Rudolf Diesel

Rudolf Diesel was a German engineer and inventor whose compression-ignition engine became known as the diesel engine. He patented an engine design in 1893.

Diesel engine: An internal-combustion engine that ignites fuel by injecting it into air heated by compression. Diesel’s name became attached to the engine he designed around compression ignition.
Compression ignition: Combustion initiated when fuel enters air heated enough by compression to ignite it. This is the defining ignition method of the engine Diesel developed.
Heinrich von Buz: A German engineer and industrialist who led Maschinenfabrik Augsburg during Diesel’s engine development. He supported the Augsburg work that helped move Diesel’s ideas toward a working engine.
Diesel fuel: A petroleum-derived fuel commonly used in compression-ignition engines. The engine’s development created demand for fuels suited to compression ignition.
English Channel: The arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating southern England from northern France. Diesel disappeared during a 1913 voyage across this body of water.
Diesel patent: Rudolf Diesel’s 1893 German patent describing an internal-combustion engine based on compression ignition. The patent records the early design that Diesel sought to develop.
Internal combustion engine: A heat engine that releases energy by burning fuel inside a working chamber. Diesel’s invention belongs to this broad family of engines.
Franz von Linde: A German engineer and entrepreneur known for refrigeration technology and engineering education. Diesel studied at the Munich Polytechnic under Linde, whose thermodynamics teaching shaped his interests.
Diesel locomotive: A railway locomotive powered by a diesel engine, often transmitting power electrically or hydraulically. Diesel engines eventually displaced many steam locomotives in railway service.
SS Dresden: The passenger ship aboard which Rudolf Diesel traveled before disappearing in September 1913. The ship’s records anchor the known timeline of his final journey.

Linked from 8 pages