Editing Rudolf Diesel (section)

==Career==
One of Diesel's professors in Munich was [[Carl von Linde]]. Diesel was unable to graduate with his class in July 1879 because he fell ill with [[typhoid fever]]. While waiting for the next examination date, he gained practical engineering experience at the [[Sulzer (manufacturer)|Sulzer Brothers Machine Works]] in [[Winterthur]], Switzerland. Diesel graduated in January 1880 with highest academic honours and returned to Paris, where he assisted Linde with the design and construction of a modern refrigeration and ice plant. Diesel became the director of the plant a year afterwards.

In 1883, Diesel married Martha Flasche, and continued to work for Linde, gaining numerous [[patents]] in both Germany and France.<ref>{{cite book | last = James| first = Ioan|title = Remarkable Engineers: From Riquet to Shannon| publisher = Cambridge University Press| date = 2010|page = 129| isbn = 978-1-139-48625-5| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0bwb5bevubwC&pg=PA129}}</ref>

In early 1890, Diesel moved to [[Berlin]] with his wife and children, Rudolf Jr, Heddy, and Eugen, to assume management of Linde's corporate research and development department and to join several other corporate boards. {{Anchor|Kaboom}} Since he was not allowed to use for his own purposes the patents he developed while an employee of Linde's, he expanded beyond the field of refrigeration. He first worked with steam, his research into [[thermal efficiency]] and [[fuel efficiency]] leading him to build a steam engine using [[ammonia]] [[vapor]]. During tests, however, the engine exploded and almost killed him. His research into high-compression cylinder pressures tested the strength of iron and steel cylinder heads. One exploded during a test run. He spent many months in a hospital, followed by health and eyesight problems. It was during this year that Diesel began conceptualising the idea of a diesel engine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Early History of the Diesel Engine |url=https://dieselnet.com/tech/diesel_history.php |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=dieselnet.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Ever since attending lectures of von Linde, Diesel worked on designing an internal combustion engine that could approach the maximum theoretical thermal efficiency of the [[Carnot cycle]]. In 1892, after working on this idea for several years, he considered his theory to be completed. In the same year, Diesel was given the German patent DRP 67207.<ref name="Sass_383">Friedrich Sass: ''Geschichte des deutschen Verbrennungsmotorenbaus von 1860 bis 1918'', Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 1962, {{ISBN|978-3-662-11843-6}}. p. 383</ref> In 1893, he published a treatise entitled ''[[Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Motor|Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat-engine to Replace the Steam Engine and The Combustion Engines Known Today]]'', that he had been working on since early 1892.<ref name="Sass_394">Friedrich Sass: ''Geschichte des deutschen Verbrennungsmotorenbaus von 1860 bis 1918'', Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 1962, {{ISBN|978-3-662-11843-6}}. p. 394</ref> This treatise formed the basis for his work on and development of the diesel engine. By summer 1893, Diesel had realised that his initial theory was erroneous, leading him to file another patent application for the corrected theory in 1893.<ref name="Sass_383" />

Diesel understood [[thermodynamics]] and the theoretical and practical constraints on fuel efficiency. He knew that as much as 90% of the energy available in the fuel is wasted in a steam engine. His work in engine design was driven by the goal of much higher efficiency ratios. 

As opposed to outside ignition applied against internal [[Air-fuel ratio|air and fuel mixture]], air was [[Compression ratio#Diesel engines|compressed internally]] within the cylinder whilst heating, in order for the fuel to establish contact the air immediately before the compression period would end, thus igniting on its own. Therefore, the engine was smaller and weighed less than most contemporary [[steam engines]], not to mention the fact that further fuel sources weren't required. [[Fuel efficiency]] was measured 75% above the 10% theoretical efficiency for steam engines.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rudolf Diesel Internal-Combustion Engine |url=https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/rudolf-diesel |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=www.lemelson.mit.edu|language=en-GB}}</ref>

In his engine, fuel was injected at the end of the compression stroke and was ignited by the high temperature resulting from the compression. From 1893 to 1897, Heinrich von Buz, director of [[MAN SE#Foundation|Maschinenfabrik Augsburg]] in Augsburg, provided Rudolf Diesel the opportunity to test and develop his ideas.<ref name="Moon 1974"/> Diesel also received support from the [[Krupp]] firm.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/company/history |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=www.thysenkrupp.com|language=en-GB}}</ref>

Diesel's design utilised compression ignition as opposed to using [[spark plugs]] similar to [[gas engines]], with the ability to be run on [[biodiesel]], if not [[petroleum]]-originating fuels. [[Compressor|Compression engines]] are circa 30% more efficient over conventional gas burning engines, being mixed through forced [[compressed air]] within the combustion chamber, leading to a higher internal temperature, expanding at a higher rate and placing further pressure over the pistons that rotate the [[crankshaft]] towards a quicker rate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Curious Case of Rudolf Diesel
 |url=https://www.capitalremanexchange.com/history-death-rudolf-diesel/ |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=www.capitalremensonexchange.com|language=en-GB}}</ref>

Biodiesel often composed of [[Syngas|synthesis gas]] originating from [[waste|waste cellulose]] [[gasification]], as well as extraction of [[lipids]] from [[algae]], most frequently used by consisting vegetable oils and algae together under [[transesterification|methanol transesterification]]. Numerous firms have developed different techniques in order to achieve such.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rudolf Diesel |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/rudolf-diesel |access-date=2024-09-10 |website=www.sciencedirect.com|language=en-GB}}</ref>

The first successful diesel engine [[Motor 250/400]] was officially tested in 1897, featuring a 25 horsepower [[Four-stroke engine|four-stroke]], single vertical cylinder compression. Having just revolutionised the engine manufacturing industry,<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Rudolf Diesel's engine changed the world |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38302874 |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=www.bbc.com|language=en-GB}}</ref> it became an immediate success,<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of diesel engines |url=https://www.cummins.com/news/2023/04/04/history-diesel-engines |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=www.cummins.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> with royalties amassing great wealth for Diesel. The engine is currently on display at the [[Deutsches Museum|German Technical Museum]] in Munich.

Besides Germany, Diesel obtained patents for his design in other countries, including the United States.<ref>{{US patent|542846}}</ref><ref>{{US patent|608845}}</ref>

{{expand section|the balance of Diesel's professional and business career, which skips from a sputter of patents to his disappearance immediately in the next section|date=March 2023}}
He was inducted into the [[Automotive Hall of Fame]] in 1978.