Who invented the diesel engine?

Who invented the diesel engine?

Rudolf Diesel was the inventor of the diesel fuelled internal combustion engine. Rudolf Diesel was born in Paris. In 1893, he published a paper describing an engine with combustion within a cylinder, the internal combustion engine. At Augsburg, on August 10, 1893, Rudolf Diesel’s prime model, a single 10-foot iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, ran on its own power for the first time. In 1894, he filed for a patent for his new invention, and dubbed it the ‘diesel engine’. Rudolf Diesel spent two more years making improvements and in 1896 demonstrated another model with the theoretical efficiency of 75%, in contrast to the ten percent efficiency of the steam engine. Rudolf Diesel was almost killed by his engine when it exploded. However, his engine was the first that proved that fuel could be ignited without a spark. He operated his first successful engine in 1897.

In 1898, Rudolf Diesel was granted a patent for “internal combustion engine”. The diesel engines of today are refined and improved versions of Rudolf Diesel’s original concept.

By 1898, Rudolf Diesel was a millionaire. His engines were used to power pipelines, electric and water plants, automobiles and trucks and marine, and soon after were used in mines, oil fields, factories and transoceanic shipping.