Rudolph Diesel was born on March 18, 1858 in Paris. On September 4, 1870 Rudolph's
family moved to England. In late November they decided it would be better for Rudolph to
continue his schooling in Germany so he moved there on his own and stayed with a young
professor. The problems Rudolph was trying to solve were the noise, size and
unreliability of the steam engine. he wanted to create something that superheated
ammonia gas could take the place of steam in a steam engine. He wanted to enable much
higher compression pressures to be used than was able with conventional steam engines.
In this way he could make greater use of heat energy. Rudolph was 32 when he finally
accomplished his goal of creating the first ever Diesel Engine.
To create the Diesel engine which made Rudolph famous he had to take the original
steam engine and give it exhaust valves water cooling for the cylinder head and barrel
and a compressed air fuel-injection system to ensure that the liquid fuel was forced into
the combustion space with sufficient pressure to overcome the air in the cylinder. This
basic idea of how to go about creating the engine was modified and improved many times
before finally prefected in 1896. To do this Rudolph had to have a great understanding
of Thermodynamics. He had to know basic principles of engines and how they work.
Rudolph got help from many people. Some of the people that helped him are Machine-fabric
Augsburg, Gasmotoren-Fabric Deutz and Mannesmann-Werke. It took them six years to finish
the Diesel Engine.
It was important because it gave a new and easier way of using engines. It gave a
way for large vehicles to transport goods safely. It is easier to make than the steam
engine. All we did was benefit from the invention. If Rudolph had not invented the
diesel engine my life would be quite different, for example there would not big trucks
for delivering mass amounts of goods. It would be more complicated for stores and other
companies to get goods. It also supplies jobs for many people.
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