I will repeat, accuracy truly does matter.
Source: www.forum.scssoft.com
What is the difference compared to Gasoline?
As most people know until a proper, stable, financially realistic alternative fuel source becomes available, diesel and gasoline (gas) are the main fuel sources for our vehicles. As I said earlier, they both come from crude oil. However, they have different chemical properties and they both burn differently.
They are not interchangeable! How so? Well basically:
A gasoline engine runs on gasoline and uses spark plugs to ignite the fuel, (gasoline has a lower compression rate). The typical stroke cycle for a gasoline engine is:
- Air and gasoline combined and are forced into the cylinder
- This mixture is then compressed.
- The spark plug then fires, igniting the mixture causing it to explode, this forces the piston up which gives the engine its energy.
- The burned emissions are blown out as exhaust.
Source: www.autoevolution.com
A diesel engine has a higher compression rate and doesn’t use spark plugs. Diesel engines have such a high compression rate; the heat produced by the compression ignites the fuel and air mixture. The typical stroke cycle for a diesel engine is:
- Air gets forced into the cylinder, and is compressed.
- At the same time, diesel fuel sprays into the cylinder.
- The compression ignites the diesel fuel, causing the piston to move up, giving the needed energy burst.
- Again, the burned emissions are blown out as exhaust.
Diesel tends to get better fuel mileage than gasoline, because of it being more dense, resulting in more energy per cycle. Gasoline on the other hand burns much cleaner.
