Diesel fuel

Diesel fuel is a hydrocarbon-based fuel that is created from refined oil and commonly burned to power engines. Diesel engines are used in shipping trucks, construction equipment, trains, buses, and many other large vehicles. Diesel engines are often more reliable, more efficient, and last longer than traditional gasoline engines. Unfortunately, diesel fuel is also a major contributor to air pollution and global warming.

Background

The first diesel engine was created by Rudolf Diesel in 1893, twenty years after the invention of the first gasoline engine. Diesel's engine burned fuel more slowly than gasoline engines, generating less heat and preserving the engine's mechanical parts.

The diesel engine quickly became popular for use in industrial machines, many of which required an engine that could withstand constant use under high strain. Diesel engines were also used in ships and trains. However, they were not yet used in automobiles because they were considered too sluggish for daily drivers.

People viewed diesel engines this way for the next thirty years. Then, beginning in the 1960s, various European automobile manufacturers began to sell diesel vehicles. They marketed them as more reliable and fuel-efficient than their gasoline-powered counterparts. Advancements like turbo-chargers made diesel-fueled vehicles more palatable to the average driver. Unfortunately for diesel enthusiasts, the vehicles were not popular in North America, where they were only sold by Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.

While diesel fuel was not favored for use in regular automobiles, it was the fuel of choice for larger vehicles and machinery. Large numbers of buses, trains, and construction vehicles ran on diesel power. They were prized for their reliability, power, and fuel efficiency.

Overview

Diesel fuel is made from crude oil, a liquid petroleum that naturally occurs within the earth. Through various refining and distillation processes, crude oil can be turned into a variety of useful and valuable commodities.

Oil distillation involves heating crude oil to more than seven hundred degrees Fahrenheit. At such high temperatures, crude oil becomes a vapor. However, all crude oil is not the same. The distillation process is designed to separate the different grades of crude oil.

During oil distillation, oil is heated inside a tower. Along the sides of the tower are various collection plates. Different grades of oil break down at different rates. Because of this, oil collection pans are placed at various heights. In most cases, the oil in the middle of the tower is used as diesel fuel.

Unlike many other types of fuel, diesel fuel is not flammable. Instead, it combusts when placed under extreme pressure. Diesel engines force diesel fuel to combust using pistons, which are cylinders with a movable part in the center. As the moveable part rises, air fills the cylinder. When the moveable part falls, the air is compressed. Fuel pumps spray a small amount of diesel fuel into the cylinder, which is compressed along with the air. When the diesel fuel combusts, the force drives the movable part back up and the cycle repeats. The pistons then power the rest of the engine.

Because diesel fuel combusts at a lower temperature than gasoline burns, it places significantly less strain on mechanical parts than gasoline. For this reason, diesel engines tend to last much longer than gasoline engines. However, because diesel engines tend to move more, they require more maintenance than gasoline engines.

Diesel engines are also significantly simpler than gasoline engines. Modern gasoline engines require many computerized parts for timing and fuel injection. In contrast, diesel engines are mostly made of mechanical parts. This makes maintenance and repairs on them significantly easier and cheaper than maintenance on the parts in gasoline engines.

While diesel engines have a variety of advantages over gasoline engines, they have their drawbacks. Diesel-powered engines are significantly louder than gasoline engines. They are also heavier than gasoline engines and more expensive to build.

The largest downside of diesel engines is their impact on the environment. When diesel engines were first implemented, scientists did not understand that burning fossil fuels polluted the atmosphere, increasing the rate of global warming. Because crude oil is a fossil fuel, the manufacturing of diesel fuel is considered a major source of pollution by most environmental scientists. Furthermore, while gasoline engines also release fossil fuels, the exhaust produced by diesel engines is particularly toxic to the environment. Diesel-fuel emissions account for almost half of all nitrogen-oxide emissions and more than two-thirds of soot emissions in the United States. Diesel soot contains carbon, ammonium, nitrates, and a variety of carcinogenic compounds. In 2022, the US Energy Information Administration reported that diesel fuel accounted for about 23 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions from the transportation industry and 6 percent of carbon dioxide emissions overall.

Some of these compounds are captured by the atmosphere, drastically increasing its carbon content. High carbon levels in the atmosphere have gradually increased the amount of heat captured by the atmosphere to unprecedented levels. High atmospheric carbon levels gradually increase global temperatures, cause more extreme weather patterns, cause droughts, and increase sea levels.

Many diesel-fuel pollutants that fail to rise into the atmosphere continue to harm humans by becoming particulate matter in smog clouds, which is non-microscopic air pollution. Particulate matter has been proven to irritate the nose, eyes, throat, and lungs. It is especially dangerous to children, the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those with preexisting respiratory conditions. The particulate matter found in smog contributes to the death of tens of thousands of Americans each year. To solve this problem, researchers have advised governments to increase the emissions standards for diesel-powered vehicles, retrofit old diesel-powered vehicles with new emissions hardware, and encourage the use of low-sulfur diesel fuel.

Bibliography

Diesel Mechanic Guide. "Where Are Diesel Engines Used the Most?" Diesel Mechanic Guide, 2016, www.dieselmechanicguide.com/diesel-engines-used. Accessed 17 Jan. 2023.

"Diesel Fuel Explained." U.S. Energy Information Administration, 14 Sept. 2023, www.eia.gov/energyexplained/diesel-fuel/diesel-and-the-environment.php. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.

Gibson, Tim. "A Brief History of Diesel Fuel." The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 10 Nov. 2015, www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/diesel-performance/11956048/diesel-fuel-history.html. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.

Kendrick Oil Company. "How Is Diesel Fuel Made from Crude Oil?" Kendrick Oil Company, Kendrick Oil Company, 13 July 2015, www.kendrickoil.com/how-is-diesel-fuel-made-from-crude-oil. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.

Lean, Geoffrey. "The Statistics about Diesel Are Crystal Clear. It's Deadly." The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 29 Sept. 2015, www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufacturers/volkswagen/11899676/The-statistics-about-diesel-are-crystal-clear.-Its-deadly.html. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.

Leamy, Michael. "Why Do We Use Gasoline for Small Vehicles and Diesel Fuel for Big Vehicles?" The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2024, theconversation.com/why-do-we-use-gasoline-for-small-vehicles-and-diesel-fuel-for-big-vehicles-235084. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.

Majewski, W. Addy. "What Is Diesel Fuel." DieselNet, Ecopoint Inc., 2016, www.dieselnet.com/tech/fuel‗diesel.php. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.

UCS. "Diesel Engines and Public Health." UCS, Union of Concerned Scientists, 2016, www.ucsusa.org/clean‗vehicles/why-clean-cars/air-pollution-and-health/trucks-buses-and-other-commercial-vehicles/diesel-engines-and-public.html#.WCSDiS0rKM9. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.

Ury, Allen B. "8 Advantages of Diesel Engines." Wyotech.edu, Wyotech, 6 Mar. 2012, www.news.wyotech.edu/post/2012/03/8-advantages-of-diesel-engines/#.WCSCHS0rKM-. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.