Rudolph Diesel: Inventor of the Diesel Engine

Considered to be one of the most efficient engines available for industry today, Rudolph Diesel’s internal combustion engine, the diesel engine, completely revolutionised the world. Even his first successful model was more efficient and effective than motor systems that came before…

Life and Times of the Diesel Engine’s Inventor

French-German thermal engineer Rudolph Diesel bore to the world an unprecedented engine design – the diesel engine. His engine was able to ignite without an ignition system, and he theorised it could be up to 75% more efficient than its counterparts at the time. His first prototype, released in 1893, was 26% more efficient – already a huge difference from the steam engines of the era which wasted approximately 90% of their fuel efficiency. His first successful, commercial-ready engine, advocated for by the Maschinenfabrick Augsburg (now MAN Diesel) and Krupp firms (now ThyssenKrupp), released in 1897 created much excitement in the industry, bringing to the investor a flood of royalty fees in commercial sales.

Diesel’s Legacy

The design and creation of the diesel engine was embraced immediately, both by small, independent companies and by larger industrial organisations. Requests for the engine came from far and wide, and helped spur the Industrial Revolution. By 1912, a year before Diesel’s disappearance, there were approximately 70,000 diesel engines in use around the world. The engine had major impacts on the railroad industry, and later on trucks and buses implemented the diesel engine as well. After WWII, ships began using Diesel’s engine design to replace their propulsion systems. Today, the engine is used in most major industries – mining, shipping, agriculture, and the commercial vehicle trade. But its success was not a given, and Diesel spent his life perfecting his design…

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The Diesel We Use Today

The diesel engine isn’t Diesel’s only namesake – diesel is a valuable fuel type used in the modern versions of the inventor’s engine, utilised by all industries which adapted his machine. Efficient and cost-effective, but expensive to fix, these engines run optimally on quality diesel. Fuel up with the industry experts…