Editing Diesel fuel (section)

== Uses ==

Diesel fuel is mostly used in high-speed diesel engines, especially motor-vehicle (e.g. car, lorry) diesel engines, but not all diesel engines run on diesel fuel. For example, large two-stroke watercraft engines typically use heavy fuel oils instead of diesel fuel,<ref name="Mau_13" /> and certain types of diesel engines, such as MAN [[M-System]] engines, are designed to run on petrol with knock resistances of up to 86&nbsp;RON.<ref>Hans Christian Graf von Seherr-Thoß (auth.): Die Technik des MAN Nutzfahrzeugbaus. In: MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG (ed.): Leistung und Weg: Zur Geschichte des MAN Nutzfahrzeugbaus. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 1991. {{ISBN|978-3-642-93490-2}}. p. 438</ref> On the other hand, [[gas turbine]] and some other types of internal combustion engines, and [[external combustion engine]]s, can also be designed to take diesel fuel.

The [[viscosity]] requirement of diesel fuel is usually specified at 40&nbsp;°C.<ref name="ufa1" /> A disadvantage of diesel fuel in cold climates is that its viscosity increases as the temperature decreases, changing it into a [[gel]] (see [[Compression ignition#Gelling|Compression Ignition – Gelling]]) that cannot flow in fuel systems. Special [[Winter diesel fuel|low-temperature diesel]] contains additives to keep it liquid at lower temperatures.

=== On-road vehicles ===

[[Truck]]s and [[bus]]es, which were often otto-powered in the 1920s through 1950s, are now almost exclusively diesel-powered. Due to its ignition characteristics, diesel fuel is thus widely used in these vehicles. Since diesel fuel is not well-suited for otto engines, passenger cars, which often use otto or otto-derived engines, typically run on petrol instead of diesel fuel. However, especially in Europe and India, many passenger cars have, due to better engine efficiency,<ref name="argus">{{cite news|last=Nadel|first=Norman|date=11 May 1977|title=Diesel Revival Is Going On in the Motor City|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1988&dat=19770511&id=AUUiAAAAIBAJ&pg=1245,1255941|newspaper=[[The Argus-Press]]|location=[[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]]|access-date=28 July 2014}}</ref> diesel engines, and thus run on regular diesel fuel.

=== Railroad ===
{{See also|Dieselisation|Diesel locomotive}}
Diesel displaced coal and fuel oil for steam-powered vehicles in the latter half of the 20th century, and is now used almost exclusively for the combustion engines of self-powered rail vehicles (locomotives and railcars).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Solomon|first1=Brian|last2=Yough|first2=Patrick|date=15 July 2009|title=Coal Trains: The History of Railroading and Coal in the United States (Google eBook)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAIiJCH4Kw8C&q=diesel+in+trains+coal|publisher=MBI Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-7603-3359-4|access-date=9 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Duffy|first=Michael C.|date=1 January 2003|title=Electric Railways 1880–1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cpFEm3aqz_MC&q=diesel+in+trains+coal+uk|location=London|publisher=Institution of Engineering and Technology|isbn=978-0-85296-805-5|access-date=9 October 2014}}</ref>

=== Aircraft ===
[[file:Packard DR-980 USAF.jpg|thumb|Packard DR-980 9-cylinder diesel aircraft engine, used in the first diesel-engine airplane]]

In general, diesel engines are not well-suited for planes and helicopters. This is because of the diesel engine's comparatively low [[power-to-weight ratio|power-to-mass ratio]], meaning that diesel engines are typically rather heavy, which is a disadvantage in aircraft. Therefore, there is little need for using diesel fuel in aircraft, and diesel fuel is not commercially used as aviation fuel. Instead, petrol ([[Avgas]]), and [[jet fuel]] (e. g. Jet A-1) are used. However, especially in the 1920s and 1930s, numerous series-production aircraft diesel engines that ran on fuel oils were made, because they had several advantages: their fuel consumption was low, they were reliable, not prone to catching fire, and required minimal maintenance. The introduction of petrol direct injection in the 1930s outweighed these advantages, and aircraft diesel engines quickly fell out of use.<ref>Konrad Reif: ''Dieselmotor-Management – Systeme, Komponenten, Steuerung und Regelung'', 5th edition, Springer, Wiesbaden 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-8348-1715-0}}, p. 103</ref> With improvements in power-to-mass ratios of diesel engines, several on-road diesel engines have been converted to and certified for aircraft use since the early 21st century. These engines typically run on [[Jet A-1]] aircraft fuel (but can also run on diesel fuel). Jet A-1 has ignition characteristics similar to diesel fuel, and is thus suited for certain (but not all) diesel engines.<ref>Cord-Christian Rossow, Klaus Wolf, Peter Horst: ''Handbuch der Luftfahrzeugtechnik'', Carl Hanser Verlag, 2014, {{ISBN|9783446436046}}, p. 519</ref>

=== Military vehicles ===

Until World War II, several military vehicles, especially those that required high engine performance ([[armored fighting vehicle]]s, for example the [[M26 Pershing]] or [[Panther tank|Panther]] tanks), used conventional otto engines and ran on petrol. Ever since World War II, several military vehicles with diesel engines have been made, capable of running on diesel fuel. This is because diesel engines are more fuel efficient, and diesel fuel is less prone to catching fire.<ref>{{cite book
  |chapter=Engines for Main Battle Tanks
  |title=Jane's 1981–82 Military Annual
  |last=Tillotson
  |first=Geoffrey
  |editor=Col. John Weeks
  |publisher=[[Jane's]]
  |isbn=978-0-7106-0137-7
  |year=1981
  |page=59,63
}}</ref> Some of these diesel-powered vehicles (such as the [[Leopard 1]] or [[MAN 630]]) still ran on petrol, and some military vehicles were still made with otto engines (e. g. [[Ural-375]] or [[Unimog 404]]), incapable of running on diesel fuel.

=== Tractors and heavy equipment ===

Today's [[tractor]]s and [[heavy equipment]] are mostly diesel-powered. Among tractors, only the smaller classes may also offer gasoline-fuelled engines. The [[dieselization]] of tractors and heavy equipment began in Germany before World War II but was unusual in the United States until after that war. During the 1950s and 1960s, it progressed in the US as well. Diesel fuel is commonly used in oil and gas extracting equipment, although some locales use electric or natural gas powered equipment.

Tractors and heavy equipment were often [[multifuel]] in the 1920s through 1940s, running either spark-ignition and low-compression engines, akryod engines, or diesel engines. Thus many farm tractors of the era could burn gasoline, [[ethanol fuel|alcohol]], [[kerosene]], and any light grade of [[fuel oil]] such as [[heating oil]], or [[tractor vaporising oil]], according to whichever was most affordable in a region at any given time. On US farms during this era, the name "distillate" often referred to any of the aforementioned light fuel oils. Spark ignition engines did not start as well on distillate, so typically a small auxiliary gasoline tank was used for cold starting, and the fuel valves were adjusted several minutes later, after warm-up, to transition to distillate. Engine accessories such as [[carburetor#Vaporizers|vaporizers]] and [[radiator (engine cooling)#Radiator blind|radiator shrouds]] were also used, both with the aim of capturing heat, because when such an engine was run on distillate, it ran better when both it and the air it inhaled were warmer rather than at ambient temperature. Dieselization with dedicated diesel engines (high-compression with mechanical fuel injection and compression ignition) replaced such systems and made more [[engine efficiency|efficient]] use of the diesel fuel being burned.

=== Other uses ===
Poor quality diesel fuel has been used as an extraction agent for [[liquid–liquid extraction]] of [[palladium]] from [[nitric acid]] mixtures.<ref name="chemabstracts">{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Chemical Abstracts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGMcAQAAMAAJ&q=high+sulfur+diesel+fuel+palladium+nitric+acid+liquid-liquid+extraction|volume=110|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=American Chemical Society|date=13 March 1989|access-date=28 July 2014}}</ref> Such use has been proposed as a means of separating the [[fission product]] palladium from [[PUREX]] [[raffinate]] which comes from used [[nuclear fuel]].<ref name="chemabstracts" /> In this system of solvent extraction, the [[hydrocarbon]]s of the diesel act as the [[diluent]] while the di[[alkyl]] [[sulfide]]s act as the extractant.<ref name="chemabstracts" /> This extraction operates by a [[solvation]] mechanism.<ref name="chemabstracts" /> So far, neither a [[pilot plant]] nor full scale plant has been constructed to recover palladium, [[rhodium]] or [[ruthenium]] from [[nuclear waste]]s created by the use of [[nuclear fuel]].<ref>Torgov, V.G.; Tatarchuk, V.V.; Druzhinina, I.A.; Korda, T.M. ''et al.'', ''Atomic Energy'', 1994, '''76'''(6), 442–448. (Translated from Atomnaya Energiya; 76: No. 6, 478–485 (June 1994))</ref>

Diesel fuel is often used as the main ingredient in oil-base mud drilling fluid.<ref name="eisbdf">{{cite report|author1=Neff, J.M.|author2=McKelvie, S.|author3=Ayers, RC Jr.|date=August 2000|title=Environmental Impacts of Synthetic Based Drilling Fluids|url=http://www.anp.gov.br/brnd/round6/guias/PERFURACAO/PERFURACAO_R6/biblio/fluido%20sintetico.pdf|publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service|pages=1–4|docket=2000-064|access-date=28 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728233206/http://www.anp.gov.br/brnd/round6/guias/PERFURACAO/PERFURACAO_R6/biblio/fluido%20sintetico.pdf|archive-date=28 July 2014}}</ref> The advantage of using diesel is its low cost and its ability to drill a wide variety of difficult strata, including shale, salt and gypsum formations.<ref name="eisbdf" /> Diesel-oil mud is typically mixed with up to 40% brine water.<ref name="bfaf">{{cite web|url=http://gekengineering.com/Downloads/Free_Downloads/Brines_fluids_and_filtration.pdf|title=Brines and Other Workover Fluids|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=14 March 2009|website=GEKEngineering.com|publisher=George E. King Engineering|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020111636/http://gekengineering.com/Downloads/Free_Downloads/Brines_fluids_and_filtration.pdf|archive-date=2013-10-20|url-status=dead}}</ref> Due to health, safety and environmental concerns, Diesel-oil mud is often replaced with vegetable, mineral, or synthetic food-grade oil-base drilling fluids, although diesel-oil mud is still in widespread use in certain regions.<ref>{{cite web |work=Schlumberger Oil Field Glossary |title=diesel-oil mud |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040122220559/http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Display.cfm?Term=diesel-oil%20mud |archive-date=22 January 2004 |url=http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Display.cfm?Term=diesel-oil%20mud}}</ref>

During development of rocket engines in [[Germany]] during [[World War II]] J-2 Diesel fuel was used as the fuel component in several engines including the [[BMW 109-718]].<ref name=CIOSCBMW /> J-2 diesel fuel was also used as a fuel for gas turbine engines.<ref name=CIOSCBMW>{{cite web|last1=Price|first1=P.R, Flight Lieutenant|title=Gas turbine development by BMW|url=http://www.cdvandt.org/CIOS-XXVI-30.pdf|publisher=Combined Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee|access-date=7 June 2014}}</ref>