5 ms·
This engine appears to burn gasoline rather than diesel fuel. I suspect the compression must be much higher to ignite gasoline than is required for diesel.
by cicero 11y ago
This engine appears to burn gasoline rather than diesel fuel. I suspect the compression must be much higher to ignite gasoline than is required for diesel.
- fn42 11y agoactually it's the opposite, you could run a diesel car on gasoline if you wanted (not wise as diesel fuel is actually used as a lubricant in high pressure fuel pumps)
- eru 11y agoWouldn't you also get knocking?
- dredmorbius 11y agoCompression required to "diesel" petrol (gasoline) is lower, which is why some autos have the problem of continuing to run ("diesel") after the ignition (and spark) are shut off. Most now incorporate other controls and limiters, such as controlled fuel injection, to eliminate this. Gasoline is comprised of a shorter set of hydrocarbons (mostly 6, 8, and 10 chain) than diesel (about 12-16 chain length, though 8-21 carbon are listed at Wikipedia). Volatility (and ignitability) increase with shorter chains -- methane (C2H6) and butane (C4H10) -- that is, two and four chain hydrocarbons -- are both gaseous at or near room temperature. Longer chains still get you heavy fuel oils, tars, etc.
- userbinator 11y agoLonger chains still get you heavy fuel oils, tars, etc. ...and eventually that results in simple plastics like polyethylene, which is basically a very long chain hydrocarbon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene
- dredmorbius 11y agoYep. I regret not having studied more chemistry in college. It's only started coming into context for me recently.