, which ignites on introduction, since the air is at a temperature far above the igniting-point of the fuel; the characteristic features of the cycle according to my present invention are therefore, increase of pressure and temperature up to the maximum, not by combustion, but prior to combustion by mechanical compression of air, there upon the subsequent performance of work without increase of pressure and temperature by gradual combustion during a prescribed part of the stroke determined by the cut-oil". By June 1893, Diesel had realised his original cycle would not work and he adopted the constant pressure cycle. Diesel describes the cycle in his 1895 patent application.

Notice that there is no longer a mention of compression temperatures exceeding the temperature of combustion. Now it is stated that the compression must be sufficient to trigger ignition. "1. In an internal-combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder and piston constructed and arranged to compress air to a degree producing a temperature above the igniting-point of the fuel, a supply for compressed air or gas. See US patent # 608845 filed 1895 / granted 1898In 1892, Diesel received patents in Germany, the United Kin

Among those who were born in the London Borough of Croydon, or have dwelt within the borders of the modern borough are: Feroz Abbasi, arrested in Afghanistan in 2001 and detained at Guantanamo Bay. F. Delderfield and dramatist. Governor of Upper Canada, had his home at Duppas Hill, Croydon Chris Heath, author, comedian Roy Hodgson, football manager and former player, born in Croydon Joseph Holbrooke, composer of stage and orchestral music Roy Hudd, born in Croydon in 1936 Len Jarrett, former Director of Administration of the World Scout Bureau.

Tekkonkinkreet is a three-volume seinen manga series by Taiyō Matsumoto, serialized from 1993 to 1994 in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits and first published in English as Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White. It was adapted into a 2006 feature-length Japanese anime film of the same name, directed by Michael Arias and animated by Studio 4°C; the film Tekkonkinkreet premiered in Japan on December 23, 2006. The story takes place in the fictional city of Takaramachi and centers on a pair of orphaned street kids – the tough, canny Kuro and the childish, innocent Shiro, together known as the Cats – as they deal with yakuza attempting to take over Treasure Town. While the manga follows multiple plot threads, the film adaptation consists of most plots shown in the manga; the film follows two orphans and Shiro, as they attempt to keep control of the streets of the pan-Asian metropolis of Takaramachi, once a flourishing town and now a huge, crumbling slum fraught with warring between criminal gangs. Kuro is a violent and streetwise punk, considering Takaramachi to be "his town".

Shiro is younger and appears to be mentally impaired, out of touch with the world around him and living in a world of illusions. They call themselves "the Cats". Despite their extreme differences, they complement and support each other, similar to the Chinese Taoist principle of yin and yang. During one of their "missions", they take on thugs and Kuro ends up beating up three Yakuza gang members who are menacing a street gangster friend of his; the Yakuza work for Snake, the head of a corporation called "Kiddy Kastle". Snake plans to rebuild Takaramachi as a theme park to fit his own goals and dreams; when Kuro interferes once too Yakuza are sent to kill him, but fail. Angered, Snake sends the deadly "three assassins" known as Dragon and Tiger, near-superhuman hitmen, to finish the job. In order to save Kuro and himself, Shiro has to kill the first assassin Dragon by tipping gasoline and setting it alight, burning him alive; the second assassin Butterfly stabs him with a samurai sword. Shiro is sent to the hospital.

The police, who have been watching both Snake and the two youngsters, decide to take Shiro into protective custody "for his own good", while Kuro watches Shiro go knowing he would be too hard to look after while being hunted. Kuro falls into a depressive state. Alongside the children's narrative is a story is told through the eyes of Kimura, an average man who gets caught up in the Yakuza, leading him to have a violent encounter with Kuro. Kimura is forced by Snake to kill his former boss and mentor, Suzuki, to remove possible competition. While Kimura fulfills his mission, he is shocked by having murdered his mentor. Summoned once again by Snake, Kimura rebels and kills the Yakuza boss, before attempting to flee with his pregnant wife from Takaramachi, he is gunned down in a drive-by shooting by Snake's men. While the police feel it is for the best for Shiro to remain with them outside Takaramachi, Shiro feels empty without Kuro there for support. In parallel, without Shiro, Kuro soon begins to lose grip on reality and allows his violence to consume him.

He soon develops a split personality, with his dark side manifesting as the "minotaur". Things reach a climax when Shiro is brought back to Takaramachi by one of the officers and taken to a local fair. There, a delusional Kuro is trying to show people that "Shiro", in reality a mocked-up doll, has returned to life; when Kuro is attacked by Snake's two remaining assassins, the doll is damaged and Kuro flies into a murderous rage, killing the assassins. It is that he is confronted by the real Shiro, is forced to fight the "minotaur", who wishes to consume him. Kuro manages to reunites with Shiro, last seen playing in the beach. Tekkonkinkreet is a three-volume seinen manga series by Taiyō Matsumoto, serialized in Japan from 1993 to 1994 in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits and first published in English as Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White. All three manga issues were adapted into a 2006 feature-length Japanese anime film of the same name, directed by Michael Arias and animated by Studio 4°C; the film Tekkonkinkreet premiered in Japan on December 23, 2006.

The city featured in Tekkonkinkreet was deemed as "the central character of the film" and the city's design was inspired by the cityscapes of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Colombo, Sri Lanka to give a pan-Asian feel to the city. The English electronic music duo Plaid composed the music. Asian Kung-Fu Generation performed the theme song for the film "Aru Machi no Gunjō"; the film featured the following cast: * - Minor Role ** - Not credited on the DVD The film holds a 74% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 19 reviews, an average score of 65 on Metacritic based on 9 critics. Joseph Luster, speaking on the film, felt that the brotherly bond between the protective Black and the endearing White was the heart of the manga. Chris Beveridge, writing in Mania, declared: "While it may not be what anime fans have come to expect for a traditional film, the end result is something that while predictable is engaging." Chris Johnston of Newtype USA wrote: "Regardless of how much you watch this one, this is a film that no serious anime fan should miss.".

The manga won the 2008 Eisner Award for "Best U. S. Edition of International Material—Japan". Tekkonkinkreet won the "Best Film Award" at the 2006 Mainichi Film Awards, it was named Barbara London's top film of 2006 in the annual "Best of" roundup by the New