Intro

Many people when they think of diesel think of the old common rail era of diesel when it was loud and dirty.  Today though diesel has become one of the cleanest and most reliable form of internal combustion.  Diesel isn't all blowing black smoke and hauling goods and equipment.  Diesel is a versitile because of all its uses, how it works, and the different manufactures out there.

Diesel Uses

The United States relies on diesel to run it and without it you wouldn't be able to go down to Walmart and buy your favorite chinese made thing.  If you have ever seen the semis that say Walmart on the side you have seen a diesel truck.  Shipping is one of the worlds largest uses of diesel, almost all goods are transported using diesel, even ships going overseas.  Those ships are powered by a diesel generator that creates electricity that drives the electric motors that in turn drive the propellers.  Any buildings that need power constantly will have backup diesel generators in case of a blackout to supply power.  Construction companies, and manufacturers like CAT, use diesel more than gas as well because of the way it burns to deliver more power and be more efficient.

How Diesel Works

For some reason all over the world people believe that diesel needs to cost more than gas.  That is unreasonable the fuel diesel is made from crude oil, the sane as gasoline, the difference, however, is the refinement process.  Both diesel and gas go through similar refinement processes but diesel is less refined than gasoline so it costs less to produce than gas does, therefore the end product should cost less but for some reason the big oil companies don't think so.  I also mentioned earlier that diesel burns cleaner than gasoline.  That is because of the way it burns.  Inside the cylinder the fuel is compressed when the piston is pushed up in the cylinder when it reaches a certain pressure mixed with oxygen the two fuel become unstable and react with each other creating combustion. Gasoline engines burn a similar way only they need a spark plug to create ignition thus not burning as much fuel.  That is where people get the idea that gas is cleaner because it burns less fuel but that is not the case, that excess fuel not burned is put into the air out the exhaust.  With the diesel not using spark plugs the fuels are combusted at the optimal pressure causing a burn of most of the fuel in the cylinder meaning only fumes are released which are cleaner than releasing un-burned fuel into the atmosphere.  Since the fuel is burned at a high pressure it creates a more powerful explosion pushing the piston down harder creating more power, this is why vehicles that require the use of more power they use diesel engines in them.  Any diesel that is on the road now has a turbo on it a turbo works on the same principals of a supercharger which are to force more air into the air intake to create more power.  The difference, however, is a supercharger is belt driven and  a turbo charger is driven by exhaust turning a shaft that sucks air in through the intake. That is why when people need power to haul things they go with diesel.

Who to Choose

Choosing what diesel is best all depends on what kind of use it will be put to.  For personal driving and light hauling you have three main choices; GM, Dodge, and Ford.  GM's Diesel is called the Duramax, they are built through Izuzu which is owned by GM.  Dodge uses the Cummins, which is made outside of Chrysler by Cummins. Cummins makes diesels for almost everything imaginable, their engines are all in line six engines meaning there are six cylinders all in a line.  This differs from the Duramax and Powerstroke which are both v8's (all of which are turbo charged).  Duramax and Allison transmissions have been partnered since 2000 when GM switched from the 6.5 GM diesel to the 6.6 Duramax Diesel.   For commercial trucking there are many options, Daimler owns Freightliner and Sterling who both manufacture semis for commercial trucking. Mack owns pretty much everyone else on the road today.

Conclusion

Hopefully people in America will be like the people in Europe and start to realize that diesel is the way to go for a vehicle because of how useful it is, how it is cleaner, and all the choices that we have.