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Cummins
The COMPRESSION-ignition engine is an INTERNAL COMBUSTION motor.
The compression-ignition or diesel engine is a type of internal combustion powerplant - a gasoline engine is also an internal combustion engine. The difference between the two motors centers on how fuel is ignited in the cylinders of each. A gas engine, of course, uses an ignition coil to manufacture an electrical charge - this charge travels through a wire to the spark plug, becomes a tangible spark across the plug's electrodes, and ignites a heavily-compressed ultra-flammable mixture of fuel and air. Simple enough. Developed by Rudolf Diesel in 1893, the engine bearing his name is designed to employ the intense heat created during the combustion process, a by-product of the combustion process itself, as a means of igniting the fuel mixture.
Higher COMPRESSION ratios give the DIESEL engine a tremendous edge in EFFICIENCY.
Because a diesel motor employs the heat of its own compression as a fuel igniter, its compression ratio is much higher than that of a gasoline engine. The more tightly the fuel mixture is compressed, the hotter it becomes - the compression in a typical gasoline engine would not generate enough heat, by itself, to cause ignition.  Increased compression requires that the pistons of a diesel motor be heavier, constructed of a thicker-grade steel, than those of a typical gaseous counterpart. This high compression means greater efficiency - the burning of the fuel-air mixture, in other words, is more complete, less of the mixture wasted or unused in the process. In fact, a diesel engine has the highest thermal efficiency of any standard powerplant in existence. Thermal efficiency is a mathematical relationship between the output or power created by a device - and the amount of energy or fuel this power-creation takes.
Diesel motors like the CUMMINS are available in TWO-STROKE and FOUR-STROKE configurations.
While large gasoline engines are invariably four-stroke units, diesel engines just as frequently boast the two-stroke as the four-stroke configuration. The largest motor in the world (a diesel) stands roughly three stories high, puts out over 84000 kilowatts (that's 84,000,000 watts!) with its 113,000 plus horsepower - and is a two-stroke powerplant. Original diesels were not considered an alternative to the gasoline engine, but rather a replacement for the far less efficient steam engine (always in stationary prime-power applications). Marine uses (early ships and submarines) introduced the diesel to travel or motion applications, and slowly Rudolf Diesel's invention found its way into trains, trucks, and other heavy equipment. The diesel was also being used to run huge powerplants that generated electricity for urban living. The 1930s saw the first experimentation with these engines in the automobile application. The diesel's evolution as a viable automobile motor would take decades. After all, well into the '60s and '70s, the diesel motor was smelly, performed poorly in cold temperatures, was inconvenient to fuel, and to use. Today, half the new cars sold in Europe are diesel-engine powered.
Rudolf Diesel's ORIGINAL engine is on DISPLAY today in MUNICH, Germany.
The original engine built by Rudolf Diesel (manufactured in 1897) can be found at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. His German education (was actually born in Paris) prepared him to design and build early refrigeration units, but he always preferred constructing and experimenting with engines. Engines which operated on heat were a particular passion. As you know, diesel motors create intense heat (enough to ignite fuel) with a lofty compression ratio - a fairly progressive concept for its time - and Rudolf Diesel would create alternative heat-motivated powerplants (among them a solar-powered air engine) before ultimately settling on the "slow combustion" design which today bears his name. His first flirtation with the slow-combustion concept seems to have occurred in the early 1890s, however his first true success with the design - featuring the operational model now displayed at the Deutsches Museum - would not transpire until 1897.
What did CUMMINS contribute to the diesel-engine CONCEPT?
The genius of Clessie Cummins, founder of the Cummins Engine Company (today's multinational enterprise), was in his vision for the diesel motor. Diesels, in Clessie's day, were already widely deployed as motivation for major applications in the prime power, marine, locomotive, and heavy equipment arenas. Cummins believed in the potential of this hard-working motor for light-duty applications - such as the automobile (where he started) and the small engine. A Cummins diesel-equipped race car made its way into the 1931 Indianapolis 500. The motor was a four-stroke design that produced an impressive (for the time) 85 horsepower. The racer's major drawback was its weight, however, unlike the Indy 500 of today, the race featured multiple classes - among them what was known as the Special Engineering Class. Special Engineering was comprised of revolutionary and experimental vehicles that would compete against one another, and not against the dominant gasoline-engine race cars of the time. Nonetheless, the Cummins-diesel equipped Duesenberg could muster only a 13th place finish. Clessie Cummins would continue entering his diesel-powered vehicles in the 500, off and on, through 1952. His'52 rendition of the diesel-powered racer was relatively light in weight (compared with his earliest entries especially) and sported a much more robust 380-horsepower engine. Alas, the 1952 Cummins racer was forced to retire after 72 laps (while running in 5th place), victim to a broken crankshaft.
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