Document ZBBwVnEwVq7XMRNdy3p7YO3Bp

ODERN DIESEL ENGINES 50 Years of Progress By L N ROWLEY, Managing Editor [KJty years ego an oil engine, built in this country the patents of Dr. Rudolph Diesel, coughed into i, for the first time, demonstrated the commerfeasibility of a type of internal-combustion engine [Rearing the name of dieaef. Kite all major engineering advances, this one did wring into being without ancestry, nor did it sur- 'long without substantial modifications. [fter the brilliant French thinker Sadi Carnot laid early in the nineteenth century, theoretical prin[ea on which a "perfect" heat engine should operate, iccession of engineers strove to bring them to reality. ^ of the work of Lenoir, Beau dc Roches, Langen 'Otto, came the spark-ignition low-compression es operating on what is generally called the otto Jc- By 1898, these engines, using gaseous or readily [gtfiied fuels, had achieved a substantial measure ggccptance, and Ackroyd Stuart and Carl Weiss had pgtaced engines capable of operation on oil fuels. jS^to the stage thus set came Dr. Diesel. He visual- an engine capable of fully realising Carnot's ideal I ol dust was to be the fuet. Not surprisingly, practical engines built under his patents defrom many of the original theoretical concepts, ibard facts of experience, and crossbreeding with [pu undergoing parallel development, dictated still "Edifications. Yet this in no way diminishes the importance of Diesel's contribution end the pioneering efforts of those who brought his engine to commercial fruition. Like many others whose inventive genius is remembered in popular legend, he came on the scene at a time pecu liarly suited to his talents. By the power of his person ality and his missionary seal, he set the wheels of engi neering progress turning faster. While the purist may quibble as to just how much the present-day "diesel" owes to the man who gave it its name, there can be no doubt that he played a farreaching part in oit-engine development and that the year 1698 Is worthy of commemoration as a major mile stone in its history. In a world ever hungry for more power and better ways 61 producing it, the diesel has, In fifty years, won its spurs as a stationary prime mover, in ships, on the rails, in mobile machinery, and on the highways. It played an outstanding role in winning World War II and stands ready to help win the peace. To the practical engineer, the history of the diesel, however fascinating, must take second place to its present-day possibilities. For this reason, Power cele brates this golden anniversary by providing, in the following pages, a concise survey of modem practice -- how diesels work, how they are built and how they may be put to practical use to tower power costs. POWER APRIL, 1948 P W SWAIN, EDITOR