Editing Rudolf Diesel (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:DBPSL 1958 432 Rudolf Diesel.jpg|204 px|thumb|right|Rudolf Diesel on a 1958 German postage stamp]]
After Diesel's death, his engine underwent much development and became a very important replacement for the steam piston engine in many applications. Because the Diesel engine required a more robust construction than a gasoline engine, it saw limited use in [[Aircraft diesel engine|aviation]]. However, the Diesel engine became widespread in many other applications, such as [[stationary engine]]s, agricultural machines and off-highway machinery in general, [[submarine]]s, ships, and much later, [[Diesel locomotive|locomotive]]s, trucks, and in modern automobiles.

Diesel engines have the benefit of running more fuel-efficiently than any other internal combustion engines suited for motor vehicles, allowing more heat to be converted to mechanical work.

Diesel was interested in using [[coal dust]]<ref>{{patent|DE|67207|Rudolf Diesel: "Arbeitsverfahren und Ausführungsart für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen" p. 4.}}</ref> or [[vegetable oil]] as fuel, and in fact, his engine was run on peanut oil.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://biodiesel.org/docs/ffs-basics/adm-fact-sheet-biodiesel-technical-information.pdf?sfvrsn=4 | title=Biodiesel Technical Information | publisher=biodiesel.org | access-date=27 December 2017 | archive-date=28 April 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428120650/http://biodiesel.org/docs/ffs-basics/adm-fact-sheet-biodiesel-technical-information.pdf?sfvrsn=4 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Although these fuels were not better replacements, in 2008 the rise in fuel prices coupled with concerns about remaining [[Oil and gas reserves and resource quantification|petroleum reserves]], led to the more widespread use of vegetable oil and [[biodiesel]].

The primary fuel used in Diesel engines is the eponymous [[diesel fuel]], derived from the refinement of [[Petroleum product|crude oil]]. Diesel is safer to store than gasoline, because its [[flash point]] is approximately {{convert|145|F-change|order=flip}} higher,<ref>{{cite web |title=Flash Point – Fuels |url=https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/flash-point-fuels-d_937.html |website=Engineering ToolBox |access-date=18 December 2018 |year=2005}}</ref> and it will not explode.

===Use of vegetable oils as diesel engine fuel===
{{main|Vegetable oil fuel}}
In a book titled ''Diesel Engines for Land and Marine Work'',<ref name="Chalkley1912">{{Citation |last=Chalkley |first=Alfred Philip |year=1912 |title=Diesel engines for land and marine work |edition=2nd | page=3 |publisher=D. Van Nostrand |location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLM3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PR3}}</ref> Diesel said that "In 1900 a small Diesel engine was exhibited by the Otto company which, on the suggestion of the French Government, was run on [[peanut|arachide]] [peanut] oil, and operated so well that very few people were aware of the fact. The motor was built for ordinary oils, and without any modification was run on vegetable oil.  I have recently repeated these experiments on a large scale with full success and entire confirmation of the results formerly obtained."<ref name="Chalkley1912pp4-5">{{Citation |last=Chalkley |first=Alfred Philip |year=1912 |title=Diesel engines for land and marine work |edition=2nd |publisher=D. Van Nostrand |location=New York |pages=4–5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLM3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA4}}</ref>